Red "ERROR" message because "Can not open file C:Recovery.dat"

I was messing with my ASUS N10j and I tried to install Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit on it.

Installation went fine, but then when it wanted to boot up for the first time, it gave me a window that said "Can not open recovery.dat" and a huge red ERROR message appeared in the middle of the screen.

From googling, these guys (http://www.overclock.net/windows/435626-error-recovery-dat.html) believe its because of a hidden recovery partition. Well, how do I delete that partition if I don't have access to Windows?

The laptop also doesn't have a DVD-drive, so the solution has to be via USB.

I have no clue what to do. Help!

EDIT: Ugh... I guess this is more software related... Sorry.

 

Greetings, RommelTJ...

Couple of things you might consider trying:

* Boot to a Linux USB drive, and format your hard drive from that environment - tips on how to create a Mint 7 (Gloria) bootable flash drive can be found here...

* Get your hands on a USB DVD drive, and use it to boot to your Windows disk to delete/recreate any partitions...

Quick question: how are you trying to install Vista without an optical drive?

 

Yep, I guess I will have to try Linux. I'm familiar with Linux, but I didn't try it before because I didn't want to download it.

As for the second suggestion, I don't know of anyone who can lend me a USB DVD Drive. (Other than repair shops, of course :-D)

I tried installing Windows by creating an ISO image from a DVD I had, and then I followed this tutorial (http://unlockforus.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-makecreate-bootable-usb-flash.html) to create a bootable USB.

 

You could try to find out what make and model of hdd you have and try to find a utility that will low level format your hdd.

 

Ok, I'll try that if Linux Mint fails (because I'm excited at trying this Linux distro to be honest :-D).

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I installed Linux Mint and didn't bother fixing the Windows issue. This laptop is for my grandmother, and I think Linux Mint 8 would be so much better for her anyways.

Thank you for your help. Happy New Years!