[adqjohn]

Hi boys and girls...This is probably been asked before, but here goes. HP M7680n computer with XP that came without a reinstallation disk, just the recovery thing in the D: partition. Now I think I have a bad HDD. When I install a new one, how the heck do I reinstall Windows??? I was able to get into Safe Mode, Can I copy the info off the D: or what?

Why can't these people include a disk nowdays? This recovery partition thing sux if you have a total crash.

Any replies will be greatly welcomed, thanx.

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Why do you think your hard drive is bad? Perhaps there is still a way that it can be recovered. And not a lot of companies include the disks anymore, which IS annoying, and there really isn't a way to copy the files to another hard drive... Is the recovery partition visible to you in "My Computer" or is it hidden?

[Donutdan4114]

Why do you think your hard drive is bad? Perhaps there is still a way that it can be recovered. And not a lot of companies include the disks anymore, which IS annoying, and there really isn't a way to copy the files to another hard drive... Is the recovery partition visible to you in "My Computer" or is it hidden?

[techpro5238]

Hello adgjohn

Can you connect the Hard Drive in another computer and recover your files that way?

Who is the manaufacturer of the Hard Drive? Have you run the diagnostic on it yet?

If you have a Windows XP disk, please boot into the Recovery Console and type in the following command:

chkdsk /r

Please report back with this information and follow those steps, thank you.

[adqjohn]

Thanx for the reply. Its a friends computer (HP Media Center PC M7680n with XP). A couple of days ago it started freezing up at the startup screen. The blue bar keeps flashing but that's as far as it goes. Got into Safe Mode, tried disabling startup menu, still no go. Went to System Restore and there weren't any restore points. Did the F10 into recovery and ran the PC Doctor on the HDD. The results gave me a FAIL with a "Smart short self test..error code HD521-2W". I tried to run the recovery program and it hangs up at 42% installed.

The recovery partition is visible in "My Computer".

[techpro5238]

Please follow my above reply, so that we may get your drive back up

[Neil Jones]

Hi boys and girls...This is probably been asked before, but here goes. HP M7680n computer with XP that came without a reinstallation disk, just the recovery thing in the D: partition. Now I think I have a bad HDD. When I install a new one, how the heck do I reinstall Windows??? I was able to get into Safe Mode, Can I copy the info off the D: or what?

Why can't these people include a disk nowdays? This recovery partition thing sux if you have a total crash.

Any replies will be greatly welcomed, thanx.

Major OEMs haven't included proper Windows CDs for years. Those that do are simply butchered versions of a standard Windows CD tied to a specific system.
The recovery partitions are provided because its a catch all solution to all the problems - switch it on and press F10. If the hard drive fails, not their problem. Most OEMs provider some software that lets you make Recovery CDs from said partition and this is always a good idea because you can run them again as and when the hard drive fails. Unfortunately if the drive packs up altogether and you haven't made recovery CDs, then as far as HP and Dell and what not are concerned, they'll just tell you to replace the entire machine.

Moral of the story, don't buy branded. Anybody who knows what they're doing will either build their own or buy their own licence with a CD.