Abandon HP Recovery Scheme Safely

I am getting ready to purchase a HP dv500z. My first project will be to format the HDD and perform a clean install of XP Pro. I want no part of any vendor's recovery scheme. I obviously want to do this in a safe and orderly fashion, and I have some questions.


I'll use Magical Jellybeans or some such utility to confirm the installed MS Product code. Is there anything else from the installed OS I need to inspect before I format and install XP Pro? If they provide for making my own recovery disks, I'll go ahead and do this just as a safety measure.

I assume there is a hidden partition on the HDD. I plan to leave this intact for at least a long while, until I'm real sure I don't need it.

I cannot locate a chipset driver on the HP support site. Does this mean I don't need one?

Are there any "gotchyas" you seasoned experts know of that might get me in trouble?


Thanks in advance for your help.

Jake

 

There is also a partition with a Linux-like OS for the instant play features. If you want to keep that, don't delete that partition.

 

There are no hidden partitions. HP supplies you with a OEM Windows and Applications/Drivers CDs allowing you to put it back to it's original state at any time.

 

Thanks for the tip. I had called HP days ago and was told the OS came on a set of recovery disks. After reading your post, Zazonz, I called HP again and really bored in on the question. What I was eventually told was that the OS does come as part of a recovery set of CDs, but "with today's technology being what it is" you can choose to only "recover" the OS. And I was told that the OS would only install on the machine it was sold with.

So, it isn't exactly clear to me what I'll get. But as long as I have a valid product code and can lay hands on the drivers needed, I guess I don't care. I have plenty of copies of the XP Pro media. I just want the legal license.

Jake

 

Hey Jake,
Do not worry about installing a clean copy of Windows XP Pro on your notebook. That will be no problem. Rather, worry about losing the instant play features and installing the correct drivers. The correct drivers are easily available from HP's support website -- I take only what I need, i.e. I do not install every HP driver but stick with many Windows Update drivers. The instant play feature may not be easily recovered.

I followed the directions at Tom's Hardware to create a slipstreamed Windows XP SP2 installation CD from HP's OEM copy of Windows XP. All of the unique HP content (help files and support information) was replaced with Windows XP content. The installation process never prompted me to enter my registration code.

Jeremy

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Drivers and applications come on a seperate disk with a very nice unattended install feature. You can select what you want installed, and it will install it for you with little fuss.

Compare that to what every other OEM does, and HP is most definitely the best when it comes to bloatware. (we expect them to have it, but it takes maybe 2+ hours to get your system to a state just like you had went you got your notebook. And that's with the Windows XP install.

 

Well, I'd say they are good, but after my experiences with Sager I'd give them the top honors. From Sager you get an OEM CD of the OS you purchased and a seperate drivers cd. You get to do what you will with them, its totally under your control.

On all my systems, after a clean install of the OS and all the drivers are installed properly, I make an Acronis image of the boot partition on CD. This becomes my "Emergency Recovery" CD. I also make an Acronis image of the boot partition when I backup my data partition to a USB external enclosure drive.

So it looks like the HP approach will fit the way I want to do business. Thanks for all the input.

Jake