the windows cd dell provided is a clean OS...unlike the recovery contain the facetory OS image...that means u recover u will get back the Dell Branded OS with alot of useless things but included the drivers too..
well...if u wan to have a clean reformat u will gonna need to use the windows cd...and redownload the drivers from dell support side or use the driver cd dell provided also....reinstall the driver after complete formating the OS then u will have a clean OS...the recover image will gone after the clean reformat.
alternative method is to download some utilities software to backup all ur drivers and after the clean installation u import all of them...this method is pretty handy too..
regarding the Win7 u can get it from msdn if ur school got provide free Microsoft Student Partnership....if u bought ur laptop after jun or july i think u r valid to upgrade to win7 for free...juz contact dell...
For clean reformation using the windows cd, backup ur files into external disk then input the cd in the cdrom then restart ur laptop, it will run into the format menu and follow the instruction given..and wat u need to do is juz to wait until it finished.
hopes this basic knowledge is able to help u!!

I dont' think my school got that thing. I bought during april pc fair promo.
Do i really need the recovery partition?? Can i make another recovery partition with the same function but after i do a clean format?? I don't want those drivers preinstalled. I know i can get drivers from website.