PROBLEMS WITH MICROSOFT XP?

April 12, 2002 | EggsAckley

[EggsAckley]

We have a Hewlett-Packard, purchased in Oct.01, with the new XP system. We have had continuous trouble with it, and have even sent it back to the factory, where they replaced the hard drive. The system has a tendency to just shut down in the middle of working. Also, Microsoft neglected to make the system compatible with HP's 3-way printer (even though the computer is also HP.) There are other problems concerning word processing, as well.

We are at a point where work that needs to be done, cannot be done on the HP, and must be taken to KINKO'S.
This is WRONG! We get nothing but run-around from both HP AND Microsoft (surprise surprise.)

[Mr. Jeeves]

We have a Hewlett-Packard...

You poor soul...

Pawn it and get a Dell, Compaq or Sony. XP is not the problem.

[Voltage]

You need to build your own machine. Get a Intel motherboard, Intel processor and a case with a 300 watt power supply. I have built several of these and run XP and they are solid as a rock.

I have converted my HP back into a DOS machine! It was good enough for that.

[milestogo]

In fact, my computer hasn't crashed once since I loaded XP onto it. And that's after Windows ME crashed 6 billion times.

same here. XP rocks.

[discostu]

I've got a friend who works MS tech support, he says HP can't install Windows to save their lives. Get all the stuff you need off the drive reformat and reinstall.

[Destructor]

Get an Apple, and you won't have these problems.

[FryingPan101]

We bought our HP bundle with XP six months ago. During the same week we bought an E-Machine bundle with XP for our daughter. The E-Machine has physically fallen apart before our eyes. We've had it in repair at Best Buy four times. You can't talk to an E-Machine Rep and Best Buy techs tell us we should have bought their protection plan. Our HP is disappointing despite its great looks. You can't count on anything to work at a crucial time. I'm not plaming XP because I really don't know. Our built in CD burner is flawed and there are a number of problems I relate directly to HP. I wish I were more educated when it comes to computers. Prior we had a Compaq for 8 years and didn't have a problem. Anyone know the best?

[KEVLAR]

XP=Xtra Painfull

[TomServo]

Anyone know the best?

Homebuilt. Or Dell.

[Quix]

HAVE BEEN THROUGH ABOUT 20+ REINSTALLS OF WIN XP PROFESSIONAL IN THE LAST 6 WEEKS.

Turns out to have MOSTLY been a function of (A) a RAID CARD that is oncompatable with XP and (B) GO BACK software on the NORTON SYSTEM WORKS 2002 VERSION that is VERY INCOMPATABLE with XP and crashes, locks things up bigtime. After 5 hours on the phone over several calls to Microsoft in the U.S.,the near last helper acknowledged that GO BACK is bad news with XP.

I'd already discovered that after reformatting an 80 GIG HD and unwittingly REFORMATTING IT'S BACKUP thinking I was reformatting it AGAIN because Go Back was the only software besides XP I had reinstalled at that point.

I like XP, it does handle SOME older software better than WIN 2000 P did. And, GENERALLY SPEAKING, IT IS MORE STABLE.

But I sure am sick of the reinstalls. And I'm not done upgrading my system yet before I go back to the U.S. . . . so I have more to "look forward to"--NOT!

I think Poohbah is among the best help hereon. There are some other hot shots as well. Perhaps they've already replied to you.

I'd scream big time to both HP and MS. I gave up on HP some time ago. It seemed like 95% or more of the software or hardware aspects of their printers woked wonderfully. But the other 5% drove me crazy and cost me a lot of time and bother. Epson is better. Thankfully. Hate being forced to use combo 3 color inks but have been skeptical about going with Canon.

I pray you have an improved situation. I supposed you could threaten to just take it back to HP and get a different system but you'd probably risk some costs.

Ignorant layman that I am, I would suspect there's some serious glitch of software and XP or some resident chip that some BILLDO didn't think through well enough.

In terms of help line to Microsoft, be sure to keep track of the case number and don't be bashful about using it or asking them to open it again. Also feel free to ask the person you get initially if there's someone who's extra knowledgeable about this or that aspect you're concerned about. I found them all helpful and fairly knowledgeable but the 2nd to the last guy I got was way ahead of all the rest combined in terms of raw knowledge.

Blessings,

[pattycake]

HP makes great printers, but why buy a computer from a company that makes great printers, go to the computer people, computer companies do not make printers, stick with what they do best. I have a Dell Precision for about 10 mos. with XP, not a problem. It's the HP computer, remember they make great printers but not computers.

[Lee'sGhost]

Speaking of Compaqs, can anyone tell me why my Presario has two drive letter designations of one hard drive and why it has such bad memory leak? The m-leak problem sucks.

What the hell -- while I'm at it, are there any good free/share ware programs out there to reclaim disk drive space associate with deleted files that really aren't deleted?

[Redcloak]

I had an HP6640 at work for about 18 months. It was always a bit twitchy. It had some odd behavior at shutdown, which is somewhat related to what you're seeing. HP blamed Microsoft, and Microsoft blamed HP. Since none of the other Windows machines I worked with (all running W98SE like the HP) had this trouble, I'd say that the problem is with HP.

[cd jones]

Looks like you should have asked for advice from FREEPERS before buying the HP. Am running XP on an 850 Gateway, no problems. I use XP for all my multimedia and digital toys. I use win2k (Gateway 500) for business and important work (when I'm not playing with all my digital toys) ;-)

[TomServo]

I'd already discovered that after reformatting an 80 GIG HD and unwittingly REFORMATTING IT'S BACKUP

Psssssssst. Two words.

Norton Ghost.

[ArcLight]

XP works superbly well on my machine. I do get a fair amount of browser crashes, but that's all that crashes--the browser. Everything else just chugs along as if nothing had happened. It's good stuff.

[TomServo]

Speaking of Compaqs, can anyone tell me why my Presario has two drive letter designations of one hard drive

Partitioning.

[Harrison Bergeron]

"Not from what I've seen. It crashes much more than Windows 2000 (which it is supposedly based on)."

Bingo. It wasn't a coincidence that when Service Pack 2 for Win2K was finally made available, fixing some of the problems experienced by gamers and heavy graphics users, Windows XP was suddenly ready for release. If you check the benchmarking numbers at ZDNET.com, Win2K comes out cleaner and faster than Win XP. Win 2K even runs Microsoft Office faster than Win XP. Essentially, Win XP is Win 2K with a snazzy new look and a few extra bells and whistles (extra apps) thrown in to distinguish the two. The main difference, for me, is that Win 2K doesn't have the intrusive "authentication" software that monitors the and transmits the system configuration to Microsoft via the internet, shutting down the OS if the computer changes radically enough to look like a new machine.

[HairOfTheDog]

I have read the other posts, but didn't see my answer on a brief scan. ...I have XP (but on a Dell) - I also think I have the same printer (model 710) you have.

Go to the HP Website and download the new XP driver for it. This is the second version of driver HP has produced since I upgraded to XP from 98. HP Driver Download site (Back out of that page to home to find the right one if you have a different printer)

XP will warn you that it is an "unapproved" driver, (meaning MS has not blessed it), but it does work... You will get back the OfficeJet Manager.

XP has never crashed on me... and XP does not kill hard drives... I think your machine is a lemon, not the OS.

[general_re]

Partitioning.

Jeez, ya think? ;)

[Lee'sGhost]

LOL! OK, what does that mean? Is it a good thing or bad?