Windows 7: recovery partition

I bought a new Asus laptop. It doesn't not have a DVD drive. It came loaded with windows home edition. I have a copy of windows ultimate so I wanted to upgrade. I installed ultimate from a USB stick from within windows. After the installation finished I began installing drivers. Video driver caused bsods. After endless attempts I decided to simply restore the original system using the recovery partition. I no longer have the Option to boot recovery. The partition.still exists nor was it deleted. I even backed up the recovery partition to an external drive. How can I get the recovery partition to boot? I have tried BIOS settings but it is not listed. I have tried marking the partition as active without success.

The correct way to upgrade within Windows 7 is to insert the higher version Product Key into Anytime Upgrade which unlocks in minutes the few extra (expensive) features almost no one needs.

Since Asus uses the Windows 7 F8 Advanced Boot Options to trigger Factory Recovery, it is also wiped out with the OS.

The solution is to run Recovery Disks you should have made when you set up the laptop, order them from Asus Tech Support for a small fee, or get a superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 using the installer provided.

However if you own and want Ultimate on the PC it should work as well as Premium since they are the exact same OS and installer except for the few extra features. Are you using only the drivers given by Windows 7 installer and optional Updates, only importing any which are missing or problematic from the Asus SUpport Downloads webpage for your model?

The drivers I used were from the Asus support download page. I tried several different revisions offered on the page for the Intel video driver, all of them were BSODs on reboot. Even if i get the recovery DVDS, I will still need to get a dvd player (external) as it does not have one built in. I copied the recovery partition to a external drive thinking I could simply use that in case of problems. Can I simply add the recovery partition as a boot option? Or can I use my external hd to boot the recovery? The OS is a mess right now. If that doesnt work I will download a Windows Home ISO and reinstall off the usb drive...But I really would prefer to just boot the recovery partition, have it reset to factory and be done with it.

Oh, and I didnt think of using the anytime upgrade...I had wanted to do a fresh install to be free of the ASUS bloatware and just have a clean install.

You can try to Boot Recovery Partition using EasyBCD although it will likely need to be reinstated on the same HD. Try it to see.

If you want an install free of bloatware then get the preferred Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

I tried BCD. When searching for a WIM file, the only ones that exist on the recover partition are ASKIT64.WIM and DRIVERS64.WIM. Selecting either one to create a boot entry does not work, the boot menu still shows 0 entries...

So I tried making entries with those, and even though BCD said there werent any entries, it apparently made them. However after it says loading files.....it gives me an error about Winload.exe....

The exact error:Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem: 1. Insert Windows install disc and restart
2. Choose language settings and hit next
3. Click repair your computer

If you do not have disc contact admin.

File: \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
status: 0xc0000001

Info: the selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt



Thank you for the help so far, i think i am making some progress...

goomba,

1. The precise model of your ASUS laptop is ?
2. Do you have the 25-character Product Key? Should be on a sticker on bottom of laptop or in the battery compartment.
3. Where did you get the win 7 Ultimate?

I'll await three answers.
karl

Did you unhide System and Hidden files in Control Panel>Fllder Options>View to browse for the boot.wim or winre.wim file?

Have you read over the steps for getting a superior Clean Reisntall?

The model is X401a1. It has windows key sticker on the bottom. The ultimate version I bought off Newegg a long time ago as a 3 key/computer version.

I did unhide files. There are several SWM files that seem to be split files from a WIM image.
I managed to screw up the bootloader...somehow lost the ability to just load windows. I am thinking of just formatting my C drive, marking the recovery partition as active (somehow, I have tried before) and seeing if i can boot off it. If not, ill just go ahead and download Windows 7 Home ISO, make a USB drive with it and install that again and hope I dont start gettinng BSODs again.