HP Pavilion dv7-1285dx - No F11, Won't Boot Windows -- Recovery Manager PATH?

Question

I am repairing an HP Pavilion dv7-1285dx for a friend. I have restored countless other computers but this one has driven me up the wall after 7 hours of trial and error and web searches.
Here's the deal:
--The computer came with Windows Vista
--The owner upgraded it to Windows 7 this past fall
--The comptuer came in contact with malware and will not boot
--When booting, the computer will slowly attempt to load Windows, will make it to the "welcome" screen, then restart itself, creating an infinite loop
--I do have a recovery DVD for the computer; the owner burned it apparently in late 2010
--I am proficient in MS-DOS and am comfortable using the command prompt
--The command prompt is the only way I can operate this computer at the moment. I do not have access to Windows of any sort, let alone the web
--I do have two other computers here that are mine, both are Macs and one dual-boots into Windows; I do have a few flash drives and can burn optical media if necessary
The F11 key does not work on this computer to bring up the recovery manager. I know why, too--the machine was upgraded to Windows 7, which wiped out the connection between the key and the program.
My hope is that I can find the path of the recovery manager somewhere. There was a windows.old directory on the drive; I was able to change it to Windows (the existing Windows was renamed windows.scrap).
This enabled me to at least get to an OS selection screen. There were three options: 7, 7 (recovery), and Vista (recovery). None of them are able to get me into Windows. The Vista option states it is corrupt while both 7s will try to unsuccessfully repair themselves.
I can, however, access the command prompt through the Windows recovery program (NOT the HP recovery program, which I need to restore anything from either the partition on the D: drive or the DVD).
I did notice all of the files on the DVD were in .zip format once I got deep enough in a directory. I'm debating about extracting them on one of my other comptuers to see if I can just get them over on another device, but my only external hard drive is Mac formatted so I'll have to use a USB stick.
There have been queries about this out there referring to making the D: partition active. However, all of these solutions require Windows, which I cannot use. The same is true of downloads.
My biggest question--where could the recovery program be buried? I would be willing to bring files over on another device IF AND ONLY IF THEY DO NOT REQUIRE WINDOWS.
The SMINST directory within Program Files (x86) is not present.
Basically, I need a DOS-compatible, non-Windows, way to restore this computer.
I have no other Windows installation discs for the machine currently with me. Also, the COA sticker on the bottom of the computer is extremely worn and I can only read a few digits of it, so I can't use that for a restore I guess.
On a final note--the fan in this comptuer is extremely annoying; any way to turn it off besides just the switch in the BIOS that toggles whether it runs all the time?

Answer 1

You don't need to be in Windows to mark the D:\Recovery partition Active. Just boot with a utility cd with the disk management capability. If you don't have one_Scroll down on the page and get>> Bootable CD  If you don't have a burning app that can burn an ISO to cd get>> ImgBurn to burn the iso image to cd-a guide on using ImgBurn to write an ISO to a disc is> Here. Once created, boot from it.
Btw-have you tried booting from his Vista Recovery DVD? With the first disc in the CD/DVD drive power on the laptop and immediately tap Esc to bring up the menu. Then tap F9 Boot options. Use the arrow key to move down & highlight the Optical drive then tap Enter key. (No key is needed with Recovery DVDs)
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