Cannot Restore Windows 7

A relative came to me, asking for help. The notebook is a HP Pavillon dm4-2040ez.
I found out that HP warranty was just over and the harddisk was broken. So we ordered a new SSD and I installed a clean version of Windows 7 from my DVD, but did not activate it (30 days time to do so). I recommended to either buy Windows 8 or order the recovery DVDs. Windows worked fine so far. Owner decided to order the recovery disks.
After they arrived, I noticed that the optical drive was broken too. But the owner doesn't really need it, so I copied the first recovery DVD to an USB stick (on my PC) and made it bootable and then booted the HP machine from the USB stick. That worked fine but after booting I just get the progress bar ("Windows is loading files" or something like that) then some scripts start. Then the machine boots again - and everything repeats.
So I cannot restore Windows that way. What's the problem? Obviously not the hardware, as it worked with my installation before. Do the recovery DVDs require to start them from an optical drive or what? Or was the disk maybe broken somehow? Any other ideas?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi:
The OEM key works on the retail Vista and W7 downloads, not like XP where you need the OEM disk to match the OEM key.
Follow the steps below and you will be all set.
Use the Windows 7 USB/DVD installation tool to compile the ISO file you download from Digital River. Link below. You need a DVD or a 4 GB flash drive to use the USB method of compilation.
Use the 25 character windows 7 product key to activate your installation.
http://download.cnet.com/Windows-7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool/3000-18513_4-10972600.html
Then go to the PC's support and driver page to install the drivers you need.
Link to the W7 ISO file downloads is below. Download the applicable version of Windows 7 that is on your product key (Home Premium, Pro, or Ultimate).
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/14709-Windows-7-Digital-River-direct-links-Multiple-Languag...
You can't make a bootable usb flash drive from one disk.
What will you do when the system asks you to insert another disk?
The recovery disks are image files and they are looking for the same size hard drive to install on.

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I want to recover a complete image of a Windows 7 operating system I have backed up to my other server. But I am getting the error "Windows cannot restore a system image to a computer with different firmware. The System Image was created by a computer using BIOS and this computer is using EFI"
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DonOxley wrote:
Erico,
I suspect that "MSDOS" is what the Gparted tool calls "MBR" for a partition table, as explained here:
http://superuser.com/questions/700770/mbr-equals-msdos-for-gparted
I think that you are suggesting I give up on trying to recover the image I have stored on my server and just to instal Windows 7 from my new copy. There are two problems with this.
1. After having systematically downloaded all of the drivers from the HP 255 notebook support page, I am still seeing missing drivers listed. Install the AMD graphics softpaq driver first. It also contains the chipset drivers.
2. The machine is taking a hugely long time to boot up, and seems much slower with this version. Maybe that is a product of using "EFI" rather than "bios" - I don't know.
My assumption is that HP had some special set-up option with their version of Windows which makes the machine more performant. It does not seem to be a coincidence that the image they deliver the machine with is not quite compatible with a 'normal' Windows 7 instal.
So my original question stands: How do I recover the image that I saved away (as per instructed) when I first bough the machine?
You still have not said what you used to create the system image. What is the "image" file's extension?
You are mistaken in your comparison. MSDOS is an operating sytem MBR is a partitioning scheme. that is comparing apples to oranges.
The article is making an oblique reference in that using GPARTED is more or less equated to using the diskpart utility at the command line. Everything done at the comand line is essentially done by use of MSDOS commands. GPARTED does the same thing with LINUX commands via a graphical interface so you don't have to type in the commands in a Linux console.
Do you mean making a backup? a backup is not a clone which can be reproduced on different hardware. The SSD disk replacement does make the hardware differ from the original configuration.
Follow the instaructions on the following tutorial to make your disk a GPT type before installing.
http://www.disk-partition.com/articles/mbr-partition-table-to-gpt.html
****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

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Sorry perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I
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X:\SPY-PC\Backup Set 2012-07-24 130658\Backup Files 2012-07-24 130658\Backup Files 1.zip
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This question was solved.
View Solution.

You're welcome mrchips108
By the way up for one more go. I was finally able to find someone with a possible solution for you. the user yashoshah on the tomshardware forums had the problem:
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Thank you for your reply, Ms. Mandy.
To make things clear, let me explain to you briefly:
1. The "missing data" was backed up with "full system backup".
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> The recovery will overwrite the partitions
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I know that it can be frustrating when you cannot open iTunes or sign in with your Apple ID. There may be a few different troubleshooting steps I would recommend. I would first recommend that you completely uninstall iTunes and all of its related components in the correct order, however. Please use the attached article for information and instructions on removing iTunes from your computer. Once removed as described in the steps below, please install fresh and test. If the issue continues, please let me know.
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