Replacing a hard drive, restoring Windows 8. System restore point. Creating a checkpoint

Let's say you bought a laptop with pre-installed licensed Windows- the so-called OEM version, and the system suddenly “fell.” We'll tell you how to reinstall Windows in this case so as not to lose your license.

Aug 14, 2018

You are downloading new image Windows from the official Microsoft website, start the installation, enter license key from a sticker on the laptop case... and you receive an ominous message that the system is already in use. How to reinstall Windows if it came with the device and you honestly paid for the license?

How to restore the system if it was preinstalled?

A problem with before installed Windows is that it is not Microsoft that sells it to you, but the laptop manufacturer, and in the quantity of one specific copy, the license for which he himself purchased from Microsoft. The license key of this copy is often sewn directly into Laptop BIOS. And you can restore the system with this license key only from the image that Windows, which was installed on your laptop.

That's why the best remedy To restore an OEM copy of Windows, there will be a backup restore point created by the system itself - for example, automatically using Windows Defender.

Here's how to reinstall Windows using a restore point:

Download the system image from the official Microsoft website: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10. You may need to enter a license key. Where can I get a license key if the computer was sold with a pre-installed OS? As a rule, it is applied to the laptop case or box in the form of a sticker (the so-called Certificate of Authenticity). If the sticker is lost or damaged, you can contact your computer vendor to see if they have a way to recover the key.
Burn the image to a CD or flash drive using a tool convenient for you - for example, UltraISO or WinSetupFromUSB.
Insert the disk or flash drive into the computer on which you want to reinstall Windows and boot from it, setting it to BIOS loading from a CD drive or flash drive.
Will start Windows installation. In the installation window, select your system language and other settings and click Continue.
In the next window select System Restore(Troubleshooting > System Restore on Windows 10).
Select a system restore point. Most users will have one.
Wait for the recovery procedure to complete, remove the flash drive and boot from the main hard drive.

This method allows you to return Windows to working condition. In this case, a number of programs that you installed after creating a restore point may be lost, but the system will work and, most importantly, the license key will remain active.

How to reinstall Windows from an emergency recovery flash drive?

Another way to reinstall Windows without losing your license is to use a disk disaster recovery. It must be created in advance, preferably immediately after purchasing the computer. There are several ways to do this:

A number of computer manufacturers provide tools for creating recovery discs, for example, Samsung Recovery Solution for laptops of the same manufacturer. Check if you have such tools and use them.
You can use standard Windows tool — Backup and recovery (Backup and Restore in Windows 10), accessible through the panel Windows management. Just open the built-in utility, select WITHCreate a system repair disk, connect the USB flash drive to the computer and follow the instructions.
You can also use by third party means creating system images, for example, as described in .

If you have a recovery disk, reinstalling licensed Windows is done as follows:

Insert the emergency recovery flash drive into the computer on which you want to reinstall Windows and boot from it.
The environment will start Windows recovery. Select System Restore >(Troubleshooting > System Image Recovery on Windows 10).
Select the latest available system image and click Further to start recovery.

The system will be reinstalled from the image, but the license key will also remain valid.

These two methods are guaranteed to make it possible to reinstall Windows 10, which was pre-installed on the laptop, without losing your license. Alternatively, you can contact service center computer or laptop supplier under warranty: according to the terms of the agreement with Microsoft, the supplier is responsible for the operation of your system.

...or how to create a problem for yourself and then heroically overcome it.

In total, we have an ultrabook with Windows 8, a working recovery partition and the absence of any disks in the package (this point is important). Beech has UEFI as startup software, which in principle is logical for use with Windows 8, and would even be convenient, if not for one thing - the key for installing the system is hardwired into the ACPI data table, in the MSDM sub-table. At that time, I didn’t know this yet, and I didn’t think that I would need it.

