Purchased Recovery Disks NOT working - Compaq sr2020nx

[CompaqRecover]

SYSTEM SPECS:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00749174&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&softwareitem=pv-42539-1&os=228&product=324504

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ORIGINAL PROBLEM:

Hello.  I am working on a friends Compaq sr2020nx computer where the harddrive went bad.  The drive was diagnosed as bad as it will not pass the SMART diagnostics in BIOS.  It cannot be accessed when booting from a Linux live disk or as a slave in 2 different computers one running XP Pro the other Windows 7.  The harddrive is definetely bad.  He had not burned the recovery disks before the drive quit so I ordered the recovery disks from Compaq/HP for $15.

8

The system came with XP MCE 2005 64bit.  The disks that HP/Compaq would let me order were the Windows XP MCE SP2 Recovery 64.  There are 3 DVDs that came.  2 are recovery disks and 1 is supplemental. 

The new drive is a Western Digital SATA 320 GB.

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WHAT'S NOT WORKING NOW

With the new harddrive installed I boot from the #1 System Recovery Disk.  I get a message that reads "No operating system installed or partition corrupted.  Press 'R' to perform a full PC Recovery."

I press R.

I get a message on the bottom of the screen that reads, "Preparing recovery partition - please wait." with a progress bar underneath.  That completes.

Next message I get is "Starting PC Recovery."

The screen then transitions to the word "COMPAQ" in big red letters across the screen with a little red progress bar that scrolls underneath it.  (Sort of like when XP is booting where you have the XP logo and the little green scrolling bar underneath it.)

That COMPAQ screen stays up for almost an hour before I get a blue screen Error: 0x0000007B that reads something to the effect Windows has shut down to keep from harming the system run chkdks etc....  According to the HP/Compaq support pages

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07144&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&softwareitem=pv-42539-1&os=228&rule=35583&product=3245048#N556      I am supposed to try and do the recovery again.  Same thing keeps happening always ending in the blue screen error.

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STUFF I HAVE TRIED

That is the problem.  I cannot get the purchased Recovery Disks to recover the system.  I've tried cleaning the DVDs, using a different DVD drive but still the same thing.  I am able to install and run Linux on the harddrive and the computer works fine.  I can install Vista 64bit on the harddrive and it works fine.

I have checked the harddrive after starting the Recovery process and it fails.  It appears the recovery disk creates a 8.5GB FAT32 partition and copies over some files.  It leaves the rest of the drive unallocated as if it never gets that far in the recovery process.  I have tried recovery after making 1 partition and formatting it.  The recovery disk when it is run will again create the 8.5GB FAT32 partition and leave the rest of the drive unallocated.  I tried creating a single partition of the unallocated space and then ran recovery but still get the COMPAQ screen for an hour and then fail.

At this point I don't know what else to do.  It seems to me there is something wrong with the image disks that Compaq sent me.  Something to do with the SATA drivers not being on it?  

Any ideas?  Thanks.

[1badGuard]

I would remove and replace the memory and cmos battery. It will clear things out. Then try the reovery.

Can you provide the Software Build number ?       example:71NAv3PrA3

Also the part number off the package HP sent. example: 5091-4797

[CompaqRecover]

Build Number is 64NAemREA3

Part Numbers =

5092-6012    Windows XP MCE SP2 Recovery 64

5070-2762    Recovery - Assy 64NAemREA3

5070-4222    Supplemental Recovery 64NAEMRE

F20708        8x8 Clear Ziploc Bag

I'm in the process of slipstreaming the SATA drivers onto an XP Pro install disk.  If that works it has to be a SATA issue.  If I had an IDE drive laying around I would try that too.  I can already tell this isn't going to be solved by HP Tech Support as they sent me an email saying I was the problem for trying to dual boot.  Umm....I'm not trying to dual boot....I'm trying to restore a system to the original factory settings using HP's own recovery disks.

It would be great if the BIOS let you set the SATA controller to run as IDE - but it won't.

Tried the CMOS and mem idea.  Still same problem.

[1badGuard]

HP's parts ordering page shows You need 5092-4310 Recovery media - (64NAemREA3) base image (English) 

That's HP for you.

http://partsurfer.hp.com/cgi-bin/spi/main?sel_flg=partlist&model=RE473AA&HP_model=RE473AA&modname=Co...

[CompaqRecover]

I was hoping it would be that simple.  According to Tech Support I was sent the right disks.

Kevin: Compaq Presario SR2020NX - Prod # RE473AA - S/N CNH63319KT

Bijoyeta : Kelvin there is a build id number written in the set of recovery CDs packet. Also you will get a build id number at the bottom of the tower.Please check whether they are same or not.

Bijoyeta : And thank you for the information.

Kevin : Computer says BID = 64NAemREA3 FeatureByte = 0nx141100. Recovery DVD says Build ID 64NAemREA3Bijoyeta : Kevin I have checked all the details.

Bijoyeta : You were sent correct recovery cds.

Bijoyeta : Since the build id number matches so it means that correct recovery cds were sent.

Bijoyeta : 5092-6012 is the part number of the cds that you should recieve for your system.

I'm still stumped.

[1badGuard]

 The  8.5GB FAT32 partition it's creating is the Recovery D: partition that you'll have once it is finished. I think you need to completely wipe the drive and start fresh.

Try these steps.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07119&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3245048

If that does not work format the drive with the software included with the new hard drive. The sata driver should still be intact.  
 

Message Edited by dmhoo29 on 04-30-2009 02:15 PM

[CompaqRecover]

I installed an old 20GB IDE drive that I was using on a Linux box.  It seems to work with that drive.  Instead of hanging at the big red COMPAQ screen it actually goes into the recovery program - when I click to recover it does fail but I'm guess that's because the drive is too small.  Sooooo.......it has to be a SATA drive issue.  I've got a couple things I'm going to try after work including clone my personal SATA (which is a Seagate like the one that went bad in the Compaq) drive to the one I bought to fix this computer and then using my Seagate and see if it will recover to that drive.  We will see what happens.

[dago517]

Does not have a format/partition. Put it in another machine then format it NTFS then load it in this machine and try booting it again. Some software like Acronis has a format application as well as some others. Search formatting software+Windows XP on line. Linux will format it using a different format then Windows. More then likely Windows can't read the format and partisan that is there.

[ErnyWhite]

It could be the size of the harddrive, the orginal was a 160 gig and you are trying a 320 gig. The recovery disks are made for certain hardware configurations plus a motherboard tattoo. If any of these don't match up it Might not work. Sometimes adding a video card, keeping a printer attached, etc. willl keep a recovery from working. Maybe.

[1badGuard]

I really don't think the hard drive size comes into play. I just added a new 750GB to my old A1330N and never had one problem. I still think it's something to do with the discs or the hard drive is failing.

Message Edited by dmhoo29 on 05-02-2009 06:46 PM