installed win8.1, want to remove and restore win7. i need help

[tdwpgtp]

so I made a huge mistake and clean installed windows 8.1 on my HP dv6 and it does not run properly. I really would like to return to windows 7 but am having a very difficult time doing so. I have a system image of my old win7 on an external hard drive and I have HP supplied recovery disks, neither of which I can seem to boot win7 from. I should mention that my CD drive DOES NOT WORK and that I am trying to boot the recovery files from a USB flash drive. Upon booting loading the files I get a message that says "ssrd source not found" . I desperately need help in reloading my old windows 7, or at least boot to factory windows7. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[SIW2]

Might be it is looking for the recovery partition.

Probably easier to d/l a pristine win7 iso from of the right language , edition and bit version. Put that on usb drive using Rufus. You can use the key from your coa sticker.

You want the SP1 U (media refresh)

Windows 7 Direct Download Links, Official Disk Images from Digital River


Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

 

[tdwpgtp]

Here lies another problem: I had to replace the base of my laptop a couple years ago because it broke, and I no longer have the sticker. I MIGHT have a picture of it on an old phone, but I am home and the phone is at school. Is there anything else I can try for now, or should I wait until I can check my other phone?