In general, I reboot it, go into the launch settings (if anyone doesn’t know how to do this on beeches with UEFI fresh episodes- press ESC right from the very beginning of startup) and turning off Secure Boot(this is necessary to start the recovery system), I launch the native system System Recovery. As it turned out, I was in vain in turning off Secure Boot and switching the system to Legacy Mode - it was these actions that caused such strange behavior native recovery system, about which further. I instruct you to restore the system to the initial state with the deletion of all user data (the data was copied in advance). And this is where the adventure begins. The recovery process, having started, displays the first stage of execution - formatting the partition for Windows. The stage reaches the end, after which the recovery process stops, giving an incomprehensible error with digital code, and the ultrabook reboots, only to give me a message that no system was found on the disk. It’s logical, I think, we’ve just cleared its partition, and I press the System Recovery key again to try to continue the recovery process. And here the first surprise awaited me: I received the same message about the absence of the system. As it turned out, system System Recovery self-destructed along with the cleaned system. Now I had an ultrabook in my hands without a system, without a recovery image on the hard drive and without recovery disks.

There was only one option left - to reinstall the system from scratch. It would seem that what is the problem? We reinstall and that's it. However, do not rush, not everything is as simple as it seems. In order not to waste extra time later on upgrading the system to 8.1, I decided to immediately install a clean 8.1. No sooner said than done, I download the latest Windows 8.1 image from MSDN and do it bootable USB flash drive Using Windows 7 USB - DVD tool, I start the installation. The first problem is that I don’t know the key yet, but as luck would have it, it is required to continue the installation. It’s not clear to me why this was done; Windows 7 allowed you to skip the key entry step. A short search on the Internet gives the answer - you need to use generic keys opened by Microsoft itself - they allow you to install the system, but not activate it; to activate it, you need to replace this key with a working full-fledged one after installation. I enter the generic key and continue the installation. I should have stopped and thought at this moment (the key request), but I missed this moment. The fact is that if the system key hardwired into UEFI is suitable for installing a given version of Windows, then the system should not ask for it during installation. At all . In this case, she uses it automatically. If you are asked for a key, this is a sign that either the key from UEFI cannot be read, or you are using the wrong one. given key distribution version. However, I didn’t know about it at that time, so it didn’t raise any questions for me. So, the system was installed and started. Now it was necessary to activate it, and to do this, somehow remove the key from the UEFI. As it turned out, this is not at all difficult task. To do this, you can use the PKeyUI utility - you just need to run it and check the “MSDM” box - the utility will display the key saved in UEFI. If the “MSDM” field does not appear when you start the utility, then either the key is not in the firmware or it is not readable. So, I received the key. Next, I tried to activate the system with it, and then a problem awaited me too - the activation system stated that the key was not working. Recalling the OEM Windows distribution methods, I decided that apparently I needed a system image intended for OEM assemblers. Well, no problem. After some searching, the distribution of the original system image for OEM suppliers of version 8.1 was found on torrent trackers. I downloaded it, created the installation flash drive again, tried to install and activate again. However, I got the same error again. A search for information on the topic yielded a method (as it later turned out, not working) - it was necessary to delete using the slmgr script old key, install a new one and then activate the system normally. I tried it, but when I tried to install the native system key I always received an error:

0xC004F069

Which, normally, is associated with time desynchronization between the target PC and the key server. After struggling a little and spending another half hour searching for methods to fix this problem, I came to the conclusion that it’s probably worth turning to the original source, i.e., Microsoft Corporation. A call to technical support with a description of the problem clarified everything: it turns out main mistake I did when I tried to use a Windows 8.1 image! As it turned out, the Windows 8.1 image is absolutely not suitable for clean install on PCs that came with Windows 8 pre-installed, and even bypassing the problem using a generic key will do nothing, because OEM keys from Windows 8 are not suitable for activating a clean OEM installation of Windows 8.1, although they are valid. The only way to install version 8.1 on a PC with Windows 8 pre-installed is to upgrade the system via Microsoft Store- only this way and no other way. After thanking the support, I went to download a clean OEM Windows version 8.

