Dell Mini 1012 Recovery Partition Issues

[mc962]

I am trying to reset my Dell Mini 1012 to factory settings (the image it came with) (without the recovery disc, as the one I got the computer from has long since thrown it out). I figured out how to (theoretically) access the recovery partition through Dell's application. However, after successfully hitting the restart button to reach the factory image, I am taken to a Windows Boot Manager screen saying windows failed to start (file name is \windows\system32\winload.exe), with status: 0xc000000d; and a message of the selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt. I have already tried going through the F8 startup repair menus before that, no luck. I know the partition is there, as I've seen it through other tools, but I can't get to it (I have read about others with the same corruption issues).
This computer is definitely long past any warranty so calling Dell is probably not an option

Is there any way to repair this recovery partition? I have read about this tool https://neosmart.net/wiki/dell-recovery-disk/ and https://neosmart.net/EasyRE/; but I don't know much about it, how legal it is/safe it is, or if it can really help me. Although apparently they are the same ones that made EasyBCD 2.2, which has served me well in the past when carving out Linux from my hard drive.

I do have a different DELL recovery disc for one of my older laptops (I believe it was Inspiron 1545 if I remember right). However, that disc, aside from being for a different laptop, is also a Home Premium recovery disc, so I don't know if it will work as a recovery disc for the Starter edition on this laptop

Advice??

 

[Alabalcho]

Most netbooks were sold with Windows 7 Starter Edition (mine Dell Mini came just like that). The recovery partition could take quarter of HDD size, and there is a chance original owner deleted it. So... you are either after $80 for new Win7 Home Premoum OEM license, or long phone conversation with Dell asking them to send you recovery media (and another $20 for external USB DVD drive).

 

[mc962]

I've seen the recovery partition with tools like gparted (or at least the space carved out on the hard drive). Oddly, only 5 gb of the 15 gb or so partition appears to be filled according to this tool.
I've never had great expectations of Dell even when I had warranties for my computers from them. Without a warranty, I'll probably just get charged for an hour phone conversation ending in a request to pay $90 or so for a new disc

I assume my home premium dell disc from another computer won't do much good here (I could get a cheap disc drive)?

I know that my family has some sort of multi-computer thing with Geek Squad at Best Buy, would they be able to do what I need or are they likely to charge me as well?

 

[Alabalcho]

Try that other disk, and if you are lucky, you won't be asked for a product key.