HP laptop

[fish_86]

Hi all,

I recently had a friend give me an old laptop. Its a HP dv6700. I wanted to format the thing and do a fresh install of Vista. The friend didn't have a CD from HP for Vista, but I noticed that it has a 12-13Gb partition for recovery.

Can I format the primary partition and then reinstall vista off the recovery or do i need a CD from HP? I tried to get into the recovery partition and it gave me a warning but I can't find a way around the warning to see what all is listed on the recovery partition. I want the Vista and Microsoft Office files, nothing else. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[etk]

There should be a key to press at bootup F11? F9? That should let you enter recovery mode. Google some more to find it, or just start mashing buttons at boot.

 

[fish_86]

At the start up it tells me how to start a recovery. I really want to format the C: partition and reinstall, but I guess I'm scared that the recovery partition isn't for a reinstall.

Is the recovery partition like a backup point. Or would it allow me to format and reinstall fresh with the OS and all applications that came with the computer? My biggest worry is that I will have to eventually get a CD from HP or have to install a different OS, and I don't want the hassle of hunting down a program or buy another.

 

[etk]

You can do a clean install from the recovery partition. If that gets messed up, HP should (or used to) send you the backup disks for $10

 

[fish_86]

Thanks. I did find that there was a recovery manager that let me create some DVD's for a recovery also. Between the partition and disks I should be able to reinstall. Thanks for the help

 

[fish_86]

Best answer selected by fish_86.