But my ordeal did not end there; everything turned out to be not so simple. The pure OEM version was categorically refused to be installed - immediately after clicking the “Install” button, it reported that the key specified (in UEFI) did not match any of the detected system images. After some googling, it turned out that, among other things, you need to create a installation flash drive marker files with the correctly specified system edition and key. Okay, let's go to the sources folder on the installation flash drive and create two files there: ei.cfg and pid.txt

Contents of ei.cfg:

Core
OEM
0

Here
EditionID is the edition of the system, it can be Core or Professional,
Channel is a distribution channel, it can be OEM or Retail,
VL is a sign of a building. versions, can be 0 or 1.

The above example is the norm for laptops, basic OEM Windows, not corporate.

Contents of pid.txt:

Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Instead of XXXXX we enter the key that we received through pkeyui. As a result of these actions, we get a bootable USB flash drive with which Windows 8 will still be installed. But my joy was premature - it was installed, but in some mysterious way it wrote down some completely outrageous key that had nothing to do with what I wrote in pid.txt (the original from UEFI). An attempt to change this left key to an adequate one was successful, but when I tried to activate it, the system gave the same notorious error that the key does not correspond to the system edition! It turned out that there is one more nuance - distribution kits, in addition to editions and licensing method, are also divided by SKU, and laptop builders are usually listed on CoreSingleLanguage or CoreCountrySpecific. And I needed the CoreSingleLanguage image, because for all types of SKUs the installation keys are different. Why in this case the system allows you to continue the installation is absolutely not clear to me - it does not make any sense, since the key will not work anyway and there is no way to change the SKU installed system I personally didn't find it. Quietly cursing, I went to look for an OEM distribution with the “CoreSingleLanguage” SKU. And finally I found it, it is on many trackers, so as not to provide links to potentially dangerous resources, I’ll just give the MD5 of the required distribution:

2F3EC4EA9F604DF608AC0B1EE4C53CF1

I processed the distribution I found, created marker files and hoped that that was it - my problems were solved and after the 4th reinstallation, Windows 8 would finally not only install, but also allow itself to be activated. Not so! The processed distribution kit, after clicking the “Install” button, gave me an error that I had already seen before: that the specified (in UEFI) key does not match any of the detected system images! Cursing, I tried to simply delete the created ei.cfg and pid.txt files from the flash drive. I start from it and... the system accepts the key and installs! After installation, the system status is activated!

Plus, for the entire process, I derived an algorithm that, in my opinion, should be followed during this procedure:

If the laptop was just Windows 8, then we just take Windows 8 and not Windows 8.1 - even if we install 8.1, we won’t be able to activate it!
We find out the Windows key using the pkeyui utility - run it on a live system, check the MSDM box and write down the key.
We call Microsoft technical support, briefly explain the situation and ask them to check the validity and ownership of the extracted key. The guys from technical support will check the key without any problems and tell you what type of distribution it is suitable for - basic or professional, OEM or retail and what its SKU is - CoreSingleLanguage or CoreCountrySpecific or something else altogether.
Search and download system image strictly corresponding to the key. If this is a laptop, then most likely you will need an OEM and in most cases CoreSingleLanguage
Download the disk image and make a bootable USB flash drive using the Windows 7 USB / DVD download tool (or manually like this - with some Windows images 7 USB / DVD download tool does not want to work). So far, after this we are not doing anything additional with the flash drive. Alternatively, you can (and it will be even better) to do bootable UEFI flash drive using Rufus.
We reboot, immediately after the start we quickly press Esc. If the flash drive was made through the Windows 7 USB / DVD download tool, then select BIOS Setup, in the boot settings in the BIOS you need to turn off Secure Boot and enable Legacy Boot - otherwise we will not boot from the flash drive. If you made a UEFI flash drive with using Rufus- this should not be done. Now insert the flash drive.
We reboot, immediately after the start we quickly press Esc. Choosing a choice boot devices, select your flash drive and start installing the system. If everything is done correctly, the system will be installed without asking for any keys at all.
If it doesn’t work out and the system either doesn’t accept the key at all or installs it but then doesn’t want to activate, go to the sources folder on the installation flash drive and create two files there: ei.cfg and pid.txt, setting their contents as indicated above. We are trying to install the system from a flash drive with the created marker files.
After installation, we activate the system - if it is activated, then everything is fine, if not, you have selected the wrong distribution.

