System Recovery after installing Windows 7

[lecraevy]

Hi,

I received a brand new HP m9770 Desktop PC and I have installed Windows 7 from the scratch on partition C:\. Unfortunately I want to go back to Vista but I cannot do a system recovery. There is always a partition with the recovery files E:\ but pressing F11 at the boot beginn I cannot chose the system recovery. Is there a way to force the PC to boot into this partition without to order the recovery DVD?

Many thanks for an answer.

Leevy

[CherylG · Accepted solution]

1.Right-click on "Computer" icon and select manage.
2.This will launch the Microsoft Management Console.
3.On the left side of the MMC, click on "Disk Management" and it will show you all of the partitions.
4.Right-click on the "HP Recovery" partition and select "Mark as Active Partition."
5.When the warning prompt appears, select "Yes" - Reboot the machine and it will automatically boot into the Recovery Manager (without having to press F11).

[lecraevy]

Hi,

you are a champ! Thank you so much. It works perfectly.

Bbye

[CherylG]

Glad to help out! Now you might consider burning your Recovery Set as described HERE

[Z1Z]

Follow up questions:

(1) Once you make the other partition active, can you go back and make the main partition active if you change your mind? If so, how would you go about doing it?

(2) I did a clean installation of Vista and lost my preinstalled applications like Microsoft Works and Cyberlink. Can I use the procedure you describe to recover my preinstalled apps and reinstall them into my currnent Windows 7 setup?

Many thanks.

[CherylG]

@ Z1Z

No. Once you make the Recovery partition active and reboot_it starts Recovery to reinstall Vista and all original software..back to factory specs is what you get.

[Z1Z]

Well, is there any way of recovering my preinstalled applications and reinstalling them into my new Win 9 setup??