Member Avatar for nadiam

Hello. I need to do a factory reset on my lappy. Its an Asus A550C. I've tried Restarting then pressing F9 which goes to Windows Boot Manager, the only option is Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered). Then if I press F8 for advance option and choose Repair Computer it says "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem: insert the disc, choose language, click repair.."

I understand Im suppose to get Windows Setup (EMS Enabled) but I don't have that option.

If anyone can help me out that would be great. thanks in advance.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rproffitt

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A focused note for (Asus A550C) and others seeing the same behavior: when the F9 path lands in the Windows boot menu and the Repair option asks for installation media, the machine’s WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) or the factory recovery partition is probably missing or its boot data (BCD/MBR) is corrupted. That can happen after an OS re-install or if the recovery area was damaged. Before ordering recovery media, try these non‑destructive checks and repairs.

Boot from a Windows 7 DVD or a bootable Windows PE/USB, choose Repair your computer → Command Prompt, then inspect disks and attempt boot repairs:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
exit

Look for a small hidden/recovery partition. If a recovery volume exists but WinRE isn’t launching, run these from the same command prompt:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
chkdsk C: /f

If /rebuildbcd reports errors, exporting and renaming the old BCD before rebuilding can help (advanced step—do a backup first):

bcdedit /export C:\bcdbackup
attrib -h -s -r C:\boot\bcd
ren C:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /rebuildbcd

If the recovery partition is absent or too damaged, the practical fallbacks are those mentioned by : obtain official Asus recovery media for the A550C (contact Asus support with model/serial) or reinstall Windows 7 from retail/OEM media using the laptop’s COA product key. Prior to any full reinstall, preserve personal files by booting a Linux live USB (or WinPE) and copying data to an external drive.

Final notes: reinstalling will wipe the OS partition and possibly the recovery area, so back up first. After a reinstall, download chipset and device drivers from Asus support for the A550C. The diskpart output (partition sizes/types) and any bootrec messages are the most useful diagnostics if deeper help is needed.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

This sounds as if the factory restore system is gone. I'm running into laptops that came with 8, someone installed 7 and left the now unsuspecting laptop owner with a time bomb.

To recover you need recovery media you created when you got the laptop. If not, order them.

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