The result of all of the above are several rhetorical questions to the laptop manufacturer and Microsoft. To the manufacturer main question- why did the recovery system work like a self-destruction system? Habrovsk residents, has anyone else come across this? And to Microsoft - well, why such paranoid software protection measures? Why are they like this? After all, in in this case there was a completely legal process of the most banal reinstallation of the destroyed OS. In fact, we have a situation where a user whose OS has crashed will in no way, absolutely not, be able to reinstall it on his own - this requires remarkable skills. Overall, I had to reinstall the system four times to figure out this confusing installation system. Why create such difficulties? After all, in the end, if you count all the possible modifications of distributions with different types It turns out that there are almost 30 licenses. Is this so specific? additional protection from piracy? For the rest, it’s science: be careful and don’t unfoundedly believe articles on the Internet. The same “working” installation method widely copied everywhere clean Windows 8.1 followed by activation with the native key turned out to be completely ineffective and took me about five hours of time, which could have been spent with much greater benefit. Okay, at least now I know almost all the features of licensing and activation of Win 8. I hope this story will be useful for you too.

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oem versions
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...or how to create a problem for yourself and then heroically overcome it.

In general, I reboot it, go into the startup settings (if anyone doesn’t know how to do this on beeches with UEFI of the latest series - press ESC right from the very beginning of startup) and turning off Secure Boot (this is necessary to start the recovery system), I launch native System Recovery. As it turned out, I turned off Secure Boot and switched the system to Legacy Mode in vain - it was these actions that caused such strange behavior of the native recovery system, as discussed below. I instruct to restore the system to its original state with the deletion of all user data (the data was copied in advance). And this is where the adventure begins. The recovery process, having started, displays the first stage of execution - formatting the partition for Windows. The stage reaches the end, after which the recovery process stops, giving an obscure error with a digital code, and the ultrabook reboots, only to give me a message that the system was not found on the disk. It’s logical, I think, we’ve just cleared its partition, and I press the System Recovery key again to try to continue the recovery process. And here the first surprise awaited me: I received the same message about the absence of the system. As it turned out, the System Recovery system self-destructed along with the cleaned system. Now I had an ultrabook in my hands without a system, without a recovery image on the hard drive and without recovery disks.

There was only one option left - to reinstall the system from scratch. It would seem that what is the problem? We reinstall and that's it. However, do not rush, not everything is as simple as it seems. In order not to waste extra time later on upgrading the system to 8.1, I decided to immediately install a clean 8.1. No sooner said than done, I download the latest Windows 8.1 image from MSDN, make a bootable USB flash drive using the Windows 7 USB - DVD tool, and start the installation. The first problem is that I don’t know the key yet, but as luck would have it, it is required to continue the installation. It’s not clear to me why this was done; Windows 7 allowed you to skip the key entry step. A short search on the Internet gives the answer - you need to use generic keys opened by Microsoft itself - they allow you to install the system, but not activate it; to activate it, you need to replace this key with a working full-fledged one after installation. I enter the generic key and continue the installation. I should have stopped and thought at this moment (the key request), but I missed this moment. The fact is that if the system key hardwired into UEFI is suitable for installing a given version of Windows, then the system should not ask for it during installation. At all . In this case, she uses it automatically. If you are asked for the key, this is a sign that either the key from UEFI cannot be read, or you are using a distribution version that is not suitable for this key. However, I didn’t know about it at that time, so it didn’t raise any questions for me. So, the system was installed and started. Now it was necessary to activate it, and to do this, somehow remove the key from the UEFI. As it turned out, this is not a difficult task at all. To do this, you can use the PKeyUI utility - you just need to run it and check the “MSDM” box - the utility will display the key saved in UEFI. If the “MSDM” field does not appear when you start the utility, then either the key is not in the firmware or it is not readable. So, I received the key. Next, I tried to activate the system with it, and then a problem awaited me too - the activation system stated that the key was not working. Recalling the OEM Windows distribution methods, I decided that apparently I needed a system image intended for OEM assemblers. Well, no problem. After some searching, the distribution of the original system image for OEM suppliers of version 8.1 was found on torrent trackers. I downloaded it, created the installation flash drive again, tried to install and activate again. However, I got the same error again. A search for information on the topic yielded a method (as it later turned out, not working) - it was necessary to use the slmgr script to remove the old key, install a new one and then activate the system normally. I tried it, but when I tried to install the native system key I always received an error:

