HP Annoyance

So I just got a new HP laptop for a client's site rep (happens a lot on the sort of jobs my firm does, you have a clerk-of-works/surveyor type to keep an eye on things for the client). Nothing too fancy, a 6735b Turion X2, but with a nice 1680x1050 screen (he's getting AutoCAD LT as well). When we get a new machine like this, first thing we do is create recovery media. This machine's shipped with XP recovery disks for downgrade purposes, but with Vista Business installed. I'm used to having to burn and keep the recovery media, and I don't mind doing it. It looks as though HP have actually stopped installing the utility that lets you do that, however. Cue phone call to HP support (after their online support option took me from the .co.uk website to the US website where the tech on the other end complained that I should be using the :censored: UK site...). Now what I will say is that the lady that I spoke to was very helpful, and they're shipping me the recovery media free - which is great, don't get me wrong, and is a lot better than the last time I got recovery media from Lenovo (FORTY :censored: QUID? I knew they were silver-coloured, I didn't think the disks were made of the damned stuff!). I can't understand why they ditched the utility in the first place, though. Is this a standard thing for HP now?