My computer originally came with Windows Vista Home and someone installed Windows 7 Ultimate on it. I'm trying to get it back to factory settings but I think someone deleted the recovery partition files. Is there a way to check if the recovery partition files are still on my hard drive? The recovery discs are no longer available from HP. When I go to the Compaq website it re-directs me to HP's website. Where else can I get the original recovery discs from? The Recovery Manager program icon is missing on the computer but the folder is still there on the Start menu. I believe it used to be a Recovery Manager program by HP, is there anywhere that I can download this program so that I can try to format it back to factory settings from the desktop? Because the F11 key method during boot-up is not working. Or if I can't get any of the above methods to work would the best way be to download Windows Vista Home then use Windows Loader 2.2.1 by Daz? I don't see any option to type in my cd-key, does the Loader by Daz let me do this? forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/24901-Windows-Loader-Current-release-information I remember reading this forum a few years ago and there were .iso links posted here. Someone said there was a DMCA notice and all links had to be removed? When did this happen? What are these msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net links? How come they haven't been removed? forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/44359-Official-Microsoft-Windows-Vista-Direct-Download What exactly are MSDN .iso's? I think I remember that you could download .iso's from Microsoft before but now all the links are gone? Were these links available to the public before but now you have to have some kind of subscription? For example, I think there used to be a MSDN .iso link in this thread where it says "MSDN (untouched)". forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/29408-Office-2010-Pro-Plus-with-SP1-x86-x64-DVD-iso-Retail-VL-*Multi-lang*-Dwnld Also, some threads talk about VL conversion. What is the point of converting something to VL? How come I'm not able to post links or images until I have 20 or greater posts? I just registered here but I have been stopping by to read on things for years.
Thanks for the reply LatinMcG, but I prefer the original software that came shipped with my PC if I'm still able to get it back. I will look into your method if I cannot get the original software back onto it though. What is the bios with slic 2.1? Is this some sort of custom bios? About the drivers you posted. I usually just go to the manufacturer's website(IE: compaq.com, hp.com, etc.) to download the drivers or use Windows Update. Are these two methods not recommended? Is it better to download straight from Intel and Realtek? Is there some program or way to check if my recovery partition files are still on my hard drive or not? Is there somewhere where I can download the Recovery Manager program? I found some links but they're for laptops and I don't think it will work for PC's but I'm not sure. h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=US&swItem=ob-61280-2&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=471753 h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?cc=us&swItem=ob-51976-1
good luck with that old outdated vista mess. if recovery partition is gone, likely u will need original vista .iso to use the key on side of pc.
Is there a way to see if my recovery partition is still present? Maybe with Windows Explorer or something? I think the recovery partition is sometimes hidden. Is there a program or something that can see hidden recovery partitions?