0xC004F069

Which, normally, is associated with time desynchronization between the target PC and the key server. After struggling a little and spending another half hour searching for methods to fix this problem, I came to the conclusion that it’s probably worth turning to the original source, i.e., Microsoft Corporation. A call to technical support with a description of the problem clarified everything: it turns out that I made the main mistake when I tried to use the Windows 8.1 image! As it turned out, the Windows 8.1 image is categorically unsuitable for a clean installation on PCs that came with Windows 8 pre-installed, and even bypassing the problem using a generic key will not work, because OEM keys from Windows 8 are not suitable for activating a clean installed Windows 8.1 OEM are valid though. The only way to install version 8.1 on a PC with Windows 8 pre-installed is to upgrade the system through the Microsoft Store - this is the only way. After thanking the support, I went to download a clean OEM version of Windows 8.

But my ordeal did not end there; everything turned out to be not so simple. The pure OEM version was categorically refused to be installed - immediately after clicking the “Install” button, it reported that the key specified (in UEFI) did not match any of the detected system images. After some googling, it turned out that, among other things, you need to create marker files on the installation flash drive, with the correct system edition and key specified. Okay, let's go to the sources folder on the installation flash drive and create two files there: ei.cfg and pid.txt

Contents of ei.cfg:

Core
OEM
0

Here
EditionID is the edition of the system, it can be Core or Professional,
Channel is a distribution channel, it can be OEM or Retail,
VL is a sign of a building. versions, can be 0 or 1.

The above example is the norm for laptops, basic OEM Windows, not corporate.

Contents of pid.txt:

Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Instead of XXXXX we enter the key that we received through pkeyui. As a result of these actions, we get a bootable USB flash drive with which Windows 8 will still be installed. But my joy was premature - it was installed, but in some mysterious way it wrote down some completely outrageous key that had nothing to do with what I wrote in pid.txt (the original from UEFI). An attempt to change this left key to an adequate one was successful, but when I tried to activate it, the system gave the same notorious error that the key does not correspond to the system edition! It turned out that there is one more nuance - distribution kits, in addition to editions and licensing method, are also divided by SKU, and laptop builders are usually listed on CoreSingleLanguage or CoreCountrySpecific. And I needed the CoreSingleLanguage image, because for all types of SKUs the installation keys are different. Why in this case the system allows you to continue the installation is absolutely not clear to me - it does not make any sense, since the key will not work anyway and I personally have not found a way to change the SKU of an already installed system. Quietly cursing, I went to look for an OEM distribution with the “CoreSingleLanguage” SKU. And finally I found it, it is on many trackers, so as not to provide links to potentially dangerous resources, I’ll just give the MD5 of the required distribution:

2F3EC4EA9F604DF608AC0B1EE4C53CF1

Plus, for the entire process, I derived an algorithm that, in my opinion, should be followed during this procedure:

