Messages

1

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: August 04, 2014, 10:09:11 pm »

So... here's the story.  The HP a1000 series computer came in twenty different models with a variety of processors.  Those processors came from AMD and Intel.  Three different motherboards were used.  I found that the recovery disks I purchased (that were supposed to work on any of those 20 models) did not work on my machine (a1012x).  I surmised that it was because the disks I received were intended for Intel based machines.  To try to prove my point I purchased the same Intel-based motherboard that HP put in its Celeron based a1000 models and attempted to load the recovery disks that would not load on my AMD based machine.  Well, the recovery disks worked fine on the Intel-based motherboard with only one caveat.  I got a "Code Purple" warning just before Windows started.  I did a little web research to find a workaround and after that, the machine worked fine.

I guess the bottom line is, if you have a HP a1007w, a1012x, a1017c, or a a1022n, you may find that your HP 5070-0329 Recovery Disks will not work.

Thanks again for the advice and help.

2

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 30, 2014, 04:47:03 pm »

OK, the computer is back.  Here's the reference I used to fix the HAL.dll message:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/missinghaldll.htm

I skipped down to #4 and followed the link...

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/repairbootini.htm

The bootcfg /rebuild worked fine.  Restarted the computer and it went through the remainder of the Windows setup.  Windows starts and runs and the original applications are back as well.

Shane, there was no recovery option in the bios.

Anyway, Boggin & Shane, I'm sorry I wasn't able to fix this by using disk tools but I guess sometimes its more productive to go with a hunch.  I'm glad that the recovery partition was intact on the original hard drive.  I appreciate the time and information you provided to help me fix this.

BTW, I've ordered a motherboard with an Intel processor to see if those recovery disks I bought will work with it.  You may recall I indicated that this series of HP computers came with both AMD & Intel processors.  I thought the reason why I couldn't get the recovery disks to work was because the sellers offered only a single set of recovery disks for this series and I think originally HP provided two sets, one for machines with an AMD processor, the other for Intel processors, based on the model computer you had.  I'll let you know the outcome.

3

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 30, 2014, 04:05:30 pm »

I think I'm back to where I started this odyssey.   Running the restore application as detailed previously resulted in the machine going through the motion of restoring (though it did not start by re-writing the recovery partition).  At reboot, the following message appeared:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt

<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll

Please reinstall a copy of the above file. 

4

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 30, 2014, 03:39:42 pm »

I can't get to it via the function keys Shane, F10 should but doesn't start the Recovery application.  I'm thinking, if it doesn't work, I just need to re-clone the original drive and start again...

5

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 30, 2014, 02:40:15 pm »

Just one more note.  I've been playing with the idea of trying to trigger the recovery process from the cloned hard drive.  The recovery partition should have the original recovery files that came with the computer on it (not the recovery disks I purchased).  I used the Mini XP application on the Hirens disk to access files on the recovery partition, found an application called restore, and double clicked on it.  The expect HP restore program started.  I'm at the point where I can just click the button and see if it will actually run the restore...  shall I go ahead?

6

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 30, 2014, 02:24:23 pm »

Boggin: Yes, I did use the drive designation and I also ran the disk checking function within XP.  I did read the article you referenced in your post.  Thanks.

Shane:  I did download the ubuntu iso, booted off the ubuntu cd, and chose try.  I messed around a little with the desktop choices and noticed that, shortly thereafter, any window that opened was scrambled.  I'm assuming that's a video driver issue.  Anyway, a reboot with the iso resolves the problem, at least for a time.

I'm lost doing anything more.  The document in the link you provided refers to rebuilding the GRUB bootload (which I don't believe I have), how to fully fix the Windows bootloader using a Windows disk (which is what we've already tried), doing something with Vista or 7 or 8 (which I don't have), how to partially fix the Windows bootloader via the boot repair graphical tool (which seems to require you to boot from a completely different iso) or via command lines (which look Greek to me).  I don't know where you'd type the command lines.  I also haven't seen any sign of linux type information (like dev/sda) while using at least this version of Ubuntu.  What I seem to have is a graphical desktop with icons on the left side allowing you to open windows to see different things.

Anyway, needless to say, you're dealing with a virtually complete newbie using Ubuntu.  Can you provide some specific instructions?  Thanks.

7

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 30, 2014, 07:59:56 am »

Hi Boggin.  Since my last post I ran chkdsk /f twice from the recovery console.  This is something I've done prior to now but I thought it worth another shot.  The first time I ran it it reported that it had fixed an error, the second time I ran it there were no reported repairs.  After completing chkdsk the second time I reran fixboot c: and bootcfg /rebuild.  bootdfg again reported that it had failed to successfully scan the disk for Windows installations.

8

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 04:42:55 pm »

Thanks for the help today Shane.  Have a good night.

9

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 04:27:24 pm »

Yes...  Windows folder and the rest.

10

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 01:03:19 pm »

OK.  Running fixboot c: resulted in the message "The new bootsector was successfully written"

Running bootcfg /rebuild resulted in the message:

Error:  Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations.  The error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent Bootdfg from successfully scanning.  Use chkdsk to detect any disk errors.

Note:  This operation must complete successfully in order for the /add or /rebuild commands to be utilized.

11

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 11:32:12 am »

After answering yes, received the message:

The new master boot record has been successfully written.

After reboot, the message at the top left hand side of the screen is:

Invalid partition table

12

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 11:23:17 am »

OK, attempting to run fixmbr results in the following warning:

**  CAUTION  **
This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.

FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed.

This could cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible.

If you hare not having problems accessing your drive do not continue.

Are you sure you want to write a new MBR?

13

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 11:15:28 am »

Shane, I believe MiniNT is the recovery partition...

