Hard drive failure

[Lee27]

Hi everyone

I have a Pavilion DV6-2140EI notebook with a failed hard drive. I purchased a new hard drive but to my surprise, all recovery disks or system image files are useless without the recovery partition on the drive. I have made numerous attempts to contact HP in South Africa telephonicly and on line, but found that there is zero support. This matter has been going for 7 months now. Can anyone assist me with correct contact details with this problem or does HP support stop when you replace hard drives?

My DV7 hard drive has also recently failed so now I have double the trouble.

It appears that HP and Microsoft teamed up to not support hard drive failure. As you no longer get the original operating system on disk anymore, it looks like one is forced to purchase Windows again after hard drive failure.

[lasvegaswireman · Accepted solution]

The HP Recovery Discs you created when you first setup your computer, do in fact work to return your computer to a factory liie state after replacing the hard drive. Typically, the replacement drive must be the same capacity or larger then the original.

HP typically provides a one year warranty on their computers. After the warranty has expired, you are liable for the repair and recovery of your computer. If the Recovery Media you created doesn't work, please contact official HP Customer Support in your country / region, via the HP Worldwide Support Portal, to see if HP is able to assist you. Software may not be covered by the warranty and there may be a charge for the HP Recovery Media.

Alternatively, if you can still read the 25-digit Windows product key on the Microsoft COA affixed to the bottom the computer, you can install Windows 7 using this key. Please see "How to Install Windows 7 Without the Disc" for instructions on how to download Windows 7, create the installation media, and install Windows 7 using the 25-digit product key from the Microsoft COA on your computer. Using this method will not install any HP customizations or value-added software and you will have to manually install all needed drivers.

Links to Windows 7 SP1 can be found HERE and HERE.

Direct link to Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Please click the White KUDOS "Thumbs Up" to show your appreciation

[Lee27]

Hi

I see the name Frank t the bottom, so I am going to say, Thank you Frank for the responce.

Yes, I have made contact with HP in South Africa and was informed to contact HP in the USA as there is nothing they can do about it...lol.

(You should try and contact Microsoft here...haha....hours of fun)

I will instll Windows s directed and keep you up to date...I should be able to restore a systems image after that, right?

Cheers

Lee

[Cathy_B]

I did as suggested--contact Microsoft, and when I entered the Windows product key, was instructed to contact the manufacturer since the computer shipped with the operating system.

Are you telling me I have to contact Microsoft again?  This seems to be an infinite loop.

Cathy

[orchi23]

Microsoft text support via online chat is awesome. My dv6 hard drive is failing and I have been working to get into the best spot as possible. System image has failed, BIOS hard drive test failed, so I'll have to replace my hard drive. My Microsoft product key sticker is totally worn, so I contacted support. We tried a couple of things, and he had to take control of my computer remotely but he found my product key within a couple of minutes! He even provided me a download link for the IOS to Windows. I downloaded the link, saved it to a USB drive, and as soon as I install my new hard drive I plug it in and install Windows. So I now basically have a OS install disc. Microsoft is great to work with and freakishly helpful.