If the laptop was just Windows 8, then we just take Windows 8 and not Windows 8.1 - even if we install 8.1, we won’t be able to activate it!
We find out the Windows key using the pkeyui utility - run it on a live system, check the MSDM box and write down the key.
We call Microsoft technical support, briefly explain the situation and ask them to check the validity and ownership of the extracted key. The guys from technical support will check the key without any problems and tell you what type of distribution it is suitable for - basic or professional, OEM or retail and what its SKU is - CoreSingleLanguage or CoreCountrySpecific or something else altogether.
Search and download system image strictly corresponding to the key. If this is a laptop, then most likely you will need an OEM and in most cases CoreSingleLanguage
Download the disk image and make a bootable USB flash drive using the Windows 7 USB / DVD download tool (or manually like this - the Windows 7 USB / DVD download tool does not want to work with some images). So far, after this we are not doing anything additional with the flash drive. Alternatively, you can (and this will be even better) make a bootable UEFI flash drive using Rufus.
We reboot, immediately after the start we quickly press Esc. If the flash drive was made through the Windows 7 USB / DVD download tool, then select BIOS Setup, in the boot settings in the BIOS you need to turn off Secure Boot and enable Legacy Boot - otherwise we will not boot from the flash drive. If you made a UEFI flash drive using Rufus, you should not do this. Now insert the flash drive.
We reboot, immediately after the start we quickly press Esc. We select the choice of boot devices, select our flash drive and begin installing the system. If everything is done correctly, the system will be installed without asking for any keys at all.
If it doesn’t work out and the system either doesn’t accept the key at all or installs it but then doesn’t want to activate, go to the sources folder on the installation flash drive and create two files there: ei.cfg and pid.txt, setting their contents as indicated above. We are trying to install the system from a flash drive with the created marker files.
After installation, we activate the system - if it is activated, then everything is fine, if not, you have selected the wrong distribution.

The result of all of the above are several rhetorical questions to the laptop manufacturer and Microsoft. The main question for the manufacturer is why did the recovery system act as a self-destruction system? Habrovsk residents, has anyone else come across this? And to Microsoft - well, why such paranoid software protection measures? Why are they like this? Indeed, in this case, there was a completely legal process of the most banal reinstallation of the destroyed OS. In fact, we have a situation where a user whose OS has crashed will in no way, absolutely not, be able to reinstall it on his own - this requires remarkable skills. Overall, I had to reinstall the system four times to figure out this confusing installation system. Why create such difficulties? After all, in the end, if you count all the possible modifications of distributions with different types of licenses, it turns out that there are almost 30 of them. What is this, some kind of specific additional protection against piracy? For the rest, it’s science: be careful and don’t unfoundedly believe articles on the Internet. That same “working” method, widely copied everywhere, of installing clean Windows 8.1 and then activating it with a native key turned out to be completely unworkable and took me about five hours of time, which could have been spent with much greater benefit. Okay, at least now I know almost all the features of licensing and activation of Win 8. I hope this story will be useful for you too.

Tags: Add tags

Hello friends, in today's tutorial we will see how we can recover the activation license key for Windows or Windows 8 8.1 Pro and even Windows 7.
As you probably know, laptops and ultrabooks are sold with Windows pre-installed. Manufacturers do not offer DVDs with operating system for cases where the client wants to do a re-install, but stick to their Stapele abtipild with a license key for the operating system installed on the laptop in question. If you want to do reinstalling Windows, you must install the same version of Windows that you installed on your laptop, when you only bought in this situation the license located on abtipildul on the back of the laptop, you can activate the operating system by reinstalling,
In most cases, companies do backup and creates hidden section (Partition Recovery) in the laptop you backup copy the operating system can be restored, thus returning to the factory settings and operating system as it was when you started your laptop for the first time,
Perhaps many of us already have an operating system DVD and we want to take care of 50GB partition recovery. Removing this partition recovery can get more storage space on our laptop.
Unfortunately, for manufacturers who ship laptops with Windows 8 or 8.1, things have changed little. Many laptops are not abtipildul licensed and bonded behind the license key the laptop comes with an embedded operating system (embedded) operating system. If I deleted partition recovery, so you make the most non-technical users who were left without a license for the operating Windows systems, or Windows 8 8.1
Presented by a simple trick tutorial today we get an 8.1 license for the Windows operating system, without the use of additional software. So after I have received / restored the license for Windows 8.1 Pro we can safely remove the partition recovery and we can reinstall the operating system using the avechiului licemta system key to activate the new operating system installed.
Finally Recover your old license key for Windows 8.1 before reinstalling the operating system and delete the recovery partition on your laptop!
Licenses and how to act as an operating system will be discussed in another textbook. Until next time, I wish you a pleasant viewing!