14

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 11:03:07 am »

OK, I'm presented with the following getting to the recovery console:

1.  E:\MiniNT
2.  C:\Windows

Which Windows installation...

Which one should I choose?

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General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 10:53:38 am »

Sorry for the picture quality.  The word says Error!  The message come up after the typical BIOS boot information.  There is no sign of Windows before the message.

Shane, I believe I've gone though the fixmbr process previously without success.  I most certainly can try it again and report the results.

Boggin, I appreciate your continued interest and your help and thank you for your condolences about my friend.  This man was my supervisor at one time and I am pleased that that relationship turned into a sincere and wonderful friendship.  Though I received a number of hard drives (in addition to the installed drive) I would be hard pressed to make enough sense of them to determine if I could manage to restore the computer from them.

I'll report again after I run fixmbr.

16

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 29, 2014, 08:25:50 am »

OK, it looks like I now have two identical drives.  Booting from either has the same result.  In the upper left hand corner appears the word Error!

I'm ready to begin the repair.

17

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 28, 2014, 07:45:58 pm »

Thanks Shane.  Since I last posted I gave up on Ghost and downloaded HDD Raw Copy Tool from http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-Raw-Copy-Tool/

Its in the process of copying the hard drive.  I'll let you know when it finishes.

18

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 28, 2014, 04:54:17 pm »

I'm not sure if I'm destined to ever clone a drive.  I got Ghost 10 today, tried to load it on the Win 7 machine but it isn't compatible. I then went to the XP machine, loaded XP onto a SATA drive, then loaded Ghost onto that drive.  I also hooked up the original IDE drive and the matching new IDE drive.  When I look at the machine through Explorer, this is what I see.

C:  HP_PAVILION              This is data partition on the SATA drive
D:  HP_RECOVERY             This is the recovery partition on the SATA drive
E:  500GB HARD DRIVE 1  This is the original IDE HD data partition (with Win XP that won't boot and data)
F:  HP_PAVILION               This is the new IDE HD data partition (with Win XP that won't boot)
G:  HP_RECOVERY             I believe this is the original IDE HD recovery partition
H:  HP_RECOVERY             I believe this is the new IDE HD recovery partition

Ghost only reports seeing the following drives:

C:
D:
F:
G:


Not sure what's up with that.  Any ideas?  Thanks.

19

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 23, 2014, 06:43:09 pm »

actually I meant programs besides the cloning program...  I just bought Ghost 10 on eBay...  I'll let you know when I've cloned the drive.

20

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 23, 2014, 05:01:43 pm »

Shane, I was thinking, I should probably ask you what other programs we're going to use just in case I need to look for others...

21

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 23, 2014, 01:08:13 pm »

Thanks Shane & Boggin.  Since it sounds like I could use the HP machine with Ghost (it can take both hard drives and boot from a CD) can you tell me what version of Ghost I'd want to get?  eBay shows Ghost 2000 all the way to Ghost 15.

22

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 23, 2014, 07:28:32 am »

OK, I'm game for that as long as it isn't a destructive process.  I'd like to retain the stuff on the drive.

I have checked the original hard drive and running the extended check in DLGDIAG (Western Digital) reports that all is good.  I'm thinking that negates the need clone the drive.  I can still clone it if you can tell me how to do it.

I have the original machine (HP a1012x) which has no OS at the moment and a Windows 7 based machine with a IDE/USB capability.

I installed the original drive back into the HP this morning.  The result was:

On black screen, at the very top, left hand side of the screen, is the word Error!

I await your direction.  Thanks.

23

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 22, 2014, 10:29:57 am »

Long story.  A friend of mine died.  His wife wanted family pictures from the computer and a variety of other hard drives associated with the computer.  I pulled the pictures off the hard drive in the computer and the other hard drives.  It appeared that some of the hard drives had complete backups of the entire system.  I decided to copy the contents of the other hard drives to the hard drive in the computer.  During one of those operations something happened to Windows.  I started out with a HAL file error, tried to fix it, and ended up with a partition problem.  It appears that all files remain intact on the original hard drive, it just doesn't boot to Windows XP anymore.

On an entirely different note, I discovered the following discussion last night and I think it may contain the solution to the problem.  The HP a1000 series computers came with both Intel and AMD processors.  All the restore disk outlets sell the same recovery disk set for the entire a1000 family of computers.  The problem involves a registry value called Intelppm.  It may be that the restore disks I am using are set for using an Intel processor, my a1012x uses a AMD processor.

Here's the link:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/36cbcda3-0bba-47d1-a630-0b22336dedbd/winxp-sp3-bsod-0x0000007e-0xc0000005-0xbaa58756-0xbacc342c-0xbacc3128?forum=itproxpsp

I tried using the procedure found in this link below to change the value of Intelppm/start (instead of SystemSetupInProgress) but it didn't change the computer's behavior.  I believe this was because I didn't have a clue what I was doing...

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00024476&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=&product=71747&rule=915

I believe I need some way of changing the value of Intelppm that will remain after I exit and reboot.

Then again, I could be entirely wrong...

24

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 21, 2014, 04:00:35 pm »

I borrowed this computer from someone and ended up screwing it up.  I'm hopeful to get the apps back that came with the machine and I can deal with updating Windows once I can get it to run.

25

General Computer Support / Re: HP Pavilion a1012x Recovery Problem - Windows XP

« on: July 21, 2014, 02:53:42 pm »

As described previously, I did do a Windows XP install on this machine with a Microsoft XP disk and was able to install it successfully.  I also did the RAM and HD tests to insure they were both good.

There are no recovery disks available other than the ones I've ordered and received.  I'm hopeful you have some other suggestions as to where to look next.  I presume there is information somewhere about what Windows XP does when the install reboots for the first time.