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Can HP Pavillion recovery disks be used on Compaq Presario?


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#1
BerDov

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Hello,

 

I have CPQ Presario, CQ5320F, Win7 SP1 home premium, 64 bit, AMD Athlon II X2 240, 3GB RAM.

 

I thought I have made recovery disks, but the machine is about 5 y.o. and they are nowhere to be found.

There is a partition called FACTORY IMAGE (D: ) but it is empty.

 

I do have four recovery disks made for my wife’s HP Pavillion, that are 2 y.o. Also Win 7, but a different processor, AMD 6, I think.

 

Can these recovery disks be used on my Compaq?

 

Thank you!


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#2
phillpower2

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Hello BerDov,

 

Recovery disks for anything other than the exact model of computer that you have will not work as there will be different drivers and utilities on the disks than what you need, if it was only a back up copy of the same OS there is an outside chance that it would work, problem being is that if it didn't it could leave you with an unbootable computer.

 

Have you tried tapping the F11 key when you restart the computer.

 

Can I ask why you want to do a factory restore, it may not be necessary.

 

Some additional info, if you have previously made the one and only set of recovery disk/s that you are allowed to and misplaced them you can contact HP/Compaq to see if recovery media for your computer is still available from them, if the answer is yes, expect to pay around $30 if you are in the US which is way less expensive than purchasing a Windows 7 DVD from Microsoft, recovery media information here


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#3
BerDov

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Hello Technician,

 

Thank you very much for your reply. I suspected as much.

 

Here is the reason I started thinking to wipe out the C drive. About a year ago, perhaps more, the computer started slowing down to the point of freezing, about 1-2 times a day. No reason that I could see. Free memory goes to 0, CPU usage stays at about 40-60%, regardless of how many programs are running. It occurrs even right after a reboot. This “something” goes on for about 30-90 min, then CPU usage drops to 1%, free memory goes up as well, all with no intervention on my part.  In fact, I just spent an hour or more cleaning my office and looking for the disks (I did create them, I found the notes).

 

In the last year, I asked for help from geekstogo, cleaned the machine as per the instructions, uploaded logs, tried all suggestions. Nothing helped.  

 

I thought to buy a Win 10 machine but my son, who installed Win 10 on his powerful laptop, is saying that Microsoft forces updates at their free will which can slow the machine considerably. That’s why I thought to reinstall Win 7.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thank you, and Merry Christmas!


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#4
phillpower2

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We may be able to help improve things enough for you to be able to make an image of the HDD for any future emergencies.

 

Have you tried tapping the F11 key when you restart the computer.

 

 

You missed answering the above for us.

 

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here,  this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

 

I thought to buy a Win 10 machine but my son, who installed Win 10 on his powerful laptop, is saying that Microsoft forces updates at their free will which can slow the machine considerably.

 

 

The same goes for all previous OS from MS regarding updates but they are not responsible for slowing a computer down, the end user normally does this by not uninstalling software correctly and downloading all sorts of junk.

 

I will be going offline shortly as it is getting late here in the UK and I have an early start again in the morning :( 


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#5
BerDov

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Thank you!

 

I never tried tapping F11 – never heard of it. Learned just now it supposed to open a “recovery screen”. Maybe. Then what?

 

I installed and executed Speccy and have a URL to the report. Very impressive. Reading it, I felt naked. Is it possible to send you the URL by means other than this public forum?  Or may be publish it at your command so you copy it and then delete the message before it is indexed? I am not paranoid, but nobody needs to know what I won’t share.

 

Re my son, he is an engineer and a PhD; I know he likes to keep his computer clean and I doubt he has junk. Still, there may be an issue particular to his machine.

 

BTW, the Speccy report shows that I have not installed some 20-120 MS updates.  My bad.

 

Have a good day.


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#6
phillpower2

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Apologies for the delay, been rather busy elsewhere  :(

 

If not done already try tapping F11 and let us know what / if anything happens, please do not proceed with any recovery attempt if it is available but post back here and let us know.

 

Posting a Speccy url is completely safe as the report that is produced does not contain any personal information or product keys for Windows or any other software, if you really do not want to post it on the open forum send it to me via a PM, I will review the report but please note that any assistance stays on the open forum and not by way of PM. 

