Create 2nd Set of HP/Compaq Recovery Disks

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Once upon a time, some 5 years ago I got a new Compaq PC. I diligently created restore disks, in case the hard drive ever crashed. Fast forward to the present, and I started having boot problems due to a hard drive problem. Fortunately I had an automated backup running every day and I made my restore disks.

Uh oh, I couldn't find my disks.
No problem, I'll make more.
Err, it wont let me make more! Huh?
Google to the rescue!

After many searches and poking into newsgroups, I found a promising lead. I either had to delete 3 instances of hpdrcu.prc on the restore drive (D:\) or HPCD.SYS located on the restore drive and in C:\windows\SMINT. Upon looking at the restore drive, it was locked down, so I couldn't get to the file.

Fortunately I found a utility, FreeCommander, that ignored the Windows locks and tricks. After renaming the files (never delete until you know you have the right files), I was able to successfully run the CD Creator utility and create a new set of recovery disks.

Comments

Unknown said…
as a heads up to anyone else searching for this:

first i changed the folder options to show hidden files and unhide system files. and i used freecommander to access the files in my recovery partition.

for me, hpdrcu.prc existed in 2 locations. first in the recovery root and also in C:\ProgramData\Hewlett-Packard\Recovery.

Now that I have renamed them both the Recovery Manager is working again. Hopefully this time the computer will not shut down in the middle and I will get functioning restore disks.

Thanks for your post on this issue.
Sat Apr 03, 09:14:00 PM PDT
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