Monday, February 15, 2010

Restoring MSI Wind U100 Netbook to factory settings without external DVD/CD drive

Restoring MSI Wind U100 Netbook, in fact any netbook, to factory settings can be a real pain. Because netbooks are really small, many manufacturers sacrifice an optical drive for portability. So in order to install Windows (which came bundled with the netbook is a real pain). Here are instructions for restoring a MSI Wind U100 netbook to factory settings. There is another guide to doing this on MSI forums: There is a link below. (Recommended that you visit to after you finished this guide).
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Link.
BTW, the instructions are from a PDF file directly taken off the MSI website. I took me a very long time to find, so I thought I would post it here. (I also lost the link so I can't directly link you to it). MSI- tell me if you are unhappy and we can negotiate something.

Here are the instructions:
System Recovery
MSI provides users three methods to perform the System Recovery Function,
1. Recover the system with the F3 Hotkey on the keyboard of the notebook.
2. Recover the system with the Driver CD that comes with the package.
3. Recover the system with a personal USB flash drive or a SD card.

Recover the system with the F3 Hotkey

If the hard drive and system encountered non-recoverable problems, it is always recommended to perform the System Recovery Function with the F3 Hotkey from the Hard Drive first.
Follow the instructions below to continue:
1. Restart the notebook.
2. Press the F3 hotkey on the keyboard when the following message appears
on the display
3. Select [MSI Recovery Manager] to start the System Recovery Function; or
select [EXIT] to restart the system.
4. Press [OK] to continue proceeding the System Recovery Function.
5. Press [Cancel] to stop proceeding the System Recovery Function at any time.
6. The System Recovery Function is in proceeding now.
7. When the following window appears, the system is recovered successfully.
8. Press [OK] to reboot the system and access Windows operating system as
usual.
Recover the system with the Driver CD
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If your notebook is equipped with an optical disk drive device or an external one, you may perform the System Recovery Function with Driver CD that comes with the package.
Follow the instructions below to continue:
1. Insert the Driver CD into the optical disk drive, and then restart the notebook by pressing the Power button.
2. Press the F11 hotkey on the keyboard of the notebook when the following
message appears on the display.
3. Select the [CD/DVD] device as the boot device, and press [Enter] to confirm the selection, and then, press any key to reconfirm the selection when the prompt message of [Press any key to boot from CD or DVD…] appears.
4. The Language Menu appears. Select the language you prefer by clicking
the given icon with the mouse connected to the notebook; or select [EXIT] to
restart the system.
5. And then, select [Restore the system to factory default] to start the System
Recovery Function process; or select [EXIT] to restart the system.
6. The system recovery process will format your hard disk drive partition; make
sure that the important data has been backed up before continuing the process. Click [OK] to continue; click [Cancel] to stop the system recovery process.
7. AC power is required while proceeding the System Recovery Function. Assure that the AC power is connected to the notebook before moving forward to the next step.
8. Be aware of that do not turn off the system power during the process of performing the System Recover Function, or it may cause some unknown damage to the system.
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9. When the system recovery process is finished, please click [OK] to restart
the system. Now, your system is restored to its factory default setting.
10. If the system recovery function is not able to be performed successfully, it is
always recommended to contact the authorized local distributor or the
service center for further assistant.
11. If the recovery process is interrupted or failed, please repeat recovery
procedure from the beginning.
If your notebook is not equipped with any optical disk drive, you may perform
the System Recovery Function with a personal USB flash drive or a SD card.
Follow the instructions below to continue:
1. Make sure that you have the Driver CD that comes with the package and a
personal USB flash drive or SD card with you.
(a) The minimum capacity of 256MB of the USB flash drive or SD card is required;
(b) The USB flash drive or SD card must not be a bootable one. If the device is found to be a bootable one, please format the device first either in NTFS or FAT32.
(c) It is not required to delete all the personal data files stored in the USB
flash drive or SD card which is going to be used for performing the System Recovery Function.
However, it is still recommended to back up the data stored in the USB
flash drive or SD card to another storage device.
2. Find a computer which is equipped with an optical disk drive. Insert the
Driver CD into the optical disk drive, and locate the folder named [USB Rescue Tool] in the Driver CD.
3. Browse the folder named [USB Rescue Tool], and copy all the data files in the folder into the USB flash drive or SD card.
4. Restart the system and press the F11 hotkey on the keyboard of the notebook when the following message appears on the display.
5. Select the [USB] device as the boot device, and press [Enter] to confirm the
selection.
6. Refer to the instructions of “Recover the system with the Driver CD” to
continue the process.

Useful information to recover computer dataif computer can't be reset

30 comments:

  1. thx for the post, saved me some time! Have to send computer to sqaure trade for reimbusement since screen damaged. Thx, Susan

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  2. my laptop doesn't have a CD/DVD drive O.o

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  3. how long does it take to recover..I did the the driver CD system recovery and it has been 5 hours since I started and is stil recovering and I am not sure when it will stop. This is new laptop and did not have any OS in it..I did some partitioning and I believed I did sth wrong so wanted to do this system recovery and now I do not see and of it.

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  4. Sorry for the late replies. I am preparing for my exams so haven't been able to add new content to blog or check for comments. Sorry.

