Windows 7 Not Booting

Toki said:
I ended up calling HP and ... they don't send out the OS to people.
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I have occasionally had the same kind of trouble at "Dell Hell".

Toki said:
I was going to try and find a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on the net to try and do this myself just for craps and giggles.
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If I may ask: How did all of this begin? If you are/were attempting to multi-boot, that might actually still end up being your best option, but only *after* you are quite sure you well-understand any kind of pre-configuration that actually *might* be necessary for the hard drive inside your specific machine.


Addendum:


Toki said:
I went ahead and loaded a copy of windows 7 home premium x86 architecture (not sure if I should have done the x86 or x64) after it installed it did work fine. It just doesn't have all the hp stuff on it.

Should I still let hp take it and redo it or just keep it as is?
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The x64 would be better if your machine is 64-bit, but the remainder of your question is your own call to make. Personally, I neither need nor want any manufacturer's software on any of my machines. Certain machine-specific drivers definitely are needed, of course, and you can check for that in "Device Manager". However, the remainder of OEM stuff is all completely optional (in my own opinion).

Note to self: It appears HP does the same as with Compaq in the past, only restoring a machine to what *they* want it to be!
 
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Toki said:
Yes, as it stands at this point after wiping the disk clean... I do need to install Windows again but I don't have those disk's. I ended up calling HP and I am going to send it back so they can re install the OS again. I asked if I could do it but they said no, they don't send out the OS to people.

Good thing it is still under warranty.

I was going to try and find a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on the net to try and do this myself just for craps and giggles.

I will let you guys know.

Thanks for all the help here!
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That is utter garbage. They cant deny you the physical media. If the Recovery Partition gets accidentally deleted they have no option but to send people the media. They just wanted to have you spend more money and send it in.

Toki said:
I went ahead and loaded a copy of windows 7 home premium x86 architecture (not sure if I should have done the x86 or x64) after it installed it did work fine. It just doesn't have all the hp stuff on it.

Should I still let hp take it and redo it or just keep it as is?
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I wouldnt send it to them. I most certainly would find someone else to work on my PC's after the garbage they tried to feed you.

As for the x86 or x64 part. That is completely personal preference. Unless you have more than 4GB of RAM to actually utilize the 64 Bit OS then going with the 32 Bit or x86 makes no difference. You do not gain or lose anything.
 
Mak 2.0 said:
That is utter garbage. They can't deny you the physical media.
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I suspect Microsoft has approved what is being done there as long as some way is provided for restoration/repair of the initial installation.

Mak 2.0 said:
If the Recovery Partition gets ... deleted they have no option but to send people the media.
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I agree in principle, but OEM-installation media has not been in the overall picture for quite some time now (as far as I know). I remember my father pitching quite a fit nearly fifteen years ago when a dealer presumed to send him on his way with a new computer and no actual installation disks. He did get them before leaving that day, but not without great difficulty short of leaving the new machine on the counter and walking away.
 
Actually Microsoft has no say in it. Microsoft doesnt impead on OEM's or how they conduct business. For OEM's there is only 2 things that apply.

1. They must provide support, Microsoft will not
2. The License can not be transferred.

I bet if you reported this incident and could prove that they denied you the media they would do their best to accomidate you. Microsoft is not the big bad company you are making them out to be. They actually are very customer oriented and are very willing to do what they can to accomidate the end user now. They have changed their philosphy a lot in recent years.

Yes Microsoft has approved the use of Recovery Partitions. But they are not an end to the physical media. As Recovery Partitions can be accidently deleted, removed or formatted by end users to get more space on their hard drive. It happens all the time. When that situation happens there is no other method than to provide media to the user in some way, be it them having to pay for shipping and processing. That falls on HP for being bad with their support and trying to milk their customers for every penny that they can. Microsoft has no control over it.

Media has been out of the picture since around the time of Vista's release. It was only around Nov/Dec of 06 that Recovery Partitions started to take over. Before then it was still XP and Recovery Partitions were only on a few select machines. The rest still had the media supplied with them. I bought a Dell laptop in 07 and got Vista Media with it. I had to pay an extra $10 for it but i still received it.

So it isnt a Microsoft thing. It is strictly on the OEM Manufacturer that you buy the PC from that accounts for available media.

As of right now there is no option to buy the Win7 Media from Microsoft. I have heard that they are looking to offer the same replacement media option for Win7 that they did for Vista.
 
Mak 2.0 said:
Actually Microsoft has no say in it. Microsoft doesn't impede on OEM's or how they conduct business. For OEM's there is only 2 things that apply.

1. They must provide support, Microsoft will not ...
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That is what I meant. Microsoft does not require OEMs to include installation disks.

Mak 2.0 said:
Microsoft is not the big bad company you are making them out to be. They actually are very customer oriented and are very willing to do what they can to accomidate the end user now. They have changed their philosphy a lot in recent years.
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I do not know how things with them have been in the past, but yes, they definitely do all they can now. Their phone techs have never had a solution other than complete re-installation whenever I have called and talked with them, but almost every one of them I have ever talked with has been quite friendly, very respectful and as accommodating as possible under whatever circumstances.
 
