Replace Acer D2D recovery with custom image?

We know there is a hidden partition on the XP AAO's where by if you press (I think) Alt+F10 at startup the system will use this image to restore from. Now what I would like to do is replace the stock image with an image of my system as it is now.

I know I can do this using Ghost / Partition Magic / Acronis etc. but what I would like to do is take the image in a way that I can restore it using the alt f10 method rather than having to boot to ghost etc. from a USB key.

Have Acer used one of the above apps to create the image, and therefore is it a case of over writing the existing image with my own image and keeping the file name the same or have Acer used their own app/image type?

 

Intresting thought.

 

OK, I have managed to copy the PQSERVICE partition of the Windows Acer Aspire One.

Does anyone have any idea where the Windows License Key would be set? A config file or something?

I have an Aspire One where the eRecovery partition was writen over and of coarse when I replace the partition with a new copy of a eRecovery partition, the new partition restores the computer with the wrong license key.

I would like to be able to modify a eRecovery image so that it matches the COA sticker on the computer.

 

Instead of replacing Acer's D2D recovery thing, why not replace it with your own version.

1) make a windows xp PE (thats what acer uses too) with norton ghost or something
2) make a image of the OS you want to restore in the future
3) Copy the windows xp PE and the disk image to the partition
4) Hide the partition in windows xp

Now you can use D2D (disk to disk) recovery with your own custom image with more felexibility. You can also use the windows XP PE to backup data and then use the disk image to restore the OS.

 

Could you explain this in a little more detail?

D2D can restore a ghost image with "Windows xp PE".

Has someone done this?

 

Windows XP PE is windows xp pre installation environment. It's basicallly a very slimed down OS that's bootable. You can check Microsoft's knowledge base for that. Basically you boot up PE and then restore the custom image.

Many people have used this method to load custom images to laptops. E.g. acer programers, hp programers, dell programmers, myself and many other people.

 

can you boot to the pe image by using alt + f10 (to activate D2D) or do you have to unhide the partition and set it as the boot partition?

 

Just set the PE partition as the 2nd boot option.

 

I have WinPE usb flash drives that are bootable and have Acronis True Image software, but I have no idea how I would write the Flash Drive's image to a new partition on the operating system hard drive.

 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 22114.aspx

Refer to this article.