Well you should have you upgrade 8 product key? if so download the latest 8.1 ISO from here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media. I think your original recovery partition was destroyed with the upgrade to window 8 and then again with 8.1 recovery partitions would have been created. Did you test your recovery DVD disk set after creating? that should put you back to windows 7 HP as shipped from factory.
These notebooks were sent out from the factory configured UEFI and disk were initialized GPT If somewhere along the line you converted to BIOS MBR that could be your issue. I'm sorry that your getting headache from the redirects. We don't have time to type out all the theory and procedures. Since this has aready be accomplishes and that is why we redirect you to that data. This thread was created out of multiple thread of all we had to learn using UEFI GPT all the work around and methods of clean installing our friend Rewben put it all togher in one thread for us.

Since then Microsoft has decided to let us download Clean ISO of Windows 8.1 that will activate with out windows 8 upgrade product keys I linked you to that web page.

I personally use Macrium Reflect to create images. That aside I don't really know to use the window 8.1 restore/refresh features but you can find that information on the window eight forum There are several threads there on how to restore or refresh windows 8 or 8.1

Again sorry about the redirects but if your AI Recovery DVD do not work that would leave you to clean install and , in the future use window Restore/refresh