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HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP
backtolife:
First, let me tell you that I previously posted this issue in the HP Support Forums but did not receive any information that would help me resolve the problem.
I am attempting to restore the computer's Operating System and Applications after a hard drive replacement. HP indicated they did not have the Restore Disks so they were purchased from a company that advertises that it sells the same disks originally sold by HP.
When using the restore disks, the restoration process appeared to occur as it should but, upon first reboot, after use of the restore disks is complete, I end up at a screen giving me the option of starting Windows normally, or in one of the safe mode choices. When choosing to start Windows normally, the boot process just loops. When safe mode is selected, I get a message that the installation process is not complete and asks that Windows be reinstalled. I contacted the company I purchased the Restore Disks from and they were unable to provide any assistance.
I can report that there is a very brief BSOD after the Windows XP start up screen appears with the message "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer". The BSOD is so brief that I had to film the start up process on the monitor and then play it back to actually see the message and read what it said. A review of multiple videos I've taken of the start up process does not reveal an error code. I believe it may be because video sent to the monitor disappears before the error code can be revealed. The BSOD occurs and is gone in the blink of an eye.
I can tell you that I reset the BIOS to factory settings after I had the problem. Didn't seem to help doing that.
I did try unplugging one stick of RAM and tried the restore again (didn't change anything) then I put both sticks back in and ran Memtest86+ and it found no problems with the RAM. The machine had a XFX HD-465X-ZPF2 Radeon HD4650 1GB AGP 8X Video Card installed and I tried the restore process with and without the card with the same result. I also tried the install with a different hard drive (SATA) with the same result. I also tried the restore process with a CRT monitor instead of a LCD monitor with the same result.
I did try and was successful installing Windows XP from a Microsoft Disk on the same computer and the same hard drive. Aside from the hard drive (which is the same model as was originally installed on the computer) all other hardware remains the same.
It appears to me that the files on the Recovery Disks have been transferred to the hard drive as they should but, when the second part of the Windows installation is supposed to occur (after the first reboot, with files already copied to the hard drive), it does not continue the install.
I think the BSOD occurs because the Windows install process did not finish. I believe the solution is to find the cause of why Windows does not continue to install itself after the first reboot. If I actually knew what the steps of the process are after first reboot, I'd probably be in a lot better position to figure out what's wrong.
I did try the things suggested in the following links that seem to be along the same lines as the problem I am having:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00024476&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=&product=71747&rule=91...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320279
I was unsuccessful following these procedures but it may be my lack of experience was the cause.
I am hopeful that someone here has the expertise to guide me through the repair process. Thanks.
Shane:
The blue screen could be caused by a bad driver. If the restore disks you got where not the ones for that model then it might be loading the wrong drivers. I never use the restore disks, I always install from a normal xp cd to avoid all the preinstalled crap.
First lets find out what the blue screen says. When the computer boots and you hit F8 to get to the xp boot menu you will see safe mode and others. Down the list you will see the disable automatic restart. Do that one, then when it blue screens it will stay and not reboot and you can see what the error message is.
If it is the 0x0000007B then that means a inaccessible boot device, which is normally always driver related.
Shane
backtolife:
Thanks for responding Shane.
Was able to disable automatic restart. Here's the error message:
STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0xF75EC750, 0xF78B7430, 0xF78B712C)
Shane:
OK good, did it show a file name under it by chance?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330182
Shane
backtolife:
Sorry, no file name with the error message.
Before we continue, I need to add some information to the mix. I received another set of recovery disks from another vendor this morning. They had a much better set of instructions with them. After reading the instructions, I took the time to review the hardware that originally came with the machine. It came with a 160GB IDE hard drive, 512 MB of RAM on one stick (PC 3200 DDR-SDRAM). It had a HP PS/2 Multimedia keyboard, a HP PS/2 Scroller Mouse, and a LightScribe IDE DVD and a LightScribe IDE CD. In comparison, the current HD is a 500GB IDE drive (it is not an "advanced format" drive), the computer has 2 sticks of 1GB RAM (I removed one of them before attempting the most recent restore), the computer no longer has its original keyboard or mouse, and, while it still has a DVD writer and CD, they are not the original drives.
Not sure if this changes everything about troubleshooting the issue... btw, the new set of recovery disks do the same thing as the first set...
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