How to Boot Off the Recovery Partition of an HP

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The recovery partition in an HP desktop or laptop computer is a specific chunk of your hard drive set aside for important system files. If the main partition on your hard drive crashes or becomes corrupt, you can boot into the recovery partition and perform tasks that allow you to restore your computer to the exact way it was working on an earlier date.


Step 1

Unplug any external devices and cables that are connected to the HP computer, except for the power cord, mouse, keyboard and monitor. Take CDs, DVDs and data cards out of internal drives, and remove any internal hardware components, such as a video card, that you have added to the original system.


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Step 2

Shut down the computer if it's not off already, and turn it back on.

Step 3

Press the F11 key on your keyboard quickly and repeatedly before Windows loads. If the Windows logo appears, you have gone past the point where you can boot from the recovery partition. Restart your computer and try again. As soon as you see anything on the computer monitor, begin pressing F11. Stop pressing F11 when Recovery Manager opens.

Step 4

Make any changes necessary to your computer.


Although the F11 key automatically boots into the recovery partition, it doesn't mean you can then use your computer as normal. Instead, it brings up a utility that allows you to access Microsoft System Restore or run System Recovery to wipe the hard drive and start from scratch.