So, sure as shooting, tapping F9 on boot kicked the ASUS CM5570 into a recovery mode. I was greeted with a boot mode screen asking “Windows Install (EMS MODE)” or something similar. I was actually too overjoyed to write it down. All the time that was just saved not having to hunt down all those drivers, all the preinstalled apps that they would probably want back on there – and then find the proper keys if possible for them (UGH), and all the other headaches of a fresh install.
You WILL need to backup your user documents and such before the recovery. I was NOT given the option of a non-destructive restore. If you can’t get the computer up long enough to get your documents, pictures, music and such off, then you probably need to call a computer tech. Computer techs, such as myself, have those slick tools to get that kind of stuff off the drive where it’s nice and safe before attempting a computer recovery like this one.
This particular routine actually only restored the system partition and did NOT do any unexpected partitioning. This hard drive actually came partitioned in 3 chunks. First was a hidden one for the OS restore and recovery info, the second being the system partition and the third was for data. This computer restore actually only restored the system partition, but that WILL delete all user data on that partition – read “YOUR data”. So you can just copy the user data to the “Data” partition and it will be safe. Lizardwebs is a professional outfit though, so as a matter of caution, we copy the data off to an external source so there won’t be ANY chance of complete data loss.
* If you’re a non-tech user and the previous paragraph just sends you into fits (and you happen to live in the Raleigh NC area), call Lizardwebs and we’ll be glad to assist you with the issue.
So, if you’ve got an Asus computer (I am betting a LOT of them are the same) and need to do a recovery, save yourself some money and time. Press F9 at boot and recover that computer!
Follow
July 6, 2011
Hi
Thank you so much for your ASUS CM5570 repair information. I have same unit and even though it seems that the virus is removed, it never operates like before. The virus was imported when my 8 years old daughter downloaded game software on line. Since I misplaced its recovery disc I was not sure what to do with this PC until I read your how to recover article this morning. Unfortunately I was not able to recover (I tried 2 times) because the PC requests for recover disc.
So I wonder if you could help me locating recovery disc/ discs for this PC.
It came with VISTA. Is it possible to install xp ? (I am still happy with xp)
Thank you once again for your help!
Best regards,
Jack Hara
California 90275
July 9, 2011
As long as you have an XP disc with a viable license key on it, you SHOULD be good to go! You may need to nose around to find drivers for XP, but I would say that if we had it in here, we would eventually get the drivers all found. I think there is probably a way to override the recovery thing but I don’t know it right off. Do a google search for the recovery disks – there IS a company I think in the UK that has a ton of recovery disks for sale. Never used them, but they do seem to be authentic.
Good luck!
Eric
August 11, 2012
Hi, i am having issues finding the os restore. I tried the f9 thing and many other things. The story starts off with hard drive was having issues. First it was freezing and, i got the blue screen of death once also or twice. It happened all of a sudden one day. So i thought it was a virus. I used the OS restore, it continued to freeze after i dled my video card drivers and updates. It would freeze from startup, or 2-5 mins after startup. I took it to a store. They couldnt help me because i refused to pay 200 for them to make sure i have to get a new hard drive but they were pretty sure that was the issue. I bought a new hard drive WD caviar green and i put it in. After i put it in, i attempted to reformat it with the os already on board like it was the 1st time. It didnt work, it was gone. The os on my cm 5570 was a xp. I installed a vista and either my drivers are not installed correctly or something is wrong. It runs fine for basic use, it isnt slow and i can go on websites and such. But i am a gamer, and for some odd reason, i cant play Diable 3. I was able to play before but now i cant. What changed was the hard drive and xp to vista. My sound card is not detected by my skype sometimes also where i would have to restart, or tell someone to call me(chat not video calls). Does my computer need windows xp? Or is there an issue with the drivers i installed? When i intially went to look up the drivers, it seems like all of them were only meant for xp on the asus website since vista was not listed. That is how i figured it needed xp and i use to run xp and when i restored with no prevail, it was xp.
August 11, 2012
Sorry to hear about your issue. Problematically, if I’m reading this correctly, the restore partition is on your OLD hard drive. With the new hard drive, there IS no restore partition – it’s a factory straight type thing and with a new hard drive – no restore. I would recommend a chkdsk on the old hard drive to see if it really IS bad – that’s beyond the scope of this forum, but there’s a lot of great info out there – maybe even on my blog somewhere about using chkdsk.
RE: Vista – is and always will be problematic for a lot of folks when it comes to drivers. Your best bet may be going back to XP and then just downloading the proper drivers from the website if you want to try a nice clean install from an XP disk. Suggest you have a thumbdisk on hand because the one driver that never seems to install is the NIC network driver. Get the driver from the website and have it ready to install on the laptop after you finish you initial install. That will make the rest of your driver hunting MUCH easier! Good luck!
September 22, 2012
Dude,
You totally saved my computer…I was about to drop $50 on a Restore disk on the Asus site. I had tried everything…so frustrating. Then I stumbled upon your post, and now I’m the family hero! Kudos to you…thanks much!!!
Troy
October 4, 2012
Dude,
You totally saved my kids computer, too!! It was so messed up and I’m just tech savvy enough to get myself into trouble so I tried this. Hallelujah! On the first try I got it right and now the computer is running like a champ! I had to say thanks!!!
Peace
Marci
December 17, 2012
This fix saved me too much trouble, time and money. We caught a virus through AVG on Friday, got all the data on Saturday and today and found this site this afternoon. We are re-installing data on the restored OS now. It worked exactly as you said it would. Thanks for being willing to share info with people too far away to be paying customers. Put us on your list of people who owe you a favor. Merry Christmas and may the Lord richly bless you.
December 12, 2013
Hey, I have a problem with the Asus to I have put a windows 7 disk in to reload the OS on there but while im in installation mode it wont find any drivers to recover the system it shows no partitions at all, I’ve tried multiple trouble shooting steps my brother said it could be the clusters gone bad on hard drive and it over heats but when I plug the hard drive on to another computer and read it off another OS it reads its a healthy hard drive. I need some help with booting problem and hard drive partition can you please respond back with an answer.
December 27, 2013
The partition that you need to use to do the recovery is actually a hidden partition if I remember correctly. There are a lot of things that it actually could be unfortunately. One of the most possible is that the partition really IS not there. Did you buy it new? It may have been owned previously by someone – that had the desire and know-how to clean off the whole disk for their own usage – and thus remove that partition.