window xp sp2 disk

[mill]

This hp came with 7 recovery cds,i was wonderingif i can do a clean install just with the windows sp2 disk, and leave off all the other junk hp came with? The only thing i will miss is the hp 24-7 instint chat support in help and support.

[Chewy]

there will be a driver disk, you could download them seperately.

is the windows xp sp2 disk for the HP?

[mill]

No when sp2 first came out i called ms and asked them to send me it on disk because i had dialup at the time and i was having problems downloading it so they sent me one

[Chewy]

that would only have sp2 on it not windows xp

[mill]

Are you sure? because when my pc came from monarch i got the same disk? They both say windows xp home edition, but one says not for retail or oem distribution,and the other says for distribution with a new pc

[Chewy]

you'll have to open them and see?

[mill]

I forgot which one monarch sent and which one ms sent but i guess there both the same.

[Chewy]

first time I have ever heard of ms sending out the oem disk to an hp customer?

how much was it?

[mill]

It was free for the asking

[Chewy]

VRMHOEM is the name, are both disks named the same, looks like MS goofed up?

the name game is how the disk decides which numbers to accept

[mill]

Yes ,i think they messed up too but in my favor for a change. there was a place on windows home page were you could have sp2 sent mailed to you i just called them up and told them windows came installed on the pc and i was having problems downloading there sp2 and this is what they sent?

[Chewy]

you are good to go then, most of your drivers should be included, nice generic clean install

do the install and only load drivers from HP site that are needed as per devicemanager

[katzdvd]

you are good to go then, most of your drivers should be included, nice generic clean install

Good luck, mill! Generic install the way to go; I hate "recovery cd" packages...

@chewy; your hair looks great!

cheers, :cat:

[mill]

Would that generic install be reverseable , if i found i was having issues?

[Chewy]

the generic/clean install will be better(sp2), none of the junk, the only issue will be drivers for devices that xpsp2 doesn't supply, you load those

might want to flash your bios if needed first

the only non-reveresible thing would be if your reinstall was on a hidden partition and you deleted it

back with W98se and some new mobos we found the only way to get a good install was to have all cards except video out of the computer, that way a mini port driver(via) would load and assign irqs right. Several major companies(NEC) never did figure it out.

[mill]

"the only non-reveresible thing would be if your reinstall was on a hidden partition and you deleted it"

You mean down the road if i wanted to used the recovery cds and reinstall from the hp cds i could?

[Chewy]

yes that would work, but you won't after you see how well a clean install of xp works

be sure and partition the hard drive when you get the chance, another factory flaw

[mill]

Ok Chewy thanks, when you partition your hard drive what all do you keep on yours, ? i mean do you just keep your os on one and all your programs on the other?

[Chewy]

I leave about 15-20 gigs on the system partition, that's OS and programs only, but no full install games, so I have about 10 gigs free, vision wants to use a temp folder in my documents for conversions. Data(and huge programs) go on what's left over. I keep the system partition very clean,
defrag only takes a few minutes and my backup stuff stays on the data partition.

[mill]

Weres a good like on partitioning ? i found one for reformating
http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=56673&highlight=reformatting
It sounds a little tricky. If i would not have messed with my registry i wouldnt be having this problem lol

[Chewy]

you just boot to the cd and play around, after a few tries and one evening it's a piece of cake

[mill]

:) LOL, Thanks Chewy well give it a shot.

[Budreaux]

You need to be prepared and willing to accept that you wil not be able to go back to OEM with this decision. HP puts there Recovery on a seperate Partition on the HD. When you do a Clean install with a MS XP disk, it will format over that and the option is no longer their. IF you decide to go back, for some crazy reason, you'll have to call HP and buy the recovery disk from them.