PowerShell script code used in the tutorial:
Get-WindowsKey ( ## to retrieve the key Windows product from any PC param ($target = ".") $hklm = 2147483650 $regPath = " Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" $regValue = "DigitalProductId4" Foreach ($ target в $ target) $ productKey = $ null $ win32os = $ null $ wmi = "\\ $ Target \ root \ default: stdRegProv" $ data = $ wmi.GetBinaryValue ($ hklm, $ regPath, $ regValue) $ binArray = ($ data.uValue) $ "," C "," D "," F "," G "," H "," J "," K "," M " , "Т", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "2" "3" "4" "6" "7" "8" "9" ## decrypt base24 закодированные двоичные данные Для ($ i = 24; $ i -ge 0; $ i--) { $ k = 0 Для ($ j = 14; $ j -ge 0; $ j--) { $ k = $ k * 256 -bxor $ binArray [$ j] $ binArray [$ j] = :: truncated ($ k / 24) $ k = $ k% 24 } $ productKey = $ charsArray [$ k] + $ productKey Если (($ i% 5 -eq 0) - и ($ i -ne 0)) { $ productKey = "-" + $ productKey } } $ win32os = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $ target $ obj = объект нового объекта $ obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Компьютер -значение $ target $ obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Caption -value $ win32os.Caption $ obj | Add-Member Noteproperty CSDVersion -значение $ win32os.CSDVersion $ obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSArch -значение $ win32os.OSArchitecture $ obj | Add-Member Noteproperty BuildNumber -value $ win32os.BuildNumber $ obj | Add-MemberNoteproperty RegisteredTo-value $ win32os.RegisteredUser $ obj | Add-member noteproperty ProductID -значение $ win32os.SerialNumber $ obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductKey -value $ productkey $ OBJ } } Get-WindowsKey localhost!}

Windows 8 System Restore may be required if critical errors in PC operation. So that the user does not have to completely reinstall the OS, special tools are provided that allow you to restore your computer even without deleting files or changing general parameters systems. In this article you will learn how to start restoring a computer or laptop on Win 8 in different ways.

Below we consider two scenarios: with a working operating system and with a faulty one. In the first case, you can perform recovery from the Windows 8 interface without a disk or flash drive, and in the second you will need bootable media for copying system files. All methods are presented below:

rollback from a restore point;
using Refresh your PC;
reset to factory settings on laptop;
recovery using boot disk or flash drives.

Let's consider each of the methods in detail. All instructions are fully working and suitable for any Windows builds 8 32/64 Bit.

System restore point

This method allows you to roll back the OS to a certain state. You must do the following:

Open File Explorer using the icon on the taskbar.

In the left directory, find the item “This computer” and click on it right click mouse to select “Properties” from the menu.

In the window that opens, click on the “System Protection” button.

In the selected tab, click on the “Restore” button.

On the first screen, click on “Next”.

From the list, select a checkpoint according to the date when the computer was stable and working. Click "Next".

To begin the procedure, click the “Finish” button.

Now you know how to use a checkpoint to rollback the OS state.

Creating a checkpoint

If you don't have it configured automatic creation checkpoints, you can do this manually. This option will be useful if problems arise with the OS in the future:

Open the Properties window again and click on System Protection.

Next, click on the “Create” button marked in the screenshot.

Enter a name and click "Create".

Wait until the procedure is completed. After it, the current OS configuration will be saved as control point. You can easily restore this state in case of Windows 8 malfunction using the instructions described above.

Rollback via Options

Windows 8 debuted the Refresh Your PC tool. With its help, the user can roll back the OS state to the required state. You can save applications and settings, return your PC to factory settings, completely reinstall the system, or launch a safe environment and perform necessary actions through her.

First you need to open “Computer Settings”:

Right-click on the Start icon and select Find.

IN search bar Search for "PC Settings" and open the appropriate application.

In the list of sections, select "Update and Recovery".

