Troubleshooting guide

59
Instrument Operating System
Disk Drive Recovery Process
Disk Drive Recovery Process
The Agilent Recovery System can be used to repair errors on the instrument's C:
drive partition or to restore the original factory configuration of the system software.
The Agilent Recovery System is stored in a separate hidden hard disk drive partition.
Repairing errors on the hard disk drive may result in loss of data or files. If you need
more information about the Windows “chkdsk” error repair process, see the chkdsk
documentation in the Microsoft Windows XP Help and Support Center.
Restoring the original factory system software does not restore any of the following
items:
• Windows system configurations that were made after the instrument was shipped
from the factory. For example, Windows and Service Pack updates, user
accounts, and windows configuration settings. After an Agilent Recovery, these
configurations need to be redone.
• Additional software that was installed after the instrument was shipped from the
factory. After an Agilent Recovery, that software needs to be re-installed.
• Any data or programs saved on the D: or E: drives.
• Any upgrades that were made to the Agilent measurement application software.
Restoring the original factory system software will not synchronize the code in the
Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) on the various hardware assemblies. As a
result, you may see an error dialog box appear during the final boot-up at the end of
the recovery process. This typically occurs when there are significant differences
between the software version installed prior to performing the recovery and the
version restored by the recovery. In these situations, upgrade the software to the
latest version.
NOTE It is recommended that you use a regular back up strategy. Your IT department may
already have a back up strategy in place which is suitable for the instrument and its
data. See “System Maintenance” on page 55. Using the Agilent Recovery System in
conjunction with a regular back up strategy should allow you to fully recover the
instrument software and data.
It is recommended that routine backups of the instrument information be performed
to keep current archives of the instrument information. This allows a full recovery of
the instrument information after the instrument recovery system operations are
performed. See “Backup” on page 55 for more details.