[Chewy]

post 1 in this thread:
This hp came with 7 recovery cds
too bad people post without reading thread

[mill]

Chewy cant connect to internet, i have no ethernet controller

[Chewy]

how old is that HP, surely it has onboard ethernet?

see device manager

[mill]

hp pavilion230n

[Chewy]

install the driver

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=330086&lang=en&os=228

down at the bottom
Summer 2003 Original Network Adapter Driver Collection

summer 2003?

[mill]

Good find but it wont let me install

[Chewy]

7. Right-click the device you want to update, and then select Update Driver.

[mill]

i did that and i also ran the sp23946.exe file and thats when i got the message that the original drivers are stored in the hp\lan folder. so i poped in the number one recovery cd and it searched it and found it. Im back on line now with the hp. Was trying to keep the x2 off line lol but i had to break it in some day i guess, Thanks Chewy

[Budreaux]

post 1 in this thread:

too bad people post without reading thread

Actually, I read the entire thread and that particular statement is what lead me to maknig the comment. I've never heard of "7" recovery cds ( now I remember when it took that many diskettes) to restore a computer this new. Dell usually includes several different Disks, but those are for different Dell Drivers, configured to the computer. I've been on the phone with HP for a problem such as this and even though the recovery CDs are available, there is still a partition on the HD with the recovery.
I was asked to look at one of the computers at work that was an HP and after a long day of phone conversations and talking with the folks at work, I found out they had reinstalled windows from a non OEM disk... it was a company copy they had purchased... doing that wiped out all chances of using the HP recovery partition.

Now, while this isn't that big a deal, because I really would prefer a clean install over a recovery version anyways, I just felt it was worth mentioning, since it is a factor or alternative.

That SP2 disk was mailed out free, I got one too, MS offered it to anyone asking for it, since it was a huge downlaod for folks trying to do it via dial-up. In this case though, it does appear someone goofed and sent in a new disk of XP SP2 version.

Anyways, the comment about me not reading the post just rubbed me the wrong way, and adding facts to the post always seems to help eliminate confussion, verses pot shots.

[Chewy]

This hp came with 7 recovery cds
from post 1


You need to be prepared and willing to accept that you wil not be able to go back to OEM with this decision. HP puts there Recovery on a seperate Partition on the HD. When you do a Clean install with a MS XP disk, it will format over that and the option is no longer their. IF you decide to go back, for some crazy reason, you'll have to call HP and buy the recovery disk from them

sorry to be so blunt, it would seem you missed that part?

a screen shot of disk management would show the hidden partition

I have reloaded or helped others reload several computers with hidden partitions, you have to delibrately delete them, it's quite a trick. They are hidden after all.

[Budreaux]

Well, ok then.. I see what you were referring to.....
My comment about having to go buy them.... Yeah, i wasn;t thinking bout him already having them, i was referring to anyone who damaged the partition, as in the case of the folks where I work. They were told they could buy them and that is what I was thining about when I posted, but you can;t read my mind, for that, i apologize.
But yes, I can see how my post would suggest I didn't see that....

I'm still not sure how they deleted the recovery partition, but I do know they did it... hell, there are alot of hard to believe stories when it comes to computers and the conditions folks manage to get them into.

budreaux

[Chewy]

You couldn't delete it with the windows cd when I tried, at first I couldn't figure out where the missing gigs were, then I pulled the drive and hooked into another windows xp computer, disk management allowed me to delete all partitions and start from scratch clean, another method for ide drives is to use zap, an ibm utility that writes 0's to the fat?(boot tables).
that's the little 8MB unpartitioned space you see.

[katzdvd]

an ibm utility that writes 0's to the fat?(boot tables).
that's the little 8MB unpartitioned space you see.

Dang, I always wondered about those 8mb! I searched all over the 'net & came up with all kinds of different answers, but no one could ever seem to agree on what exactly it was, or how to reclaim it!

Thanks for clueing us in, chewy!

cheers, katz :)

[Chewy]

or how to reclaim it!

it seems to go with fat32 drives and windows xp?

haven't seen it in quite a while on my newer systems