[Solved] New-Used computer, no restore disc...

I just got a new-used computer from a friend of a friend. It's a HP Pavilion dv9500 Entertainment PC, running Windows Vista. When I got it, the previous owner never removed any of his information. So I still have all his old files, programs, and anything else the guy downloaded. There are no System Restore points that I can find, and he didn't send any discs with it. Is there anything I can do to restore this computer back to factory settings, without having to buy a new disc?

Right the fact it has vista on it strongly suggests there are no disks, these days they send them out with recovery software installed and the files are on a hidden partition, so it should be as simple as running the recovery software and tell it to restore to out of the box condition, this makes it as though you got it out of the box for the 1st time, and allows you to enter your own data\details etc.
Different makers use different methods to begin this process, but it sounds like you can use the PC just fine, you simply want to start afresh, so this should be easy to achieve, here are the instructions from the makers on how to do this, hope it helps:-

1. Click Start and type Recovery in the search field. Select Recovery Manager from the list when it becomes available. Allow the action to continue, if prompted. The HP Recovery Manager opens.
Alternately, click Start , All Programs , Recovery Manager , and then Recovery Manager . Allow the action to continue, if prompted. The HP Recovery Manager opens.
2. Click Advanced options , System recovery , and then click Next . The PC will restart.
Alternately, if Advanced options is disabled, click Next , and then System Recovery . The PC will restart.
3. When the PC restarts, select the System recovery option and click Next .
4. If prompted to use the Microsoft System Restore program, click No , and then click Next .
5. When prompted, select the Back up your files first (recommended) option, and then click Next . Follow the on-screen instructions. Note; as you want to start afresh do NOT select to backup files 1st, they recommend it due to people may not want to wipe the files, but in your case this is irrelevant.
6. When prompted to Recover without backing up your files , please STOP before clicking Next .
This is the final opportunity to change your mind about recovering the PC and deleting all the files at this time. Once you click Next , the restore process cannot be stopped
7. If you are satisfied that you want to begin the recover process, click Next . The PC immediately begins formatting the hard drive and destroying all data.

Source

It is a sad fact that most folk do not take the time to create System Recovery CD that is available in HP Vista machines.
If the prior owner did not take advantage of this option, then you still may have the one-time ability to do so.

Otherwise, you may also be able to purchase System Recovery CD from HP.

Have a look here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen…ocname=bph07143

Thanks you both for your suggestions! 8210GUY, I tryed yours first, and it worked like a charm! Everything is back to factory settings, all his files and programs were deleted, and I made my own restore point, in case I need it down the road. I'll probably burn myself a recovery disc in a day or two, once I've figured Vista out a bit better… Anyways, thanks again for your help!

NP glad it helped, but TBH you were lucky anyway, you want to try and do that on a system your can't access due to corruption, thats hard work lol. One point to note though, although system restore has it's uses, you should NOT rely on it to get you out of trouble, corruption\infection can make this totally useless so you and force a complete restore (not to be confused with system restore) back to out of the box condition again, and that could lose all your files depending on the situation. As Doug suggested, making a recovery disk(s) is an extremely wise move, getting this right means you should be able to restore the system back to when you create the disk(s), I would not do this straight away though (I know your not anyway), it would be a waste because the built in recovery takes you to that point anyway, I would install all the programs etc so you are fully loaded and operational, then that is the time if everything is running smoothly to make these disks, they will save you from reinstalling everything again should the worst happen.