[javamama]

i am trying to help my sister with resetting to factory defaults. i have done this before but cant remember how
it is a pc that my mom gave me and then i gave my sis.. we do not have any disks.. and are not worried about losing any personal info
i am not in front of the computer itself but i copied the info down and here is what i have...



microsoft xp home edition 2002 sv pk 3
hewlet packard pavilion amd athlon (tm xp 2200+)
1.80ghz , 480 mb RAM

hope that is sufficient info
i could really use simple as possible info as i am having to relay this to her

[Advertisements]

HP Pavilions with Windows XP do not have recovery CDs, they use a hidden partition on the hard drive to store the information instead.

Perform a recovery in Windows XP use one of the following two processes:

Starting recovery when the computer is booting

* Turn on the computer.
* When the initial blue HP screen appears Press the "F10" key.
* A Recovery menu will appear.
* Click on "NEXT"
* and then click on "YES"
* Your system will now go through the product recovery

Starting recovery within Windows XP

# [list] From the Desktop, click "START".
# Then "ALL PROGRAMS"
# Then "HP TOOLS"
# Then Click on "HP PC SYSTEM RECOVERY"
# You will now be asked "Do you really want to start HP PC System Recovery?"
# Click on "YES" to continue.
# Your system will now go through the product recovery
PLEASE NOTE - unless you have serious problems with the current installation this could be a very unwise move. YOU WILL HAVE 100`s of updates and two service packs to install, plus you stand the chance of having to reinstall up to date drivers. YOU MAY create more problems than you solve.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 12:41 PM.

[Macboatmaster]

HP Pavilions with Windows XP do not have recovery CDs, they use a hidden partition on the hard drive to store the information instead.

Perform a recovery in Windows XP use one of the following two processes:

Starting recovery when the computer is booting

* Turn on the computer.
* When the initial blue HP screen appears Press the "F10" key.
* A Recovery menu will appear.
* Click on "NEXT"
* and then click on "YES"
* Your system will now go through the product recovery

Starting recovery within Windows XP

# [list] From the Desktop, click "START".
# Then "ALL PROGRAMS"
# Then "HP TOOLS"
# Then Click on "HP PC SYSTEM RECOVERY"
# You will now be asked "Do you really want to start HP PC System Recovery?"
# Click on "YES" to continue.
# Your system will now go through the product recovery
PLEASE NOTE - unless you have serious problems with the current installation this could be a very unwise move. YOU WILL HAVE 100`s of updates and two service packs to install, plus you stand the chance of having to reinstall up to date drivers. YOU MAY create more problems than you solve.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 12:41 PM.

[javamama]

is there a better way then? the computer has become unresponsive at times and i dont know what the problem is

[Macboatmaster]

See this to start with.
Apologies if it is too basic for you, but of course I do not know your level of knowledge

http://www.microsoft...mproveperf.mspx

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 12:54 PM.

[javamama]

i tried having her run disk cleanup and defrag, but the pc wont even respond to that??
the screen goes kinda white out and then nothing.. then she cant even get it to go away without a hard shutdown

[Macboatmaster]

Before we go any further you need to be on the computer while I give you various procedural directions.

Just read that you were going to relay.
Switch off and press F8 on start up.
Then select Safe Mode. That is just Safe Mode, not Safe Mode with networking.
Pls post back when she manages to access Safe Mode.
NB You keep tapping F8

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 01:23 PM.

[javamama]

will we be able to get to cleanup and defrag in safe mode?

[Macboatmaster]

Do you mean will it be available or will it work. The answer to the first is YES the answer to the second is - we will not know until we try.
There is every chance as Safe Mode only loads a minimal set of drivers.
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL you tell me you are in Safe Mode pls

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 01:34 PM.

[javamama]

ok i sent you a pm not sure if you got it?

[Macboatmaster]

THere is no need to send PM`s they are not meant for this purpose please keep it all on the Forum and then if I have to leave it or cannot solve it OR have to refer you to another part of the Forum, everyone can see what has been done.
Post the PM on the forum pls.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 01:52 PM.

[javamama]

ok i just thought it was irrelevant
just said that it is going to be more difficult than i thought because she cannot be in contact with me atm and i was hoping it would be pretty simple so i could just relay and walk her thru it when she can contact me.
i didnt think it would really be all that difficult but i was wrong since there is risk with resetting to default
sorry to have seemingly wasted your time and ty for your response

[Macboatmaster]

I have now read your PM. YOU HAVE NOT WASTED MY TIME. We are all volunters, here because we enjoy helping with your computer problem. The dificulty here is HOW long this is going to take with you having to relay by telephone each instruction to your sister and then her message back to the forum.

Unfortunately, this will not be a simple matter of you relaying the instructions, unless you wish to proceed with the Recovery, IF that HP computer still has the original recovery partition.
When your sister gets to Safe Mode, she needs to click START, click My Computer, then hold the mouse on C drive, what is the size of the HDD and how much free space.
Really I could do with knowing that.
Then while in Safe Mode, click start, click run and type in "cmd".
A window will open.
Whatever is displayed after the C:\ prompt type in "CD\"
Then type in "chkdsk"
It will tell you that chkdsk is running in read only mode.
Pls post back what it says.
Any bad sectors and the rest of the details.
All commands are typed without the colons.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 02:05 PM.

[javamama]

as soon as i hear back from her i will let you know... thanks again this looks like it will just have to be a long process

[Macboatmaster]

No problem at all, as far as I am concerned.
Please do not just sign off without telling me and leave me waiting for your reply.
I will tell you when I am signing off tonight.
As we go through each stage, I will ensure you have something to work on, when I sign off and then we can pick it up tomorrow.

Edited by Macboatmaster, 18 September 2010 - 02:10 PM.

[javamama]

thank you and i will let you know.. btw i will be logging off now lol
i dont think i will be able to talk to her until at least this evening. so i will post back when i get the chance