Windows 7: System Recovery

Hello,

my machine came with Windows7 pre-installed and no installation DVD, instead there is a separate partition labelled WINRE (5GB) for recovery purposes (I guess at least).

Now I messed up my whole system and deleted all partitions but this recovery one (setting up a dual boot). I also have the System Recovery Disk and would anybody know if I can reinstall Windows 7 with these two?

When I boot into the Recovery Disk it does not give me any option to do such a thing....



Any help is appreciated, I have no clue what to do.

Thanks a lot,
udo

Using the recovery disk you can do a few things including:

System Repair
System Image Restore
... and more

However, I don't believe that you can perform a straight clean install. If you've actually deleted your system partitions then you're probably not going to be able to perform a system repair and unless you've previously created a system image through the backup feature of windows or a third party software, you won't be able to restore that way either. Unless I'm missing something, your best bet is to contact your system manufacturer and request a copy of the installation disk and your cd - key if you don't have it written down. They'll ship it to you, you may have to pay a small fee and shipping though.

Ah damn...that is what I feared. I have not saved an image previously...However this recovery partition is 5 GB and in a folder called WindowsRE there is one file called install.wim which is 3.9GB big.
Is this some sort of installation file and could I trick this into using for an install? I do have my serial number on a sticker at the machine, that should not pose any problem..

Thanks again,
udo

Try pressing F8 on start up, report back.

I have Ubuntu running at the moment, it boots right in there regardless of what I press. What do you want to see?

I would have like to see the recovery screen, but Linux has kill it.

If I boot into the recovery disk, I still get the boot into safe mode,ecc. screen.

Do you mean that one?

What are all the option?

If your recovery partition is that big it may have the files neccesary to install Windows, it's just a matter of accessing them. The OP can help you with that. However, you should still contact your manufacturer as having an installation disk is important. It'll allow you to remove that recovery partition if you wish and/or install the operating system in the case of a hard drive failure.

Hi,
the options are:
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Comand Prompt

Enable Boot-Logging
Enable lw-resolution video
Last Known good configuration
Directory Services Restore Mode
Debugging Mode
Disable Automatic restart on system failure
Disable Driver Signature Enforcement

Start Windows Normally