They dont require them to include the media. But if all other options have failed the consumer, then providing the media is the last step in providing support. In this case HP is not doing that and is failing to meet the requirements of the very first step in being a certified OEM. :wink:

So that is why i say it is garbage that they say they dont offer the media. Cause it is completely bogus that they dont. There is no other option for this person to use other than the media. Yet HP is failing to offer the proper support and force him to spend more money and send it in to them for repair.

Yet another reason why i refuse to sell HP's. They Tech Support is garbage. They lie and get away with so much. Sorry for the rant. Had to many bad things happen with HP.

MS in the past was bad. I remember calling them a few times in the past and they were most certainly not the way they are now. Which is what led me to get into PC's and learn the stuff for myself. Cause trying to get support back in 1995 when windows first hit was nothing like it is now. It was mean and nasty the things that were said and done. But i taught myself and now do this stuff for others so they dont have to go through what i did.
 
A few weeks ago, I sent HP a nasty note saying I would never again purchase any of their stuff (and I am only an end user) after some Yahoo trash got installed along with their drivers and software related to my HP printer ... and I have since discovered HP now makes "drivers only" (sans even their own software) available for download! So, maybe they are beginning to catch on.

Also, I did just discover and delete a small (having little in it) Dell folder on my wife's unbranded OEM machine after using a Dell OEM disk for a fresh XP Pro installation, so I now see I was wrong in believing OEM disks are never customized.
 
Yeah HP is a real nasty manufacturer. I totally try to sell other products rather than theirs cause of their poor customer service policies. They try to nickel and dime everyone to death.
 
OEM's a confusing terminology in this respect.
I have an OEM version of Vista x64, but it's identical to the full retail version.
That's because it's an MS DVD, sold at a discount to system builders (me), and only differs from a full-price retail version in its box CoA key, which translates at activation into a xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxxx product key, linking it permanently to the original installation hardware. (hence the discount)
This is the same version which HP or Dell use to create their systems under a bulk licence, but the version they provide to the end-user, in a recovery partition, or on CD(s) if at all, will just be a pared down portion of the original, usually containing only the drivers relevant to the hardware purchased.
That's why you're very lucky if you can get one manufacturer's restore media to function on a different model of PC, even of the same manufacturer.
If they share the mobo chipset, you might be lucky and get far enough to be able to download all the other missing drivers, but if the donor and recipient PCs are from different eras, I'd expect nothing better than a BSoD from an OEM OEM disc (as opposed to a MS OEM DVD).
 
Ah, that makes sense ... yet the XP Pro SP3 Dell OEM disk I use wherever needed is not Dell-model-specific and even says "not for reinstallation of programs or drivers" (as Dell sends those separately). So, maybe Dell disks are at least a bit closer to MS OEM. And then ...

I recently purchased a Dell Win7 upgrade disk I had intended to use on my daughter's XP-installed Dell, but then I discovered that particular distribution is only licensed for upgrading from Vista Business (on a Dell). So, I am not presently sure what I will do with that disk. I have been told it will install and activate on any Dell (or even on any other machine if a key is available), yet possibly still not be in compliance with the MS EULA (as an upgrade).
 
I think you might be a little luckier with XP than Longhorn.
My OSs prior to Vista are all retail (upgrade), and I've never bought an OS-pre-installed-PC so I have no personal experience of OEM OEMs other than explaining in these boards why attempts to fix a PC from X with a recovery disc from Y didn't work.
iirc, not providing a Windows CD with a PC began with XP, and caused so much fuss that they tended to make the recovery partition pretty much like a full MS CD.
Now the practice is so universal they seem to think that using minimum space trumps flexibility and they're probably right. I'd bet there are a thousand users who'd just factory reset or return to maker, for every one who tries to cobble something from another PC.
 
It wasnt XP. XP still came with CD's. XP toward the end when Vista was announced and started to be put on machine's then yes, that is right. But remember XP has been out almost 10 years. Recovery Partitions were not thought of that long ago. They have only been around for about 5 years now.
 
Wow I have learned a lot.

Ok since I did install that x86 version of windows 7. How can I install the 64 bit instead. My machine is made for the 64 bit.

Do I need to wipe the disk again, then the recovery disk?

Is there a simple upgrade to do?

Thanks everyone!
 
A new installation will be required, and the installation utility will give you the option of formatting the selected destination disk or partition. However, at least my own Win7 installation disk only performs a "quick format" there ... and that means a wipe beforehand would/could actually be best (at least in my own opinion).
 
So far so good with this dilemma.

My steps:

came to this forum!

Used partition wizard to delete all the partitions, then did a surface test. Passed

Then wiped the disk using the DoD 7 passes.

Then tried to reinstall windows 7 x86 and it worked but I wanted the 64 bit ....So...

I simply used DBAN .386 to wipe my disk clean.

Then uploaded a clean install of windows 7 64 bit and everything is good.

All the hp bells and whistles aren't needed for me...

Thanks everyone! If anything else comes up I will come here for my help!!
 
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