Re: HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition

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I have an HP Pavilion too. I'm not sure yours is the same situation as mine
but will tell about it just in case. Mine had a hidden partition where the
recovery image was stored. It was a pain in the *** and because it had a
modified boot sector caused me lots of problems. Every time I had to go to
HP for help, I got a similar story as you ($$). Eventually I gave up,
bought me a new bigger hard drive, a retail copy of Windows XP Home and
elimiated the HP setup. I just installed the new hard drive and did a
clean installation of XP. It was the best thing I ever did. There
wasn't anything unique about my motherboard. There weren't any special
drivers required as they warned. It has been a great machine ever since
then.

Dave

<gx4dad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1135975754.391979.97370@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> For the many posts that have expressed frustration I make this
> contribution. I too was equally frustrated after spending many hours
> attempting to install a new Maxtor SATA drive in my Pavilion 630n (the
> original drive failed). After approaching the task from every possible
> angle using the 19 years of experience working in the field I resolved
> myself to chat online with a HP support technician. The chat session
> (partial transcript below) was very enlightening as it revealed that HP
> motherboards utilize a proprietary disk management partition. Basically
> without the partition you cannot install XP even from the HP System
> Recovery CD's (which also do not contain the disk management software).
> The end of the matter is if you have a hard disk go bad in an HP
> Pavilion you MUST use an HP authorized service center as the disk
> management software is not publicly available. So regardless of whether
> your system is under warranty or not you must pay HP to have it fixed.
> Your other option is to purchase a replacement non-HP motherboard.
>
> Any attempts to install XP (even via the recovery CD's) on a drive
> without the disk management partition will result in file copy errors.
> At various points during the XP installation the install will hang
> indicating that a particular file could not be copied. The end result
> is the OS will not load successfully.
>
> Partial HP Transcript:
>
> J: checking hold on
> J: it is out of warranty I know that
> Ralph S: In that case you may need to take the computer to a nearest
> authorized service center.
> J: did that and they could not figure it out (Best Buy)
> J: about 6 months ago I had a similar problem and they replaced the
> main board
> J: now I am having the same problem again??
> J: are these machines problematic?
> Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service
> provider so that they install a utilities in your computer and resolve
> the issue.
> J: what utilities? are they not on the restore CD's
> Ralph S: No, they can be installed by the authorized service provider.
> J: would you suspect the main board it light of the symptoms?
> J: it light of it being out of warranty would I be better off just
> getting a new machine or main board?
> Ralph S: You can get a new motherboard.
> J: I have been reading similar problems online with other Pavilion
> owners
> J: seems like a weak line of machines
> J: no real explaination of why this issue repeats itself
> J: have you seen this issue with other customers
> Ralph S: No we have not seen this issue, this issue happened because
> DMI utility is not installed in the new harddisk.
> J: the restore CD's don't install the util?
> Ralph S: No, they will not install the DMI utility.
> J: can I download?
> Ralph S: Sorry for the delay.
> Ralph S: The utility is not available for download.
> J: so basically a hard disk cannot successfuly be installed into an HP
> Pavilion without using a service provider
> J: because of the DIM util?
> Ralph S: Yes. You are correct.
> Ralph S: It is a disk management utility.
> J: WOW, that stinks - really restricts your customer base wouldn't you
> agree?
> Ralph S: I do understand. The HP authorized provider can install this
> utility in your computer.
> J: yeah for $$ - so basically an individual cannot repqir their own
> machine when it is out of warranty
> Ralph S: yes, it can be rectified you need to install the DMI utility,
> however only HP authorized service provider could do it. Once you take
> the system to them they would install it.,
> J: okay, thx for your candid responses Ralph. It has been very
> enlightening yet sad :(
> Ralph S: I understand, However I spoke my supervisor if you are ready
> to send the system back to HP, we could install it and send it to you.
> Is this fine to you?
> J: the whole system or just the hard disk?
> Ralph S: We need the whole system without any additional cards you have
> installed.
> J: what would be the charge?
> Ralph S: We would do it free of cost.
> Ralph S: Is it fine to you?
> J: I am checking since this is my brother-in-laws machine, stand by
> Ralph S: Okay.
> Ralph S: Jay, are you with me?
> J: yes
> J: sorry that took so long
> J: he is running a business with this machine so he cannot afford the
> downtime
> J: if I replace the motherboard I should not see this issue any longer
> right?
> J: the DMI util is specific to HP system boards?
> Ralph S: Okay. I understand however this is the only option we have ,
> so that we could take the system back and work on it to get it perfect.
> J: the DMI util is specific to HP system boards correct?
> Ralph S: Yes, DMI is specific to HP .I would suggest you to consult
> with any HP Authorized service provide for replacing the motherboard ,
> as they could offer to install the DMI utility with out installing a
> new board itself
> J: undertood, thx for all your support!
>


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