Re: Vista SP1 has crippled my PC!

I looked back over the posts and could find where you answered Yes or No to
whether your BIOS sees the DVD.

If not, you may have a hardware problem... loose cable, etc.

You did report that the USB is working, so I hope you can save off your
important files. It may be time to consider:
1. Uninstall SP1, or
2. Use the Windows System Restore instead of HP's Restore, or
3. Perform a recovery

You're getting into the area where I need to put my hands on the machine.

"Andy G" <georgi66@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23hJN42i$IHA.4616@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mark, I installed the HP driver, which allowed me to uninstall LightScribe
but it made no difference. The DVD is still not shown in Explorer!


"Mark H" <jmhonzell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OAN5$sW$IHA.1224@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
LightScribe software from HP for the 6720s:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3442832&prodNameId=3442833&swEnvOID=2094&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=ob-56554-1


"Andy G" <georgi66@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:u1eA9jW$IHA.1452@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I would not be surprised if it were a bad install of LightScribe.

What exactly did you mean by " install the device with the HP driver"?

Andy


"Mark H" <jmhonzell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ebY7LnV$IHA.1180@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This could be a bad install of LightScribe, or it is not actually
installed.
Either could affect the presence of your DVD drive.
It is usually bad to simply delete directories as the registry
entries
are
still present and will be looking for things that are no longer there
and
other files will be orphaned that may try to run.

Better to install the device with the HP driver/software. See if that
cleans
up this particular problem by giving your DVD back. If not, then use
the
uninstall that will now be present in Control Panel to cleanup more
correctly.


"Andy G" <georgi66@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eGfzgdT$IHA.2244@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Mark

Yes, it does use LightScribe, but the program does not show up in
the
list
of installed programs, nor does it have an uninstall option on the
Start
menu entry!! How do I get rid of it? Would it be a bad move to
just
delete
the directories. I'm never likely to use it by the way, perhaps I
can
just
disable it in some way?

Any ideas?

Andy


"Mark H" <jmhonzell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OGD9KOK$IHA.4800@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yes, OEM products usually comes at a price not understood by most
consumers.
The vendor's answer is almost always: Recovery. The data lost is
not
theirs
and they are not concerned about it. And, older drivers are not
always
better, but vendor's drivers are almost always better than MS's
generic
drivers, even if they are older.

So,
At this point, you have two directions to proceed:
1. Uninstall SP1. This may prove to be difficult, but well worth a
shot
and
if it restores your capabilities, you can save all your data and
start
clean.
2. Download and install all the available drivers and updates from
HP
for
the 6720s. Each will create restore points and each can be rolled
back
if
it
causes a problem. But, you will know that it has been "re-aligned"
back
to
HP's original configuration.

Other questions:
Does BIOS see the DVD drive?

Does this DVD drive use LightScribe?
If so, uninstall LightScribe. Reboot.
If Device Manager can now see the DVD drive, that should at
least
give
you some backup capabilities.
You can try re-installing LightScribe later.

Did your external USB drive come with an installation disk? Most
likely
not,
but some do.
Does a flash stick work? (Does it get assigned a drive letter?)

"Andy G" <georgi66@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%230l$74J$IHA.5336@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Mark, I really didn't want to hear that older drivers may
be
better
than new ones, but I can see where you are coming from. It's a
6720s.

I had already installed the BIOS update. Since my last post I
also
installed some of the HP Vista update files. Guess I should have
done
that
before trying SP1. (It's really not that obvious though to
ordinary
people
who just want to use a computer..... All got much too
complicated.)

But I now have my USB hub working and therefore I have a printer,
and
also
an external hard drive that shows in Device Manager, and Disk
Management
but
without a drive letter, and so cannot be seen by Windows Explorer
etc.
I
guess it's progress.

Still no sign of a working DVD drive. It shows in Device
Manager,
but
says
driver could not be loaded. How do I force system to choose
cdrom.sys
as
the driver? It keeps trying to use one of the burning software
drivers
instead.

Anyway, thanks for the previous suggestion about downloading
drivers
from
HP
website. It's got me moving anyway, although I despair about the
DVD
drive.

Andy




"Mark H" <jmhonzell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uIvLIsI$IHA.5192@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The vendor's older drivers may be better than a generic
up-to-date
MS
driver.

I don't know exactly which model of 6720 you are using.
But, apparently there is a BIOS update 19Jun08 that may apply.
I'd
start
there.


"Andy G" <georgi66@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uiCq3EI$IHA.3396@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yeah, I did that, but I couldn't actually see a driver for the
DVD
drive
hardware or for USB support. Any chance you could suggest
which
driver
I
need?

Also, the machine was only bought in February of this year,
and
a
lot
of
the
drivers pre-date that so I'm assuming I already have them.

Thanks

Andy


"Mark H" <jmhonzell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OAfSemH$IHA.2056@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You appear to have internet capability... did you go to the
HP
website,
download the drivers specific to your laptop and re-install
them?
SP1
may
have installed generics crippling your specific hardware.

Make sure you get the right 6720 model.
Here's the linke to the 6720s:





http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodNameId=3442833&taskId=135&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3442832&lang=en&cc=us


"Andy G" <georgi66@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Oohtq$7%23IHA.4772@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Going round and round in circles, all support sources
useless
so
far.
Any
help would be really appreciated.

3 Days ago I had a Compaq notebook (6720s) that was working
OK,
although
USB
functionality was pretty random.

Then I tried to install Vista SP1 as offered by Windows
Update.
The
install
failed. 2 different System Restore points also fail....
Terrific.

System no longer shows DVD drive in My Computer or Computer
Management,
but
it shows in Device Manager as not working, no drivers. My
printer
(USB),
no
longer works, nor my external hard drive, (USB), nor
apparently
anything
on
a USB port. Everything else seems OK, apart from System
Restore
of
course.

I've tried the Filters fix that everyone seems to suggest.
No
good.

Microsoft will not give me their much-trumpeted free
support
on
SP1
as
my
Windows (Home Basic), is OEM. Hewlett Packard just suggest
doing
a
system
restore using F11 on start up. Tried that, and guess what,
no
restore
points shown....

Catch 22, 44, and 66 as far as I can see.

No idea where to go next. I've tried some other stuff, but
if
anyone
can
give me a steer to at least try thinking about other
directions.

Thanks in advance.

Andy


















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