Creating Recovery disc....on upgraded used laptop

In two days, (Jan. 2nd) I am receiving a three year old used HP Pavilion dv7-2173cl Notebook which was upgraded to W7 Pro just prior to shipment. I have never acquired a used laptop. Thus I am cludeless on what to expect about creating recovery discs. Is it possible?

If not, what is my alternative in having some sort of resource in recovering OS in case of system collapse/malfunction? I have the implied understanding that upgrading was not through OEM discs(meaning, done online).

OK, I just received this reply from seller:

"you can make a backup disc using win7 tools. the os came from an oem hp disc and windows is activated.the procedure is the same for a used computer as with a new computer foe backing up just follow instructions."

I am not sure I understand this statement.

Thanks.... which is better, discs or USB flash? If USB flash, how many GB storage should I get?

Ask the seller for the documentation to prove WIn7 is Genuine, a COA sticker that shows the version and Product Key. It's not legal to sell the OS without it.

With this key you can always Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Look over those steps now to see what works best for Win7 to maintain it, too.

Once you get Win7 set up to your liking you can save a backup image as suggested so if it ever becomes irreparable you can simply reimage the HD from the stored image. Easiest is the built-in Win7 imaging: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup although many here like another freeware Macrium - Image your system .

Post back how the PC and Win7 is working for you, a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums so we can see what else is on there since it may still have old partitions that you can reclaim the space from.

I have no Recovery Partition. And no Recovery Manager. I miss Vista.

The white flag at the notification area of taskbar kept nagging me to back up file. So I did. But it took only one DVD. Does this lone DVD contain everything there is in this PC? Seems unlikely, eh?

Like, I need to do more?

I wanted to create multi-discs Recovery Image, like what we do first, before anything, with brand new laptop. But I have no clue how to proceed, how much media I need...and which media is preferable. Someone advised me to get an external HD.