Recovery Image accidentally deleted completely

[Liv_B]

Hey there, I have a serious problem.
My laptop is a year-old ProBook 430 g3. I haven't used it for an entire year, but after my old laptop stopped working (it's not an HP computer, don't worry), I've decided to switch back to this laptop. I stumbled upon the RECOVERY 😧 drive and entered it. I didn't know what I saw, so I removed it because I thought it wasn't important! I used SpaceSniffer to remove the specific files and completely removed it from my laptop. I didn't know that it was important, I forgot to look it up in the internet, and now it's completely gone.
Can I restore it? Is it important anyway? I have Windows 10 64-bit if that helps. I feel so bummed right now, I do things without thinking or checking.
Will it harm my laptop in any way?
Thanks so much in advance.

[Liv_B]

I feel like it's unclear: I entered the 😧 drive and removed Recovery from there, but the space was still fully used. I used SpaceSniffer to remove the individual parts that make up Recovery – this is why it's completely gone.

[David_J_W]

If you have deleted the recovery image without making recovery media, you have lost the option to recover the system to factory settings without obtaining fresh recovery media. The system will work perfectly well without the recovery image.

Generally speaking it is best not to delete files you do not know the purpose of, especially if you do not take a backup first.

You can download Windows 10 and make a USB stick that will allow you to install a vanilla copy of Windows 10 (without any HP software or drivers) using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. The key for Windows 10 is stored in the BIOS chip of your computer.

[Liv_B]

Thank you so much for replying to me! I didn't understand the last part, though. If I already have Windows 10 on my laptop, the vanilla copy that you mentioned acts like a backup of it?

[David_J_W · Accepted solution]

The last part of my reply about installing a vanilla copy of Windows 10 is pointing out that you have a route to recover the system if necessary even if you don't have the recovery image or any HP recovery media. You can install a totally plain ("vanilla" is another way of putting it) copy of Windows using the USB key the Microsoft tool makes, then install the drivers your system needs from the HP support web site. You may not be able to find installers for some of the software HP installed from the factory, but I would argue this is no great loss; I am amongst those who removes most pre-installed software from my systems.

It is worth making the Windows 10 USB stick just in case you need it. From memory, you need at least a 8GB USB stick that is dedicated to this purpose; the Microsoft tool reformats it. Windows 10 is a fairly large download, so it is best to wait until you have a fast Internet connection to create the stick.

[Liv_B]

Thanks, now I get it! I just hope I won't do any of that in the future without checking first.