Can't finish Windows Vista install using Recovery DVDs

Please help!

I bought a new MacBook Pro and am going to give my folks my 2 year old HP dv6500t. I backed up all my stuff and using the System Recovery DVDs from HP wiped out and reformatted the drive.

Unfortunately now when I try to turn on the system I get a message about there being an error in c:\windows\panther\unattend.xml at line 6 column 169 (I think) and it can't process the answer file.

I tried to boot into safe mode to see if I could see what is in the unattend.xml file and of course Windows Install can't run in Safe Mode.

Is there any way I can get the dv6500 to be useable again?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Call HP, tell them the recovery discs you burned don't work, and they'll send you a new set for free.

 

You probably already know this…. but just in case…..the recovery you are attempting is not a Vista install. What you are attempting by using the recovery disks you made is to restore the factory image. If you’d like to do a fresh OS install, find a copy of the version of Vista that came with your unit and install it. You can then update the license key by using the key found on the underside of your unit. From there most of the other stuff, including drivers, can be downloaded from HP. The only thing you may have difficulty replacing is the Cyberlink software and DVD decoder that came with the unit. If you kept a copy of the original software setup folder, then you have everything you need.

Just FYI

 

I figured out what the problem was. I had reconnected my external hard drive during one of the re-boots and that is what screwed up the installation!

I wish HP would put Vista on it's own DVD instead of having to reload all the crapware

 

Don't we all !!