unable to restore or recover a pavilion slimline s3620f with recovery disks

[Flonan]

The harddrive in my HP Pavilion Slimline s3620f went out. I replaced it with a new HDD. I ordered recovery disks from HP using the serial number, model, and part number

but they will not work.

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

What is the make and model of the new hard drive?

Boot into the bios (f10 setup) and make sure that the bios is recognizing the new hard drive.

If the new hard drive is 2 TB or less then follow the below procedure.

Cyberlink recovery CD for hard drives. When you have created this CD, insert it into the system and wait until you see a window with a green check mark.  Then remove the CD and insert your first Recovery DVD.  Restart the PC and go through the process of installing the Operating System again.  Hopefully it should install properly this time.

[Flonan]

Thank you for the suggestion.  The new hard drive is a Western Digital 500 GB SATA WD5000AAKX.  It is recognized in the BIOS. I downloaded the file, created the CD and ran it on my new hard drive. I then inserted the recovery disks in order.  When you insert the first recovery disk, the system boots to a screen which displays the HP Flex Build 2.0 splash screen with a command prompt box stating the Copyright 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.  After a while, in the command prompt box, you several sentences indicating the operation completed successfully; the source Drive is C:; The executionMode is BuildPartition; PC_GetUUT info.end> Starting, Collecting Device ID data from UUT; Calling cpc-FindPCI, cpc_FindUSB, Calling cpc_FindIDe, and Successful.  After all three disks are successfully installed, I removed the last disk as instructed and clicked on Finish.  The system reboots and appears to be extracting/copying files.  There are two yellow folders on the screen with papers moving from one to the other.  It stays passing the paper between the folders and never completes the installation process.  I have tried this three types with the same results.  I have let it run from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.  I don't believe that it should take that long if the installation is going to be successful.  I have a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit which was the original OS installed at the factory.  I installed it on the hard drive with no problems using the Windows product code on the outside cover of the system.  It installed just fine. 

I would like to take the system back to factory default which is why I purchased the recovery disks from HP.  I have called HP support twice to get some replacement disks for the ones I purchased.  The tech support people I talked to did not indicate that they were interested in helping me.  One even told me that he had other customers waiting for assistance. He did not have time to help me.  The problem was that the hard drive had been replaced therefore it was not the original hard drive and the recovery disks would not work. Another said the system was down for repairs and he could not put in a ticket for sales to call me. 

I am disappointed and frustrated.  I have been working in the PC/Server arena for over 20 years.  Replacing a failed or faulty hard drive is not a big issue.  I do not believe that is why the recovery disks are not working properly.  I realize the system is not under warranty.  However, I purchased the recovery disks around 4-15-2012.  They should work.  Please help.  HP Pavilion Slimline S3620F Vista Home Premium 64 Bit SP1.  Serial  {Removed for privacy}  Prod. FK785AA-ABA

[Flonan]

Thank you for the suggestion. The new hard drive is a Western Digital 500 GB SATA WD5000AAKX. It is recognized in the BIOS. I downloaded the file, created the CD and ran it on my new hard drive. I then inserted the recovery disks in order. When you insert the first recovery disk, the system boots to a screen which displays the HP Flex Build 2.0 splash screen with a command prompt box stating the Copyright 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. After a while, in the command prompt box, you several sentences indicating the operation completed successfully; the source Drive is C:; The executionMode is BuildPartition; PC_GetUUT info.end> Starting, Collecting Device ID data from UUT; Calling cpc-FindPCI, cpc_FindUSB, Calling cpc_FindIDe, and Successful. After all three disks are successfully installed, I removed the last disk as instructed and clicked on Finish. The system reboots and appears to be extracting/copying files. There are two yellow folders on the screen with papers moving from one to the other. It stays passing the paper between the folders and never completes the installation process. I have tried this three types with the same results. I have let it run from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. I don't believe that it should take that long if the installation is going to be successful. I have a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit which was the original OS installed at the factory. I installed it on the hard drive with no problems using the Windows product code on the outside cover of the system. It installed just fine.

I would like to take the system back to factory default which is why I purchased the recovery disks from HP. I have called HP support twice to get some replacement disks for the ones I purchased. The tech support people I talked to did not indicate that they were interested in helping me. One even told me that he had other customers waiting for assistance. He did not have time to help me. The problem was that the hard drive had been replaced therefore it was not the original hard drive and the recovery disks would not work. Another said the system was down for repairs and he could not put in a ticket for sales to call me.

I am disappointed and frustrated. I have been working in the PC/Server arena for over 20 years. Replacing a failed or faulty hard drive is not a big issue. I do not believe that is why the recovery disks are not working properly. I realize the system is not under warranty. However, I purchased the recovery disks around 4-15-2012. They should work. Please help. HP Pavilion Slimline S3620F Vista Home Premium 64 Bit SP1. Serial {Removed for privacy} Prod. FK785AA-ABA

[Flonan]

Talked to HP Tech Support. They said that since it was not the original harddrive, they did not guarantee that the recovery disks would work. They are OEM disks. I would need to purchase a retail copy of Vista Home Premium 64 bit..  Can anyone think of another way to get the disks to work?

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

Did you let the HP recovery process finish or did you stop it?

I just went a very long (5+ hours) HP recovery on a fairly new laptop.  Try the recovery process again but this time just let it run.  If the disk activity LED is still flashing then let it run until it finishes.

Be sure to unplug everything from the PC except the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

[Flonan]

Big Dave,

Thanks for trying to help me with this issue. It is greatly appreciated. The first time I did the install, I left the computer running for over four hours, the next time 10 pm - 8 am. The third time, I did the Cyberlink disk recovery you suggested and ran the install again over night.  I am going to give it one more try. I have done the installation, the third disk has auto ejected, and the system has auto rebooted after clicking on finish.  It is showing the paper moving between the yellow folders as it has done before.  I am going to let it run again.  Started it today at 9:00 a.m. I will shut the office door can come back tomorrow evening. I verfied with HP that I did have the correct recovery disks for this model.  You have to order them using the serial and product #s.  Unless they actentally picked up the wrong set at the factory, you will get the exact ones for your system.  It just seems strange that replacing a bad hard disk with the same GB and RPM would make the recovery disks not work which is what the HP Tech said. Hard drives go out all the time. I tried to purchase a HDD from HP.  They do not sell them.  They give you a link to a reseller.  I have replaced HDD in other HP systems for firends that were not under warranty and restored them using the recovery media purchased from HP.  This one is really frustrating.

[Flonan]

Let the computer run from 9:00 a.m. Saturday through 8:30 p.m. Sunday night.  It was still copying files.  I do not think that the revoery disks are going to work.  Sure wish I had another idea to try.  I guess I will just install the OS using the Product code on the computer case and not worry about getting it back to factory default.