 

The same goes for all previous OS from MS regarding updates but they are not responsible for slowing a computer down, the end user normally does this by not uninstalling software correctly and downloading all sorts of junk.

 

 

 

Re my son, he is an engineer and a PhD; I know he likes to keep his computer clean and I doubt he has junk.

 

 

No slight intended on my behalf, it does not matter what qualifications a person has when it comes to uninstalling software correctly and watching out for unwanted foistware that can often be tagged onto your browser without you being aware of it, the GTG Malware Removal Forums are full of threads were peoples machines have been infected in such a way.


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#7
BerDov

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Thank you, Phill, I really appreciate your help, especially on a holiday.

 

The URL is [deleted]

 

I closed all programs and restarted the machine and was able to open the Recovery Manager screen. It contains 3 panes:

 

I need help immediately

I’d like to identify any problems

I’d like to take precautions

 

At that point, I exited and rebooted.

 

After closing all programs for the first reboot, I took a screen shot of the Task Manager. Memory readings:

Total                      2815

Cached                 719

Available              1733

Free                       1053

 

After the reboot, it changed to the worst:

Total                      2815

Cached                 250

Available              237

Free                       0

 

If you would like me to, I can post or email the jpg screen shots. They may reveal to you more than they do to me.

 

At this point, 65 min after the reboot, I have only MS Word and Firefox open and can hardly work. Actually, Free memory jumped just now to 400MB.

 

Re my son, no offense, don’t worry.  I shot myself in a foot yet again. My son actually said that he “plays” with various analytical software all the time and may indeed have residual junk on his machine.

 

So, where do we go from here?


Edited by BerDov, 26 December 2015 - 06:00 AM.

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#8
phillpower2

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Hello BerDov,

 

Thanks for the Speccy url  :thumbsup:

 

The following aside for the moment please.

 

I closed all programs and restarted the machine and was able to open the Recovery Manager screen. It contains 3 panes:
 
I need help immediately
I’d like to identify any problems
I’d like to take precautions

 

 

Two things of note in Speccy, low disk space on the D: and G: partitions, D: is not too bad but should not be allowed to go below 15% while at 8% the data on the G: partition is in danger of becoming corrupted by being overwritten, free up some space when you can and for now please disconnect both of the USB HDDs from the computer.

 

The second item is the choice of AV protection that you have, please see my canned text below;

 

AVG is a known hog on system resources and will slow your computer down, it is also not as good an AV protection as it once was and using an alternative free AV that offers very good protection and is also light on system resources is recommended, Avast or MSE would be what I would suggest.

 

Uninstall AVG using the proper removal tool from here

 

Avast! free Antivirus to the bottom left here or MSE from here

 

 

You should see some improvement in performance once the above has been done at which point I will provide the steps to help you tidy up the data on your internal HDD.

 

You are welcome btw  :)


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#9
BerDov

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Excellent! Thank you for the guidance.

 

Re D:\ drive, I do not know what’s there. The only visible thing there is a Recovery folder. When I click on it, the right pane displays the Compact logo and a warning not to mess it up. Maybe, if I select an option to show system hidden file (don’t remember where it is), I will see the contents.

 

Re G:\, it is the main data drive, the F:\ drive is a backup. I am going to drop everything and free space right now. Then will run defrag if needed.

 

(Why do you say to disconnect both drives? I have all data there and nothing on C:\.)

 

Then I will uninstall AVG and select one of the two programs you suggested.

 

This will take some time, but I will report back as soon as.


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#10
phillpower2

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Re D:\ drive, I do not know what’s there. The only visible thing there is a Recovery folder. When I click on it, the right pane displays the Compact logo and a warning not to mess it up. Maybe, if I select an option to show system hidden file (don’t remember where it is), I will see the contents.

 

 

This was what I was hoping for as the recovery partition if intact gives you the option to restore to an out of the box system should you wish to go that route.

 

Re G:\, it is the main data drive, the F:\ drive is a backup. I am going to drop everything and free space right now. Then will run defrag if needed.

 

 

No problem if that is what you would like to sort out first.

 

 

(Why do you say to disconnect both drives? I have all data there and nothing on C:\.)

