Anyone know how to enter the recovery partition on a gateway ML3109?

[DougEFresh]

Gateway Ml3109 Laptop - Vista

I know it has it because I was just going to reinstall the operating system and saw it there. When I boot it only gives me 3 options:

Boot menu F2
Bios settings F10
PXE Boot F12

I can't do anything in the bios but select the boot device not the partition. Boot menu does the same thing and the PXE boot is for booting without the hard drive.

 

[buwish]

If memory serves me correctly, you'll have to try another function key on boot up. Sony's are the same way in the sense that the function option for recovery is not listed (at least the one i was working on).

 

[techshui]

Try tapping the Del key. Also try F11, if neither of those work, then try these combos below:

Fn+F2
Fn+F8
Fn+F10
Fn+F11
Fn+F12
Shift+F2
Shift+F8
Shift+F10
Shift+F11
Shift+F12

Remember to hit these key combos before Vista loads, only when you sure the keys were pressed, cross it off the list on move on. When you do determine the correct key combo, please post back here, it will help others with the same question.

 

[DougEFresh]

I tried all of those combos, none seem to work. What if I delete the primary partition so the partition with the recovery console on it is the only one left. It would have to boot into it then right?

 

[techshui]

It would seem logical, but no, it won't boot into the Recovery Partition if the Operating System (Primary) partition is deleted. It simply will have no active partition left, and default to DVD-ROM, or give you a system boot error (i.e. No operating system found).

What you need is a Boot loader, a program that allows you to bypass the usual partition, and even that's not guaranteed to work, but it's worth a try. GAG is a good example (http://gag.sourceforge.net/index.html). It contains a file named cdrom.iso which can be burned using Nero, InfraRecorder or a similar ISO program.

Set up your BIOS to boot from the new GAG CD, and search for extended partitions to boot from.

If all else fails you can call GateWay tech support at 1-800-395-3817, give them your model number and they will tell you the key combo for entering the Recovery Partition.

 

[DougEFresh]

I tried calling that number and it kept hanging up. I tried gateways support but they said they no longer support it because MPC corp. bought gateways professional division. This is ridiculous. Am I wasting my time trying to get into the recovery partition? Should I just reinstall a fresh os and find the drivers myself?

 

[DougEFresh]

Oh and using GAG didn't work.

 

[techshui]

If you have a Vista Reinstall CD, than by all means use that, it'll probably be faster than troubleshooting this Recovery Partition. 😉

Are you quite sure there's a Recovery Partition on your laptop in the first place? If not, this could be a wild goose chase. To verify that you have a Recovery Partition, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.

Type DISKPART in the prompt Window, then type SEL DISK 0

Type LIST PART, and copy and paste the list that appears (right click the title bar of the command Window). Please paste it on this thread.

 

[DougEFresh]

I know there is a recovery partition because I was just going to reinstall the os and then I saw it listed under the partitions and it was even named recovery. I hate gateway their support was useless. I'm just going to go ahead and use the CD and save my self the headache of trying to figure this out. If anyone reads this and knows what had to be done to get into the recovery console I would still be curious to know what the solution was. Thanks to everyone who posted and tried to help.

 

[techshui]

Ok Doug, good luck! 😉

You probably already knew, but you can find your drivers on this page.

 

[anywheretom]

I found this thread while working on a customers computer whose hard drive had crashed. I was able to successfully clone the recovery partition along with the hard drive data but the drive would not last through cloning the main partition. I went into Gparted and made the Windows partition a valid NTFS partition. After that I was able to use GAG and complete the full factory restore from the restore partition. It worked like a charm. Using GAG was a little quirky. It didn't list the recovery partition, but I created a new operating system and was able to choose the first NTFS file system and it was the correct one. It makes sense now after the fact. Hopefully this helps someone at some point.

 

[gbanfield]

I know there is a recovery partition because I was just going to reinstall the os and then I saw it listed under the partitions and it was even named recovery. I hate gateway their support was useless. I'm just going to go ahead and use the CD and save my self the headache of trying to figure this out. If anyone reads this and knows what had to be done to get into the recovery console I would still be curious to know what the solution was. Thanks to everyone who posted and tried to help.

This works for about every make Iv had issues with.
Right click "my computer" > manage
Go down to disk management
Right click D: and set it to, mark partition as active
Reboot and it should boot into the recovery partition.

 

[FireEyes123]

This works for about every make Iv had issues with.
Right click "my computer" > manage
Go down to disk management
Right click D: and set it to, mark partition as active
Reboot and it should boot into the recovery partition.

Looked everywhere, tried everything. This worked. Cheers man.

 

[zaava1]

This works for about every make Iv had issues with.
Right click "my computer" > manage
Go down to disk management
Right click D: and set it to, mark partition as active
Reboot and it should boot into the recovery partition.

Thank you so much gbanfield. I followed your instructions and got right into recovery partition. I love Tom's Hardware for all the free advice I get while fixing my friends' computers.

 

[deadstick]

thanks for the info, i have been going nuts trying to make this computer boot into recovery mode.

 

[tonygarza]

To answer your original question: <ALT>+<F10> during POST:

Before performing a restore operation, please check the BIOS settings.
1 Check to see if Gateway disk-to-disk recovery is enabled or not.
2 Make sure the D2D Recovery setting in Main is Enabled.
3 Exit the BIOS utility and save changes. The system will reboot.
Note: To activate the BIOS utility, press <F2> during POST.

SOURCE: http://cache.vzw.com/multimedia/mim/gateway_netbook/gateway.pdf

hats off to google

 

[mrg3dit2002]

This works for about every make Iv had issues with.
Right click "my computer" > manage
Go down to disk management
Right click D: and set it to, mark partition as active
Reboot and it should boot into the recovery partition.

thanks!!

 

[Wytezomby]

From the Boot Screen, press Left Alt and F10. That should do it.

 

[L15A127]

Gateway Recovery Management from the start menu.

 

[Dracos2788]

Try tapping the Del key. Also try F11, if neither of those work, then try these combos below:

Fn+F2
Fn+F8
Fn+F10u
Fn+F11
Fn+F12
Shift+F2
Shift+F8
Shift+F10
Shift+F11
Shift+F12

Remember to hit these key combos before Vista loads, only when you sure the keys were pressed, cross it off the list on move on. When you do determine the correct key combo, please post back here, it will help others with the same question.

Fn+F2 worked for me