HP customers furious over missing XP recovery disks - If you break it, buy another one...

Silicon.com ^ | Thursday 10th January 2002 12:43pm | Sally Watson

[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

[TN Republican]

The same bastards who sued Microsoft approved that UCITA agreement on EULA's that allows them to expand such practicies with the full backing of the law.

[Petronski]

Nobody, not even the known Microsoft shill munchkins on FR, have assailed me on this conclusion.

I believe the correct term is FlyingMonkeyXP™.

[Don Joe]

"With the addition of 'Product Activation', there is simply no excuse for anything less than a plain WinXP installation CD to be included with any new WinXP system."

I think HP is probably doing the same thing my father explained about the automakers when I was ten years old. He said that if they can get away with removing one screw or rivet, it'll add up to millions of dollars when they add up all the cars they sell. So, I imagine some beancounter at HP says hey, we can save fifty cents by not including a CD, if we sell two million boxes, we just made a million bucks.

[Don Joe]

I think she got it last July, but I don't know when the state took possession of 'em from Dell.

[clearvision]

Just bought a Dell Optiplex desktop before Christmas and it came with reinstall CD for Windows XP and CD's for Office XP which was installed on the computer.

[tophat9000]

Dear innocentbystander You responded to Publius6961

Your posts on Microsoft are too stupid to warrent a response, that is why you are ignored.

Sorry to tell you but Publius6961 is dead on correct about XP

I been in the computer/telcom biz since 1980 from bench tech to network engineer and installed more OS's then I care to remember. I also build custom PC on the side (doing two this week)

I tell you what I tell all my customers .. XP is a bullshit OS and I refuse to support or work with with it.

The problem is not the OS's in and of itself. It's Microsoft security and protection schemes

A good OS should be well behaved XP will bite you in the ass HARD! if you try to do a upgrade or repair

To use a Freeperism, XP is the OS for the sheeple

[mercy]

You bring up a very good point. In this modern globalist world 'brand name' means nothing. The cash flushed division of whatever corporate giant may be sold off at any moment to raise capital for the top floor flyboys to finance their next stock option ripoff scheme. Thus unless you study Consumer Reports and ask a lot of questions about which company actually owns the 'brand name' you are enamored with ... you are going to get bit.

I just went through this with a Kitchen aid dishwasher. Widely known as the best dishwasher on the marked 8 years ago. Little did I know that Whirlpool had bought it two years prior to my $800 purchase. I got a lemon. 5 major repairs in 4 years and it does a poor job of washing dishes. I trashed it and got a Bosch machine. (oddly enough the machines with the Whirlpool brand on them are now top rated as to frequency of repair by CR)

So this time around I got a Sony VIAO. Sonny is presently in a brand building mode and is lapping up a big portion of the market. Their machines are not just an assemblage of parts as well. They actually make most of the components. Not that I love Sony and think they can do no wrong. Their cordless phones sucked last time I had one. But I sure like my flat screen Wega and this VIAO has me enthralled. For now.

[mercy]

****To use a Freeperism, XP is the OS for the sheeple****

You know, when you think about it ... calling the vast majority of the population sheeple is really elite snobery of the worst ilk. When one is talking about fools who voted for clintoon and still support him I suppose it is warranted but when speaking of OSs it really is insulting. We regular people have jobs. We have kids. We do not have the time to understand computers. Just like you do not have the time to understand brain surgery. Yet you think we should venture into the rarified air of Linux or Unix. This is not particularly insightful on your part.

[demlosers]

Thanks for the post. My list of PCs to buy was two models and HP Pavilion was one of them.

[samuel_adams_us]

Carly drove Lucent into the ground first, now she is going to take HP down to her level!!!! Funny thing is she might get Compaq to go with her for the ride!!!! If David Packard or Bill Hewlett were alive to day they would have their feet stuck in her ass as she went out the door! Carly is living proof that scum floats to the top.

[Harrison Bergeron]

OK then, Windows XP was made for the people who know nothing about computers. It was made for people who don't know any better than to ask for the latest, assuming it will be the greatest. Unfortunately, in this case, the latest isn't the greatest. Windows 2000 outperforms Windows XP in most of the tasks that people buy computer operating systems to perform i.e. gaming, word processing, and internet access. Windows XP, as another person commented, is a ripoff of Windows 2000 except it has a lot of unncessary bells and whistles installed. But the absolute worst "feature" is the Win XP authentication routine that talkes a snapshot of your system hardware, stores it via the internet at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, then shuts your system down if you upgrade your computer significantly enough to make it look like a new machine.

Microsoft obviously wasn't going after the educated and informed user market.

[Don Joe]

Here we go again.

These nonstop daily accusations of homosexuality are really starting to get old.

[Harrison Bergeron]

"Ha ha ha! If you had a Mac you wouldn't have these problems!!! "

To each his own. But Mac has only a 5% share of the market for a lot of reasons, the most significant being that it only meets the needs of 5% of home computer users. This isn't criticism, it's just an observation.

[mercy]

****then shuts your system down if you upgrade your computer significantly enough to make it look like a new machine. ****

I'm sure this happens but how often? I couldn't use up the capacity of this machine if I became a professinal digital photgrapher AND a CAD user ... tomorrow. So I add another drive. I doubt Bill will cut me off. Face it. You're just a Gates hater. I understand. It bugs me too that one guy has such a monopoly. I used to use Netscape just to feel like I had not sold out completely. Now I'm sticking with Corel for the same probably useless reasons. It's not a perfect world. So what.

[mercy]

Hating Bill Gates is not enough reason to spend twice the money on a machine and go through learning a whole new OS. OSX is nice but not that nice. Besides, Jobs is a butt head.

[Eva]

I had problems with an old HP printer ('95) that was not compatible with windows '95. The printer kept crashing my computer and the only way to contact the HP service dept, at that time,was by computer which had been rendered inoperable.

At least they now have a telephone service center. (It turned out that the source of the problem was probably a Windows '95 problem)

I just purchased a new Dell 8200 which came with a back up XP CD, but I also purchased the extended warranty.