Format New HDD in ZD8000 & Computer Shuts Down

My son's computer (HP ZD8000) was having a lot of problems (could not even boot up to safe mode) so I decided to reload the OS. During the process I recived an error stating that the OS could not be reloaded. At that point I decided to purchase a brand new HDD. I pulled the old one out and inserted the new one. When I booted up I had the OS restore disk in and followed the directions to format the new drive. Right when it finished the formatting the computer shut down completely. So I tried it again and the same thing happened. At this point I am open for suggestions. I do not want to sink money into this as the board may be bad. Thank you !

 

I seriously doubt that the board is bad if you can get into DOS and attempt a reinstall. I think it could be one or several things combined. Have you upgraded the BIOS recently? BIOS upgrades sometimes send computers into a frenzy if they are corrupt.

What kind of install are you trying to do? Do you have retail install CD/DVDs, or are you onlyusing recovery software that came with the notebook? Is it possible the CD is scratched and skipping certain install files?

I have had bad experiences with HP recovery discs in the past where installs will get corrupt just because of bad burns/ install packages from HP.

I have a feeling that if you were to use a retail install disc be it XP or Vista that it would install properly.


One thing you can try first is this:


download and burn a copy of ubuntu:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

install Ubuntu on the laptop, if it installs correctly and you boot up the notebook fine then corrupted recovery discs are to blame, and you should order a new set or buy a retail/student copy of Windows.

 

I'd bet on overheating. Prop up the back of the notebook an inch or so and set up a fan to blow across the chassis. Also, if you've never cleaned out the CPU heatsink fins it's almost certainly due. That requires opening up the notebook though.

HDs in particular will heat up during an OS install... or testing. I'm not sure about the zd8000's layout, but I've found that placing an icepack under the HD bay works amazingly well. Just using a fan is a bit more sane though.