Restoring to original Factory state

[OldDogNuTrx]

When I bought my HP PC 3-4 years ago it came with Windows 7 for sure, Home Premium version I believe. Because my wife was using it as her work PC they 'upgraded' it with their version of Ultimate Windows as well as other modifications as well to allow her to connect to their cloud and operate on their network. Since she has a new computer for work, I would now like to restore mine to its original state. I have the label with the Windows license keys. What is the best way for me to wipe it clean and get back to its original state? I never made a recovery CD, I never had Windows cds

Thank you

 

[DavidE]

You can do a clean install which would not include all the factory bloatware that came pre-installed.
This tutorial by gregrocker has everything needed including where to get the Win 7 installation ISO.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

Read through it and see what you think.

If you want the original factory install including all the HP bloatware, you may need to tap F11 at bootup to see if the recovery partition still works.
You can also search this HP site for additional recovery help:
Search | HP® Support
I think you need to give more product info than "HP Pavilion DV6" to do a search...

 

[strollin]

Once you get your system back to the state you want it in, I would like to suggest you use a program like Macrium Reflect to create a system image of the machine at that point. If you ever get into the situation where you want to restore your machine again you'll be able to do it easily.

I like to setup a new machine by removing any bloatware, installing OS updates, latest drivers, favorite "must have" programs, settings, etc... then make a system image. If I ever need to restore, I won't have to start from scratch.

 

[OldDogNuTrx]

DavidE, thank you for the prompt response. I think I'm going to go for the clean install because I'm not at all sure what software has been installed by the IT people when my wife was using it for work.

One thing I did notice which concerns me, there is no recovery disk visible when I open 'My Computer'. Not sure if they somehow did this or not. Will this affect my ability to do the clean install or is the Windows ISO and my keys sufficient to get the job done?

 

[OldDogNuTrx]

Strollin. Point well taken. That will be the first thing I do if successful.

 

[DavidE]

The IT people might have deleted (or broke) the recovery partition when they installed Ultimate.
It may still be there as a hidden partition that you could see in Disk Management.
You could post a screen print of your disk management before making any changes.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

It doesn't need to be there to do a clean install.
I would do a clean install...
I just tried to offer you a possible way to do a factory recovery as that is what you originally asked for.

 

[OldDogNuTrx]

OK, looks like I have some serious reading to do.

One last question before I go. I can read the product keys on my label, but not the version of Windows that was originally installed is that an issue? Given the choices I see for downloading the appropriate ISO file I suspect I want what is labeled as the 'latest and greatest' Windows Home Premium x86 ISO. Sound right?

Thank you, again.

 

[DavidE]

Yes, you want the latest and greatest.
The key is only good for the version that came with the PC, such as Home Premium.
The key is good for 32 Bit and 64 Bit.

If you have (or plan to get) more than 4 GB RAM you would want to use 64 Bit.
If you have 4 GB or less RAM best to use 32 Bit.

x86 = 32 Bit
x64 = 64 Bit