Recovering HP Pavilion dv7-6c43cl

[BrianNord]

Greetings.

My HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook crashed fatally several months ago. I (foolishly) had never made any recovery media, and the recovery partition was gone/corrupted.

By "crashed" I mean: Windows would not start. And there was no recovery option that would work. Previously a disk check had indicated bad sectors, which, I believe, were repaired. But perhaps some other bad sectors were left that destroyed Windows.

In any event, I'm happy starting from scratch in one way or another. And, in fact, I have to, because a friend of mine installed Linux and overwrote "pretty much everyting" (he said). Two possibilities, as I see it:

1) Get something from HP that will recreate the factory condition of the computer.

2) Purchase Windows 10.

Does HP offer a recovery CD/DVD I can purchase? (My computer is long past warranty.) If not, I assume I can just buy Windows 10 for $100 or so, and install it, correct?

Linux (Ubuntu) has been fun but I want to go back to Windows. (And an advantage of having used Linux for a few months is that I know that any problems with the disk are not so serious that I can't keep using the computer for a while. For ex., it's not that the read arm is scratching the disk and destroying huge swaths of it (I sound like an ignoramious, no doubt, but I think my general point is valid).

Appreciate any counsel. Thanks.

Brian

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, Brian:

HP no longer sells recovery media for your model, but you can still get a set from this non-HP vendor at the link below...

http://www.computersurgeons.com/p-20615-recovery-kit-679228-002-for-hp-pavilion-entertainment-notebo...

[BrianNord]

Thank you so much! Only $27. I was fearing a much higher price. (Of course, it will come with Windows 7, and I'll need to upgrade to Windows 10, and that might cost a lot more.)

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If you previously upgraded to W10 on that PC, you can clean install W10 for free by making your own W10 installation media using the Media Creation Tool at the link below.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

When you get to the part of the installation script where you are asked to enter a product key, select the 'I don't have a product key' option, and W10 will install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

No need to install W7 beforehand.

[BrianNord]

Ah, that will make things easier.

Just to make sure I understand: when you write "No need to install W7 beforehand" (and "clean install") does this mean I don't even need the factory restore from HP (unless I want the HP specific programs, which I do not)? I can just start straight from the Windows 10 installation media?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That is correct.

The Media Creation tool will give you the option of making a bootable USB installation flash drive, or to save a W10 ISO file which you later burn to a DVD using the burn ISO option on your DVD burning program.

You can clean install W10 on a new hard drive, etc.

No need to ever install W10 first if you had previously had W10 on there (unless you did want the HP factory installed software that orginally came with the PC).

So, save the $27 bucks.  You don't need to install W7.

[BrianNord]

Thank you -- worked perfectly!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.