Go to the “Recovery” subsection. Here are tools that allow you to return the OS to its original state or start safe mode.

The first option (1) allows you to restore factory defaults. Windows settings 8 without losing personal files, music, photos, etc. Using the second item (2) you can call up the menu for complete reinstallation OS and return it to factory default settings. Moreover, all personal files and installed applications will be deleted. By clicking on the button in the third paragraph (3), you can call up the safe environment and continue settings through it. The first two options allow you to roll back the system from the Windows 8 interface.

It’s worth taking a closer look at the safe environment, since advanced functionality awaits you there.

Click on the “Restart now” button and wait - on the screen you will see a menu launching with a choice of action. Click on "Diagnostics".

As you can see, here you can perform all the same operations as in Windows interface 8. However, the diagnostic menu can be useful if the OS does not boot. Click on the button Extra options" to go to advanced functionality. With it you can:

roll back the OS to a checkpoint;
use wim image for recovery;
roll back the system via the command line.

Let's consider all the possibilities in more detail. We dealt with the first point above - the procedure is no different from performing it in running Windows 8.

By clicking on “Restore system image”, you launch a program to automatically unpack a pre-created wim archive. It should contain the entire OS with personal settings and programs. You can connect a disk or flash drive to your computer to unpack a third-party wim image. This way you will get a complete system.

"Command Prompt" allows you to start the rollback procedure using simple commands. Click on the appropriate button to launch the application. Now enter the command “rstrui.exe” and press Enter to run. After this, you will have access to the PC recovery menu via checkpoint.

You can launch this menu through bootable media if the installed OS does not work correctly and does not start. Let's consider this situation.

Performing the procedure using a flash drive

Performing the procedure this way will require some preparation. First, you need to create bootable media. To do this, you need to visit the official Microsoft website, where the Windows 8 web installer is located and download it to another computer. The bootloader will download the OS files and create boot drive automatically.

Secondly, you need to make settings through the BIOS. To do this, when starting the PC, press the button responsible for entering the BIOS menu (it is indicated on home screen turning on the computer). Go to the "Boot" menu and set the bootable USB flash drive to first place in boot priority. To save the settings, press F10 and restart your PC again.

Now when you turn it on you will see the installer menu. Here you will find the option to uninstall, reinstall the system, hard formatting disk. The creators also highlighted recovery function to a separate menu:

When downloading the application, select your language and click Next.

On the second screen, click on the marked button.

Open the Diagnostics menu.

Using "Restore" will open the tool to roll back to a checkpoint. The "Reset to original state" button launches a tool to return the OS to its factory state. You are already familiar with the contents of the “Advanced Settings” menu.

Select the desired item and start the procedure.

Rollback on a laptop with a pre-installed operating system

Laptop manufacturers that sell devices with pre-installed software provide the ability to rollback using proprietary utilities and funds. Part of the hard drive space is allocated for recovery, so you can start the process of returning your PC to its original settings in a couple of steps.

It refers to Asus laptops, Lenovo, Acer, HP and many others. Let's look at the procedure using an example Acer Iconia tab w5100. Default this company uses the keyboard shortcut Alt +F10, which must be pressed at the initial loading screen with Acer logo.

You will see a menu " Acer eRecovery Management". Select the marked item.

After this, wait until the procedure is completed. During the process, the laptop may reboot several times. The only way to cancel the recovery process is to restart the PC. After the rollback is complete, you will receive the device with factory settings.

The names of the utilities and how to access them differ depending on the laptop manufacturer, but according to this example you can easily restore Windows 8 on any device.

Conclusion

Using the methods described, you can return the working or original Windows status 8 in almost any situation. Use checkpoints to restore your computer to its previous state. The Refresh Your PC functionality is useful when restoring your PC to factory settings. Safe environment useful if Windows 8 does not start - the necessary tools can be opened via a bootable USB flash drive.

Video

Below you can watch a training video that clearly shows all the steps from this article. Together with the video instructions, you will be able to figure out the difficulties and restore your computer without outside help.