System recover

[Juzzz]

Hello! I have installed win 8/1 on my PC. (I didn't know there was HP recovery system) Now I need to set factory default and return to my win 7. But i don't have HP system recovery installed on my PC (and it's impossible to download it). Also I have disc F (HP recovery), but i can't start it.

How can I restore the system?

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Juzzz 

The HP Recovery Partition is very sensitive, so if you touched it or modified it in any way, it's very likely to not work anymore.

Normally, you press F11 to invoke the HP Recovery Manager and run that to do a system reset, but if that is not working, that implies the Recovery Partition has become corrupted.

If that is the case, you need to consider ordering HP Recovery Media ...

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities.
In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks. You have to order these from HP; they can not be downloaded.
You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers
Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click "Update". If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the "+" symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.
Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Service:
If you live in the US or Canada, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1
If you live elsewhere, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html
NOTE: After you get through, stay on the line until you are finally able to talk to some one -- it can take a while!
If you have trouble finding a phone number, then try: 1 (650) 857-1501. 

If HP no longer provides Recovery Media for your model, another site you can check is: http://www.computersurgeons.com

If computer surgeons also no longer carries the recovery media you need, try using Windows images downloaded using the tool from this site:

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-iso-download-tool

Download the tool, run it, and do the following:
1) Select Windows 7 at the upper right
2) Under Select edition, if you were running Home Premium, select the Home Premium SP1 COEM
3) Click the Confirm button
4) This tool will then check the product code in your PC, and if it is OK it will put up another link allowing you to download the image file.
5) Select the product language, click confirm button
6) Select either the 64-bit or 32-bit download
7) Save the file

Once you have this, you have a choice of media to create:
1) If you can boot from CD, download and install ImgBurn and use the Write Image to Disk option to create a bootable DVD.
2) If you can boot from USB, download and install RUFUS and use the option to create a bootable USB stick from the ISO file.

You will most likely need to use the product key printed on the sticker (inside the battery compartment if not on the case) to activate the OS. If the product key is invalid, or if you need a different Win7 version, then you are out of luck as this tool is limited.