 

 

The CPQ Presario, CQ5320F has a rather feeble 250W PSU and the additional HDDs could be drawing power away from the main computer hardware resulting in a slowdown, additionally it protects your data from being accidentally deleted when you tidy up the internal HDD.

 

Then I will uninstall AVG and select one of the two programs you suggested.

 

 

:thumbsup:

 

This will take some time, but I will report back as soon as.

 

 

No worries, in your own time and take as long as you need  :)


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#11
BerDov

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Thank you for the answers.

 

I freed a lot of space on G:\. Have 318GB fee of 931 total.

Ran CCleaner.

 

No defrag needed (I have it scheduled, actually, on a weekly basis).

 

I then uninstalled AVG and installed Avast. Do I need to “Run Smart Scan”?

 

The computer is back to old tricks. CPU Usage is about 50-60%; Mem available is 820-860MB; mem Free is between 0 and 5MB.

 

You gave me idea though. The G:\ drive is an older model with it’s own power adapter; the F:\drive draws power from the machine, via USB (was installed in April). However, I do think the slow down problem started before April.

 

Thanks again.


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#12
phillpower2

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I freed a lot of space on G:\. Have 318GB fee of 931 total.
Ran CCleaner.

 

 

:thumbsup:

 

No defrag needed (I have it scheduled, actually, on a weekly basis).

 

 

Defragging a HDD too often shortens its lifespan as it is subjected to unnecessary stress, once every 3 to 4 months at most for the average user, for power users that do a lot of file swaps how often will vary.

 

I then uninstalled AVG and installed Avast. Do I need to “Run Smart Scan”?

 

 

It is advisable yes.

 

The computer is back to old tricks. CPU Usage is about 50-60%; Mem available is 820-860MB; mem Free is between 0 and 5MB.

 

 

Is this with the two USB HDDs disconnected.

 

You are welcome  :)


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#13
BerDov

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12/25/2015 8:05 PM

 

Here is the latest.

 

I ran Smart Scan. It suggested updating several apps which I did.

 

I then decided to test the theory that external drive(s) may affect the performance.

 

After all programs off (except the Word), the memory consumption was:

 

MS Word             1300

Total                      2815

Cached                 1140

Available              1728

Free                       634

 

I then rebooted 3 times, with both drives attached. The only thing of notice was screen resolution – first time ever I think.

 

Reboot 1 (2 drives connected)

 

MS Word             1300

Total                      2815

Cached                 262

Available              250

Free                       0

CPU 30-60%

 

Reboot 2 (2 drives connected)

 

MS Word             1300

Total                      2815

Cached                 845

Available              1200

Free                       355

CPU 50%

 

Reboot 3 (2 drives connected)

 

MS Word             1300

Total                      2815

Cached                 209         150

Available              209         430

Free                       0              280

CPU 20%                              50%

 

As I was writing down the numbers, mem usage started to change so I wrote the second coumn of numbers;

 

I then disconnected the passport type drive which draws power from the PC.

 

Reboot 1 (2 drives connected)

 

MS Word             1300

Total                      2815

Cached                 262

Available              250

Free                       0

CPU 30-60%

 

I then disconnected both external drives.

 

Reboot 2 (both USB drive disconnected)

 

Total                      2815

Cached                 662 to 70 to .. up

Available              1835 to 70 to .. up

Free                       1219 to 0 to ..up

CPU 2% to 50

 

Mem usage was changing faster than I could write the numbers down. I did wait to see the lowest numbers.

 

From this unscientific test I conclude that drives have no effect on memory usage.

 

Now what?


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#14
BerDov

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P.S. after posting the report, I noticed that CPU was hovering at 100%. As I blinked, it went down to 50, then to 60. Whatever.


Edited by BerDov, 26 December 2015 - 08:37 AM.

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#15
phillpower2

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It is important that you keep the two external HDDs disconnected and not update or install anything while troubleshooting, doing so makes it harder to diagnose and may aggravate the issue, try disabling and re enabling items one at a time using msconfig, see below;

 

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab (for Windows 8, the Startup tab has a link to open Task Manager/Startup tab. Use that.) make a note of what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs better.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several one item at a time till you find the culprit.


If no, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.

Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services until you find the culprit.


Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.

Enable everything else you disabled.  

 

Thanks to Ztruker for use of the above steps.


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