Can I recover the E6621A operating system if it fails to start correctly?

The E6621A operating system resides on the C: drive of the instrument, whilst the E6621A application resides on the D: drive. This is a single physical hard drive that has been partitioned into multiple logical drives. If the operating system fails to start, them this may be due to:

Hard drive failure.
Virus infections.
Corrupt/missing system files.

Hard drive failures can present themselves in different ways. For example, the E6621A may not detect the hard drive when it is powered-on. The hard drive may also make a strange clicking sound if there is physical damage to the magnetic platters or read/write heads in the device. If you suspect the E6621A has a defective hard drive then contact your local Keysight Service Center.

Virus infections and corrupt/missing system files can be repaired via the System Software Recovery Procedure. This procedure completely erases the C: drive, and overwrites it with a backup image stored in a hidden partition of the hard drive. This procedure does not affect the E6621A application, E6621A calibration data, or scenario files, as these all reside on the D: drive.

NOTE:
If any user data has been saved to the C: drive (including "My Documents" and the "Desktop"), then this must be backed-up before running the recovery procedure.

The System Software Recovery procedure is carried out as follows:

Connect a USB keyboard to the E6621A.
Power-on the E6621A.
Repeatedly tap the Escape (Esc) key when the black 'BIOS' screen is displayed.
If the operating system loading screen is displayed, then power-cycle the E6621A and try again.
The E6621A will now enter System Software Recovery mode.
Follow the on-screen instructions to recover the C: drive back to its original factory state.
The recovery process takes approximately 20 minutes.