I bought a Lenovo IdeaPad tablet that came with Windows 8 Pro:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?DocID=PD026486

The first thing that I usually do is create a recovery disc. This time I was able to create a recovery USB drive. But then I thought of something -- how would I recover from it?

I asked at the Lenovo community site and people told me to connect a USB keyboard and press Fn + F12 during booting. The issue is that, first, I do not have a physical keyboard for it. Do I really need to pay $50+ just to boot from a USB drive? And secondly, even if I got a physical keyboard this tablet has only one mini USB port so if I use it up to connect a USB keyboard, how would I connect the USB flash drive?

So can someone clarify this for me? Again, all I need to know is how to restore from a recovery USB drive.

But then I thought of something -- how would I recover from it?

Do you have a mouse or a pen?  I think that the menus are GUI, e.g. not text, so you may be able to click options and not have to key anything in.   Also, at some stage you would be given an On-Screen Keyboard; then, again, a real keyboard would not be required.  On my Tablet the availability of Touch (including the pen) seems to depend on the lack of availability of either other input devices.   YMMV.

I thought a useful question about the capability of your system regarding lack of a keyboard might be "How do I access the BIOS settings on an Ideapad?"  but a search of the Lenovo support pages was inconclusive.   E.g. it seemed that the availability of Fn keys was assumed, which would imply a keyboard was assumed but doesn't say it would be necessary.  I suggest you try it and see.   ; )

 
Good luck

Thanks, Robert. I found out that I can get into BIOS by holding down Up+Down volume buttons while also pressing the Power button. Quite a tricky move, but it works.

The issue is that I'm not sure which booting mode I need to pick. I set it up as such (take a look):
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s99/dc2000_bucket/photo2_zps1ad75c94.jpg

But still with the settings above, when I plug in this USB flash drive that I made in Windows 8 with the recovery data, and then reboot, the tablet hangs up for a minute or so and then brings up this screen:
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s99/dc2000_bucket/1_zpsa3235765.jpg

If I chose English I get to this:
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s99/dc2000_bucket/2_zps4817c4e1.jpg

I chose US:
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s99/dc2000_bucket/3_zpsa2f19dba.jpg

Then "Use a device" after which I get this screen:
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s99/dc2000_bucket/4_zpsf1f79ab0.jpg

And no matter what I chose there the tablet restarts back to the first screen.

Any idea what am I missing here?

Any idea what am I missing here?

Great doc's!   I'm not clear on which device is which?   So, in case the Flash drive is not the first one, I would probably try using that drag and drop reordering feature that the Boot screen mentions.   But that would be assuming that the Boot order reflects what happens automatically, and without any pause to allow you to interrupt it.  So, is the first screen really what the machine uses to do an initial boot or is it just a boot menu from your hard drive that you are shown, e.g. with a pause to decide which one to start?  For example, if your hard drive is first then I suspect you would be getting its boot manager, not the one on your Recovery disk.  Maybe a better example of what I'm getting at would be to imagine that you wanted to boot from a DVD.   I think you would have to have the entry for that device first in order to be given the choice to use a disc inserted there to boot from instead of booting normally from your hard drive, which would therefore have to appear somewhere lower in the list.

Let's see if I can find a support document somewhere which would support my speculations...

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-Edge-Knowledge-Base/ThinkPad-Twist-s230u-Problem-with-booting-from-USB/ta-p/1035373

(Lenovo forums search for
    boot order uefi
)

It doesn't exactly support my idea but at least mentions a possible option for you if you could generate an F12  <eg>

<quote>

Selected USB HDD on startup "Choose a temporary startup device" (a menu you will get when pressing F12 in the startup).
</quote>

 
HTH

 
Robert

Thanks. The first picture is a screenshot from my actual BIOS or UEFI as I guess they call it now. As you can see I put USB HDD as the first item in the boot order. So I'm not sure why that wouldn't work? I obviously can't hit any keyboard buttons like I'd do on a desktop. So that is out of the equation.

Your link though brings up an interesting point. They claim there that the device won't boot from USB stick unless Secure Boot is disabled in UEFI. The issue is that I can't find an option to disable it.

Damn, I don't think it's even possible to boot from a USB stick. Lenovo probably doesn't want us to reinstall anything. They'd rather have us buy a new tablet if the old OS goes bad, wouldn't they?

As you can see I put USB HDD as the first item in the boot order. So I'm not sure why that wouldn't work? I obviously can't hit any keyboard buttons like I'd do on a desktop.

For the reason I mentioned.   You can't use the conditional boot request via Fn+F12 so you must do it using the BIOS boot device selection order.   Therefore, if you want to boot from a device which is ordinarily not bootable you must position it first in that list.  Did you understand my DVD example?  I was hoping you might have had prior experience with setting up BIOS which would have made it relevant.  E.g. you would put the DVD device first in the list because ordinarily you would not have bootable media mounted in it and if you did you would be given a few seconds to "hit any key" to request that it be used.  That would bring up your next hurdle to overcome, finding out how to substitute for an "any key" requirement using only a pointer device.  I am hoping that UEFI at least will deal with that.

