How To Perform A System Recovery On Your Chromebook Or Chromebox

How To Perform A System Recovery

 Important: You will need a 4GB or larger flash drive and access to a Windows, Linux, or Mac computer with administrative rights to perform the recovery. Make sure to backup any data you have on your flash drive as the recovery process will overwrite it. The USB Drive will also need to be reformatted after you perform the recovery. There will be notes at the bottom of this article describing how to re-format your USB drive for common use again.

Note: The Recovery tool is created and managed by Google. If you have any problems with the recovery tool on your computer, you will need to contact Google for assistance here.

Warning: All account information and data stored on your Chrome device, such as photos, downloaded files, and saved networks, will be deleted. Owner privileges for your primary account will also be reset. However, the actual Google Accounts and any data synced to these accounts won't be affected by the recovery process. After the recovery process is completed, you’ll be guided through the initial setup again.

Readying a ChromeBook For Recovery

Hint: If your Chromebook is already displaying the "Chrome OS is missing or damaged" screen, skip step 1.

ChromeBox Recovery Switch Location

Chromebook Recovery Switch Location
Series 5	Series 550

1. How to reset the unit:
• Power the chromebook off and flip it over with the hinges facing away.
• Insert a paperclip into the reset hole located to the back left on the underside of the unit.
• While pressing the paperclip in, press the power button.
• Release the button the paperclip was holding, and remove the paperclip after the computer displays the "Recovery" screen.

Note: The unit should turn on when pressing the power button. If the screen remains blank after waiting at least 15 seconds, call 1-800-SAMSUNG for assistance, it could possibly be a hardware issue, and hardware issues cannot be fixed by software.

2.  Download the recovery image tool from Google’s server, to your desktop (or somewhere easily accessible).
• Direct Link to the Windows Recovery Tool Download: Here.
• If you are using Linux or Mac to build the recovery tool, please gohere.
• You can access Google’s instructions (or use ours below) for the recovery tool at this link: Google Recovery Tool Instructions.
3.  After you have downloaded the tool, we now start with creating the recovery image.

Creating the Recovery Disk:

1.  Click on the link on the Google recovery page to download the recovery program

         

2. After the file downloads, (we use chrome in this example) go to the location where the file downloaded.

         

3. When you’re prompted to run the program, please do so with administrator privileges.

         

4. The program will display a  “Downloading Chrome OS recovery configurations…” quickly before moving into the model select screen.

         

5. Input your Model before pressing next. The model can be found on the recovery screen and starts with "SAMS". The easy way to select the model is be entering in "SAMS" into the box and selecting the correct model from the drop down list. Make sure you select the correct model that's listed on your recovery screen; Chrome devices are very tough, but it might not like being flashed with the wrong firmware/software:

           

6. Now that we have selected our firmware/software version, we are ready to begin the preparation of the USB drive.

         

7. After the USB stick has been inserted, Select it on the screen if it doesn’t automatically.

         

8. Press the next button. After pressing next, the program will begin to download the recovery image/firmware/software. It’s called an image because it’s then written to the USB drive. After it’s finished downloading, it will begin to unpack the download.

            

9. After the download has been unpacked, it will begin to install itself on the selected USB drive.

        

10. When the installation is complete, the tool will show you that "Your media is ready." After this prompt, remove the USB drive from your computer and we are now prepared for the next steps. We will now proceded with recovery. Click on the "Perform a Recovery" at the bottom of this article.

        

Recovering a ChromeBook:

After a recovery disk has been created, and your chromebook is displaying this screen:

Proceed with the recovery by plugging in the USB/SD card with the recovery image that you just created. The chromebook will take over from there. The chromebook will let you know when the recovery is complete and then you will need to remove the USB/SD card. After they (USB or SD card) are removed, the chrome device will restart and you will be guided through the initial setup again. Recovery is now complete, enjoy your chromebook!

Important: After you are completed with your Recovery, you will need to format the USB drive or SD card with the Chrome Recovery Tool that you downloaded above. Steps to format can be found on Page 2 of this How-To-Guide.

How To Format Your Recovery Media After Completion

Formatting A USB Disk Or SD Card After A Chrome Recovery:

After completing a successful recovery, you will need to reformat the storage media that you used. This can be done through the chrome recovery tool. Instructions are below:

1. Open the Recovery Program.

              

2. Click on Options.

              

3. Move your mouse pointer down to select Format.

             

4. Insert your USB Drive and select it.

             

5. Click on Next.

             

6. A pop-up will appear. Confirm that this is the action you want to perform on this storage media.

             

7. The action will be performed. Click on Continue.

             

8. The Windows Format Tool Will Pop-up. Make sure "Quick Format" is checked.

              

9. Click on start.

              

10. A pop-up will appear. Confirm that this is the action you want to perform on this storage media.

             

11. The window will turn grey while the format proceeds

             

12. After the format is complete, there will be a pop-up that shows the process is finish.

        

The format is now complete! You can use your USB stick or SD Card normally.