I do not understand why anybody who is thinking of installing Linux wants to partition their hard drive at all. I installed Linux Mint alongside Windows in the past. And I did this by mounting it on virtual clone drive which you can get here
SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive and then downloading the ISO Cd file from the Linux Mint website and then the Mint 4 windows installer finished the installation.
Yes,it's true that this method installs Linux Mint alongside my Windows files on C/drive and that this way it can only be uninstalled in programs menu. On Windows but even though Linux Mint file is on the same drive in Windows with your other files,it is a separate operating system and is untouched by Windows. Until you decide to uninstall it yourself.
This is a far safer method of installing Linux than partitioning your hard disk,which you do not need to do. The restore your computer to factory condition recovery on your computer will put it back to the way it was before you bought it. On my laptops there is also a recovery option of minimum factory restore. This is where restore windows a clean re install and all the essential software needed to run it. This is what ever copy of windows your computer came with. So if your computer came with Windows 7 Starter like mine did,then that is what will be reinstalled. Even if you have upgraded to Windows 7 home Premium for example. Also the other software that will be re installed is Internet Explorer,Windows Media Player,Adobe flash player and other Windows drivers including wireless network drivers needed to run Windows but not the promotional software,for example HP or Dell products.
This is a good option if you do not want all of the branded tools of your manufacturer,like HPs Norton security or HP cloud drive for example. I wish I had looked at the recovery settings more closely on my first laptop and chosen minimum factory restore instead of full factory restore. Full factory restore puts back all of the software including your makers products Hps that was on there before you bought the laptop. And Minimal factory restore just re installs the original copy of Windows that was on your computer before you bought it with all of the vital Windows software need to run and use Windows,Internet Explorer,Windows Media Player,etc but not the branded software from your manufacturer.
And with my second laptop I chose the minimum factory restore,so i did not have to uninstall all of that unwanted HP software all over again,like I had to with the first laptop. Readers here will know I had to restore both Netbooks because a registry cleaner messed them up.
This recovery option would help you only if you had dater left on your computer. But if as you say you have deleted all of your hard disks or all dater leaving the hard disks blank,including the recovery partition. Then this will not help you. As there is no dater on the computer for it to read from.
Just what exactly has been deleted? Or are you not sure? There is some one here on this forum called Mike-please see this link in this post I wrote about my problem. Here
http://windows7forums.com/windows-7...ystem-restore-does-not-work-anymore-help.html he may be able to help you and he can be contacted online through AIM Messenger and Skype. But I do not have an answer to this problem,except for if you do get your computer back- do not touch the hard drive. If you are not happy with the amount of space your laptop or Netbook has. Then you can either have it as it is or buy a new laptop that has a larger,say,3GB or 5GB hard drive space. Andrea Borman.