HellyHans

Ok, heres my problem.
My friend bought a HP laptop that had Vista in it.. So he decided to format his drive and install XP (without copying his backup on DVD thats on his 2nd partition)

So.. what happened is nothing pretty much works in XP because of propriatry drivers for his hardware..so I made him understand that he has to reinstall vista.. but the problem is...HE DIDNT COPY HIS RECOVERY PARTITION.. so I went to HP's website to see if there is a way to burn the partition on DVD via XP or some other program and it doesn't work..

Now here comes the fun stuff..
when my friend bought his laptop.. his girlfriend bought one too.. the EXACT same model.. So I was like.. hmmm.. lets burn HER partition with the HP recovery software.. reinstall vista on HIS computer and then burn HIS partition after...
well NO! it doesn't work because when we launch the stupid HP recovery in HIS computer after we installed vista to burn HIS backup.. Vista gives an error message in the lines of.. the installed version is already a backed up install and the partition that is on his drive do not match the installed version...
I was like WTF!!! its the same dam computer! so I'am guession.. its see's the windows serial number or something and the backup isn't the same so it doesnt even let me burn the god dam partition with IS legit! they are both legit!

So to make this story short.. if your computer crashes and you didn't burn your backup to DVD before a crash, your screwed.. their is no way to install your vista? what kind of stupid thing is that? HP doesnt even had a tool that can autoboot and detect the backup partition and install from there.. how hard would the be to do.. !!

American Zombie

Have you tried to contact HP?

Sazar

Helly, no offense but your friend made a mistake and you've compounded the mistake and given the licensing issues at play here, you NEED to contact HP to fix the issues.

It is his mistake and then your mistake and if y'all keep going at this rate, you'll probably fubar his gf's system as well.

Get the recovery disk, fix the error and you should be fine.

The recovery partitions are tied to the system they are on, each system has a unique identifier. Helps prevent piracy. What you are doing is essentially how some pirates operate which is why there are fail safes.

Contact HP

-edit-

I changed the thread title because HP didn't screw your friend.

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HellyHans

Yes I'am aware of the fact that it's causing a problem for the liscenses.. but what I was trying to find out if there was a way to burn the existing partition that is on the drive.
I just find it odd that HP would make a recovery partition but you can only use it it your original OS is still in function. What's the point of the recovery here? lol
Anyways thanks for your input, and I will send an email to HP concerning this.

Taurus

demand a damn Vista install disc. i hate recovery discs.

fitz

what systems? Most HP systems have XP drivers available as well..

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tdinc

This may be overkill but I thought I would post the information just in case someone has the same issue regarding an HP notebook Recovery CD.

HP Notebook PCs - Obtaining a Recovery CD or DVD set

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LeeJend

Once you get the Vista install back on, using an HP provided recovery disk...

You can get XP to work on a laptop no matter how much the manufacturer resists the process. It is not easy, but it possible. It took me two weeks and some minor funcitonality is lost. Search for my thread on converting a Toshiba to XP from VISTA. Same process for HP. Start wiht planning on a dual boot install, it reduces risk and allows rapid change over if/when M$ gets the Vista kinks worked out. The hardware all comes from common suppliers who have drivers on their web sites. There may be some quirks built into the bios that handicaps fetaures after the conversion process but the majority of funcitonality is there.

PS Rule1-1000 when working on a PC:
First make a backup then mess with it.

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HellyHans

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try, i will reinstall the original vista in there and make another partition to install XP..
The reason why I reinstalled vista was I couldnt get any drivers for the hardware once the system booted XP.. and I didn't know what was in there. so
I'll test and see what happens