Windows 7: Newbie stuck on reinstall new hard drive

Hi there

I have a HP Pavilion laptop which came with Windows 7 Home Preinstalled.
On the back of the laptop is a coa product key.
Recently the hard drive failed. I was told that i could easily get a new drive which i have done and i have run the system test and the new drive passes.
However although i have a HP system recovery cd, i do not have any installation cd's for windows as HP don't give you any.
I've tried using the recovery cd but as the new harddrive has never had windows 7 on it, it refuses to work.
What do i do now?
Why don't HP give away the software with their computers. It seems fairly logical that maybe one day in the future you might need to install a new hard drive.

I'm not exactly enthused about paying £100 for the software when i clearly have a legal key on the back of the laptop.

So now I am kinda stuck. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks

The quick and easy way:
what you need: A computer with a disk burner, and a writable dvd.
1. install ImageBurn The Official ImgBurn Website. You can uninstall this afterwards
2. download Windows from here. for your case choose English x64 from under Home Premium.
3. use ImageBurn to burn the .iso file you just downloaded, using the slowest speed possible.
4. that disk should work perfectly. You'll have a lot updates after install.
5. if you won't be using ImageBurn again, feel free to uninstall it

I would not use an OS downloaded from a torrent site.
Take a look at this tutorial - it has install instructions and a link where you can download a valid MS OS version.
Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

You could also wait for some of the more experienced "Install Experts" here to help you try and use your HP system recovery CD.

I had forgotten about those.

Thanks for the replies.
Just checked download and it is 3.1gig. According to our internet speed thingy, it will take 4.4 days to download.
Annoyed with HP that they don't give you the installation discs. Blinking cheapskates.

If you have a friend with a Windows 7 DVD that is the same version as your HP OEM version e.g. Windows 7 Home Premium, you can use your COA product key to activate it.

You have a legitimate product key, which gives you the licence to install Windows without paying for another copy.

I am curious as to if using a Digital River SP1 iso will will work with my Windows 7 home premium upgrade COA? I need to reinstall but it's not SP1.

Just use this excellent tutorial, which was linked to earlier in the thread.

Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Doesn't matter whether you have SP1 or not. The important thing is a genuine product key. Providing you have that, you'll be able to activate the new installation, which may or may not involve a robo-call to Microsoft.

I thought the upgrade COA's could only be used with a upgrade disk.