kAcknor Sez:
HP: The PackardBell of the 21st Century! Everybody seemed to have to buy just one. After that, you knew better.
"tIqIpqu' 'ej nom tIqIp" (Hit them hard and hit them fast.)
Posted on 01/10/2002 6:46:47 AM PST by colette_g
Angry Hewlett-Packard customers have forced the computer manufacturer into a U-turn after it scrapped recovery disks for its latest range of Pavilion PCs.
HP ditched the standard backup CDs in favour of installing Windows XP recovery files on a partition on the hard drive, prompting scores of users to complain.
Customers posted irate messages on HP's technical support site and bombarded the manufacturer with phone calls demanding to be sent the disks.
One customer wrote: "I really think that HP is putting out a raw deal when you buy their new XP systems and you don't get any recovery CDs. What happens if the warranty runs out and the hard drive physically dies?"
Another Pavilion customer returned her machine in disgust. "One person from [HP] support said I would have to purchase a retail version of XP if my hard drive failed. Another said I could purchase a hard drive from HP with XP preinstalled, but could not tell me how much it would cost," she wrote.
Customers complained that the move could jeopardise recovery following damage to the hard drive and would also prevent deliberate partitioning of the drive to add a second OS like Linux.
According to HP's product description recovery CDs are included in the Pavilion package. But when silicon.com reader, Ian Rowe, contacted HP he was initially told that CDs for the model did not exist.
An email from customer support told him: "HP recommends that you do not replace the hard disk as it is preloaded with Windows XP. The operating system will be lost if the hard disk is replaced. If you further wish to replace the hard disk, please purchase a retail version of Windows XP from your reseller and install it on the new hard drive."
Rowe told silicon.com: "From the moment I bought the PC, to the current time, it is not mentioned that you will not be able to upgrade the hard disk in the PC. Certainly nothing in any agreement that states that I am not entitled to do so without purchasing a new copy of XP."
Contrary to HP's advice, Microsoft claims that even if XP recovery files on the hard drive are damaged or lost, the company can use its authentication technology to identify legitimate users and replace the OS for free.
Under pressure from angry customers, HP began sending out CDs in late December. But according to a spokeswoman for HP UK, recovery disks will only be provided for customers who complain and will still not be included with the original PC.
"The recovery data is now stored on the hard drive, and you're not usually going to lose the hard drive if it crashes," she said.
But this explanation is unlikely to pacify angry customers.
"I bought HP because they stood for quality and getting a good piece of equipment for the value," one Pavilion user wrote on HP's message board. "When cutting corners like this starts affecting the morale and attitude of customers, then nobody wins."
Have you had problems with HP? Or recovering Windows XP? Let us know by posting a reader comment below or emailing editorial@silicon.com
When they told her to send it back, they said they would ship her a prepaid shipping box. It took three weeks for the box to arrive; Lord only knows how long it will take for them to return the tower.
Under pressure from angry customers, HP began sending out CDs in late December.
THE point is, no government force or new laws were necessary to get HP to do what was right by it's own customers...
No new laws making manufacturers send out recovery disks were necessary...
No new antitrust legislation was called for...
The free market did it's job. Through customer complaints HP changed it's policy to the betterment of the individual customer...
It is essential that the American sheeple somehow learn that the free market will always correct problems faster, better and cheaper than any government agency could ever dream of...
That is just the tip of the iceberg...
Most sellers of new PC will not provide an operating system CD with the system!
It can never be reinstalled or repaired should the system freeze (and it will, it's just a matter of when).
In spite of my advice not ever to go near "XP" anything, a few of my firends have replaced their computers and failed to request other OS to be installed (non-XP Windows 2000 comes to mind) and are now tearing their hair out:
PC cams that previously worked fine are no longer usable.
Digital camera software used for a year or two previously will no longer install and run on the new computer.
Scanners, will no longer work. HP is famous for ending support for older models printers, scanners and CD writers after a very short time forcing customers to buy updated drivers from third party providers, or from HP itself.
Unless Microsoft is in a position to claim that their XP Operating system is perfect and bulletproof, there are many many other reasons for the OS to be corrupted or otherwise unusable other than replacing a hard drive.
Try replacing the motherboard...
Install an unintegrated graphics card...
A new modem...
After these many months of discussion, anyone who buys or instals any XP is out of his mind.
Last I heard 50% of XP upgrades have failed.
If this represents only 1% of users, it's still an awfully large number.
Huh? Say wha-a-a-at?
If you don't have bootable recovery media you're an idiot. Period.
Pssst.
A recovery disk may not be enough.
You bought and paid for an operating system and should be able to do a clean re-install.
Even if you have to call Big Brother Microsoft (which you would have to do) and ask "pretty please may I make my computer useful again?"
A "recovery" disk would not make a re-install possible.
kAcknor Sez:
HP: The PackardBell of the 21st Century! Everybody seemed to have to buy just one. After that, you knew better.
"tIqIpqu' 'ej nom tIqIp" (Hit them hard and hit them fast.)
Yeah... ten or twenty years ago.
You pay for an OS, but you don't get to keep it. Let them try this on their corporate customers and watch their stock tank overnight.
There are a couple of parts to the problem. It used to be you'd get a CD with the full OS on it, in the case you needed to add files or install a new hard drive. Microsoft felt that this led to piracy, so they no longer allow those OS CDs to be shipped with computers. The manufacturer has the choice of creating a Recovery CD (branded to the computer) or a Recovery Image (hidden on the hard drive), but both of those solutions have some problems.
Check out these links:
Readers decry Microsoft policy of withholding operating system CD
Just before the release of Win XP, a friend in the business recommended the purchase of Win 2000 as a safe - relatively bug free - alternative to XP. It turned out to be excellent advice. I've researched all of the benchmark evaluations of Win XP and Win 2K. I've concluded that Win XP is nothing more than an updated service pack build of Win 2000 with a colorful new GUI shell, a few new multi-media apps, and a repulsively intrusive authentication routine that will disable your system if you make significant hardware upgrades.
Nobody, not even the known Microsoft shill munchkins on FR, have assailed me on this conclusion.
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