    @ anonymous (May 29 2010)
    It is possible to perform this procedure without a CD drive. Make sure you read the procedure to make sure you are not misinterpreting something. It there alternatives to using a CD/DVD.

    @ anonymous (June 5 2010)
    5 hours is not uncommon as there may be a scratch on the CD that may delay the progress. (The situation is probably resolved by now as my reply is indeed very late).

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  5. @ Susan
    No problems. I am glad to help.

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  6. Hello, my MSI WIND U90 reecovery DVD doesn't have a 'USB Rescue Tool' any ideas for recovering U90 from flashdrive ?

    Thanx

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  7. I am currently recovering my msi fx600 but it has been ongoing for more than 24hrs. The progress bar just keeps filling up and repeating again. Any suggestions ?

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  8. I have exactely the same problem... any suggestions?

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  9. Anonymous posted of February 14... have you found a solution?

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  10. So how long it should be in progress? Is it possible that it can spend 10h or more on this? (sorry for my English)

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  11. Hello, my MSI WIND U100 reecovery DVD doesn't have a 'USB Rescue Tool' any ideas for recovering U100 from flashdrive ?

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  12. Using a borrowed external cd drive I tried the factory recovery and it just kept going and going, over 30 hours once. The only way to stop it was to remove all power supplies.
    I then put the XP recovery disc in and switched on and re-installed the OS and all was well. I had to use the MSI disc to replace the drivers and utilities. The computer up and running again but without any MSI games etc.

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    Replies
    1. uffsf,, 10 hours (f3) restoring,,
      so i hav tu unplug this thin..(pc)?

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  13. how long should it take mine keeps going and going (system is now recovering) for 7 hours now, is this normal and is ther an estimated time for how long it should last?

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    Replies
    1. I am just about to give up and switch off the useless thing with its “System Is Now Recovering” after 19 hours! Why does it take this long if an install from a dvd isn’t anywhere near that long? If that’s their method, they are not worth the bother!

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  14. MSI recovery should take around 45mins to complete but it depends on the size of your hard drive. Is anyone getting error: "Reagentc.exe false" when recovery starts? I know this means that the recovery agent has missing/corrupt files and windows will not recover from that state. I have no fix for that problem but if any1 else does please post it here! Only solution I can think of is to reinstall windows using an external disk drive. If u borrow an installation disk from someone with same OS then all you will need is the product key that came with your system

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  15. To all Msi u100 users trying to restore windows and it is returning back to normal windows with a horrible slow performance as you did nothing. very important to remove any attached external device as micro memory reader or external hard drive or anything blogged to you notebook. It will restore your windows normally. It worked for me perfect as I was in real pain trying to restore it myself. Good luck guys. Elia (galaxian777@yahoo.com) if I can be anymore assistance to you

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  16. i bought a msi 100 from garage sale when i turn it on it windows xp boots up with logon message system could not log on make sure user name and domain are correct. i click ok and it gives me a box with adminastratior password how do i re set this or by pass it have tryed restore but always the same.
    please help

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  17. i tried the f3 hotkey recovery function but it didnt work it came up saying that it wasnt normal?

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  18. I can't use the USB rescue tool either, it keeps going but nothing happens and it doesn't stop :/

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  19. you're a lifesaver! ive been looking into reformatting and you saved me so much time and effort!!!! i transferred all my documents into an external hard drive and recovery only took about 15 minutes.

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  20. Very helpful! Thanks a lot!

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  21. Our MSI U100 Plus netbook keyboard failed once when we plugged in a simple usb keyboard for easier typing on bigger buttons, because the netbook was supposed to be more useful to me that way.

    BIG Mistake. Since then my netbook keyboard is borked and nothing will fix it, save for (hopefully) a reinstall. So ... we backed up our data, and tried to execute the recovery using the Boot > F3 recovery procedure.

    Status: Our msi U100 Plus netbook has been in recovery procedure for over 4 hours ... nothing plugged into the netbook except for my AC power (required according to the PDF of instructions), and my Ethernet jack.

    Anonymous - We also had the "Reagentc.exe false" error window popup when recovery started. How typical of MSFT software ... "You need to use this critical function? Here you go ... enjoy the FAIL first."

    The problem with these cheapo MSI netbooks is that you can not actually install any other OS on it other than MSFT. We can't even force low-level versions of slackware or any other linux or *bsd onto it. That's the last time we make this mistake.

    MSI and MSFT have both just lost our future business. It is hard to imagine anything they could actually do to rectify this, even if it would be nice to see them try.

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  22. how long can it take to recover msi laptop it is runing for 3 hours

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  24. By far the easiest method is to purchase a usb optical drive (very cheap!) and simply use it to repair / and or reinstall xp.

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  25. What to do if F3 key does not work??Any suggestion or ideas Please.......??????

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  26. trying to do this with the USB stick, I get to the bit where I select it from the F11 menu, but the screen goes black with a flashing underscore in the top left hand corner... HELP?!

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  27. Hi guys. TO EVERYONE WHO USES MSI RECOVERY MANAGER/SYSTEM wondering how long does it take.

    For me it took only 10 mins. I have a MSI GT80 2QE laptop. It is worth to mention that i tried to use s windows recovery option before and it was stuck at 7% for hours. I guess it might take longer depending on which model u have. Recovering from SSD is propably faster

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    vendita pc

    ReplyDelete