 
Good luck

 
Robert
---

Hello ahmd0!

        I see your problem. May I suggest to you one of two things, or both if the first one is not effective. Number one, choose the Windows Boot Manager and try to see if you can go into Safe Mode; if so, select the option to perform a 'System Restore' inside the control panel once inside safe mode to a previous date that the computer performed correctly on. Number two, if this option is not accomplishable then I suggest next to select the 'Troubleshoot' option and choose to 'Refresh your PC' so that it may correct any internal issues within your system. Last but not least, you can also use the 'Remove Everything and Re-install Windows 8' option which should be in the same location inside the 'Troubleshoot' option once selected- this will perform a clean installation and remove any harmful or corrupted system file. However, I do suggest for future preferences that you purchase a USB keyboard for ease of use with your system interaction. Please post back to let us know if this helps resolve your issue- don't forget to vote!  

P.S.- Do not install the USB media device unless you are Refreshing or Removing Everything & Reinstalling Windows 8; but only plug in the USB device when asked for by the system prompt during this process!

HI Sirkeen75,

I saw your answer above. I have similar issue with my Thinkpad twist with win 8

I am trying to reset it. So I created a win 8  recovery in usb by following the instructions on their site.

Not when I am trying to boot the laptop to reset, by going to bios and selecting HDD as my usb drive , it starts .

I select the option to Yes, partition the drives /fully clean the drive

It tool 2 hours to reformat my laptop but it comes to a screen with country and then languge selection and then goes in the loop of same prompts again and never give me option to continue and load from the hard drive. Not sure whats wrong with the bootable usb. and Also I do not have a OS key since it is part of BIOS now. 

Can you please help me resolving this issue

Thanks..

Hello Zubedi35,

I think I know what your problem is. First, what operating system did you format the Windows 8 USB drive on? Second, what USB formatting application are you using? Lastly, do you have an alternate computer (desktop, laptop) that you can place the hard drive in? All these factors matter; however, there are other alternatives. As soon as you answer these questions for me I can better assist you. Please respond back so we can move forward.

Hi

I didnt format the USB before bu I directly used it to create the win 8 recovery from Win 8 system follwing the instructions from the lenovo site.

I didnt use any formatting application. I didn't understood ur 3rd question . I do have another laptop that I could place that usb in ( may be thats what u mean). 

I feel that, there is something wrong with the recovery usb that was created and I would need another win 8 recovery usb or need to download but other prob is I do not have a key which is usually needed for download.

Hello Again Zubedi35!

        Ok, I think I have it covered. First, you need a key to be able to proceed with the installation process. When you get a key, go online and download the windows 8 usb installer to be able to install a properly formatted installation of windows 8 to your usb drive; make sure you use a windows 7 or windows 8 computer to format and install windows 8 to your usb- very important! Once you have windows 8 installed to your usb drive, all you need is the key and the installation process on your pc will be a cinch. But before you get ready to do the installation of windows 8 to your desired computer, first you must do one thing- reformat your hard drive again. Since you said you have another computer (preferably a desktop), you may place the hard drive from your laptop that you are trying to install windows 8 on and place that hard drive into the other computer- but you will need an external device to place the hard drive in to be able to reformat it if you don't have a desktop computer with an extra bay (slot to put an extra hard drive into) to place the hard drive in and perform the reformatting. I would try to find someone with a desktop that has an extra bay to place that hard drive in and reformat it (it must be a computer with a windows 7 or 8 operating system on it so that you may be able to see the drive and perform the reformatting process. If you choose to do this, you must turn the desktop computer off and open the side of the computer then connect the hard drive to the sata connectors of the open bay. Then, turn the computer back on and go to 'My Computer' (on windows 7 computer) or click the little folder (File Explorer) on the taskbar and look in 'Devices and Drives' and the hard drive should show up next to the main drive (Local Disk C:). Formatting your hard drive is just like formatting your usb- just uses a different method of connecting. Try and purchase an external USB Disk Drive to install windows 8 to your pc from a CD if you choose not to go through this process of installation by usb. I hope this helps and please notify me if you have any other questions or if you need help through the installation process- enjoy your Windows 8 computer!

I've just blown up my Yoga Tablet 2 (8") by shutting it down while it was repartitioning. D'oh.

The single most important thing you can do if you are going to mess with one of these things is to create a recovery key. I don't think one created on another variety of Windows machine will work. It took me a while to realise that the mini-USB power point is actually 2-way so you can buy a mini-USB to female USB adapter and plug in a USB stick.

Anyway, once created and retrieved from the safe place you stored it turn the tablet on by holding the power button and up-volume button. This gives you a Lenovo boot menu where you can select to boot from the USB and hey-presto you can restore.