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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

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


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
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To: mercy
"So I add another drive. I doubt Bill will cut me off."

Bingo.

"Face it. You're just a Gates hater."

Some of the Gates haters do face it, but what none of them are able to accept is the reality that if not for Gates -- if not for the incredibly massive installed base of Windows computers -- the $500 powerhouse they jam their Linux into would cost a serious multiple of what the pay now.

Gates created a standard, and that standard is directly responsible for the astronomical economies of scale that give us such dirt cheap hardware.

81 posted on 01/10/2002 10:11:20 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: mercy
"I'm sure this happens but how often?"

Well, considering that most XP installations are on new computers bought only within the last few months, not often... yet. Ironically, it will be the top of the line machines with lots of extra slots that will be the first to go down, i.e. as soon as they add that new DVD-RW, video capture card, and high speed SCSSI drive when it's time to delve into home vide editing. The puny little slot poor computers bought for $599 at Best Buy won't be affected.

82 posted on 01/10/2002 10:11:29 AM PST by Harrison Bergeron
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Comment #83 Removed by Moderator

To: Harrison Bergeron
No, adding that stuff won't trigger the validation code. If someone swaps out the motherboard, network card, and hard drive, then it's gonna get flagged, but if they add stuff it won't be a problem.
84 posted on 01/10/2002 10:14:26 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: Spock3000
Did Bill Gates hire you to help the rest of us see how charming and erudite Mac users really are?
85 posted on 01/10/2002 10:17:22 AM PST by Harrison Bergeron
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To: Don Joe
Did they give you installable (as opposed to "ghostable") CDs for Office?

I don't know the difference, but I do know that after my re-install I had nada on the hardrive besides the OS. I had five CDs for Office. Stuck each of them in and up came Word and friends.

I'm pretty sure the actual Office programs are on those 5 CDs.

86 posted on 01/10/2002 10:19:02 AM PST by backup
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To: Don Joe
"No, adding that stuff won't trigger the validation code. If someone swaps out the motherboard, network card, and hard drive, then it's gonna get flagged, but if they add stuff it won't be a problem."

Point taken. But you help make my point that the high end techie users are more likely to be bitten than the non-technical entry level users.

87 posted on 01/10/2002 10:20:19 AM PST by Harrison Bergeron
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To: Wonder Warthog
Looks like HP is about to be run into the toilet by the "managers". The company was run for years by techies, and was an incredible success

It reminds me of when MGM was bought and sold a few years back...
for years MGM was one of the premier American film studios of course...then this guy Parenti bought it and it suddenly went bankrupt in FOUR months! looks like HP's cruising to a bruising bust-out...time to sell
88 posted on 01/10/2002 10:20:37 AM PST by Republicus2001
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To: colette_g
I'm going thru this problem on my Hp pavilion 9895 RIGHT NOW. The system was crashing every 2-3 minutes with Millenium on it. I have been trying to upgrade to XP with a retail version for a week now. No luck. When I try to restart the system as directed by the setup ... it crashes and says to do a chkdsk. I can do a total new install but then I lose my system software. Funny thing is ... I have advanced degrees in computer engineering and I'm having all sorts of problems even though I am very computer savy. I hate to think about what it would be like to just be a non-professional user with these problems.
89 posted on 01/10/2002 10:20:50 AM PST by clamper1797
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To: backup
Yup, Dell gave you the real thing.
90 posted on 01/10/2002 10:23:02 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: Republicus2001
Talking about time to sell. What happened to Gateway? When they opened retail stores I thought, "Serriously good idea. I should invest." Glad I didn't. Is Gateway another victim of the market or what?
91 posted on 01/10/2002 10:24:47 AM PST by mercy
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To: Harrison Bergeron
My understanding is that the history is flushed 6 months after any change, and it takes (IIRC) four nontrivial changed components to trigger The Call. So, if you change your network card and hard drive, then six months later, it'll consider itself a virgin installation.

I think a lot of the people screeching the loudest (which I do not consider you to be doing) are "casual pirates" who won't be able to do multiple installs off one key. The amount of piracy is staggering, and as with all forms of theft, it's the rest of us that pay for it. If someone has a better idea of how to deal with it, I'd think MS would be all ears.

92 posted on 01/10/2002 10:27:11 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: clearvision
Between you and Don Joe, this is a good thing. The consumer just needs to prescreen the vendor to see if that option is available.
93 posted on 01/10/2002 10:29:32 AM PST by bobwoodard
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To: Don Joe
I'll bump that. Think how much cheaper Windows and Office would be if all of Asia wasn't using the same disks.
94 posted on 01/10/2002 10:31:54 AM PST by mercy
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To: Don Joe
Nobody's bashing Gates. As a matter of fact, you're the first to bring up his name. Nobody's even bashing Microsoft. The unfavorable comparison of Win XP to Win 2000 are completely verifiable, and the existence of the intrusive and obnoxious authentication routine is fact. Being charged for an OS that you, in reality, don't get to keep in the form of a stored installable copy is an unfriendly practice. And until the authentication practice ceases, I have purchased my last Windows OS - Win 2000 - which I'm quite happy with for now.
95 posted on 01/10/2002 10:33:50 AM PST by Harrison Bergeron
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To: Don Joe
Well, it was the inexpensive PC itself, not the particular operating system that caused the massive deployment. It could just as easily have been OS/2 that ran on all those PCs.
96 posted on 01/10/2002 10:35:03 AM PST by B Knotts
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To: Harrison Bergeron
What's your answer to the piracy problem?
97 posted on 01/10/2002 10:37:02 AM PST by mercy
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To: Harrison Bergeron
"you're the first to bring up his name."

No, "mercy" mentioned it, and I replied.

98 posted on 01/10/2002 10:39:36 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: mercy
What's your answer to the piracy problem?

See #15

99 posted on 01/10/2002 10:39:37 AM PST by B Knotts
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To: mercy
"What happened to Gateway?"

They get the award for making commercials even lamer than Dell. The goofy Gateway CEO meeting with the talking cow (with a man's voice btw, what's up with that?) and the promotion giving away some stupid game disk with every purchase was enough for me to steer (no pun) way clear of their stores for my holiday PC needs.

100 posted on 01/10/2002 10:42:13 AM PST by Harrison Bergeron
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