Pavilion notebook: need HDW Test App

hardware guys
I have a pavilion 5000 series [like the movie/multimedia-geared one] that got to a place where it could not successfully boot Winxp pro anymore, so I got the recovery discs, ran windows XP Pro reinstall, all went well until reboot, then it hung. turned off, reboot, no go, tried all safe modes, no go, tried everything, no go. FINALLY through some combo of gyrations able to boot into Safe Mode. VERRRRYYYYYY slow operation.

snooped around a lot but see absolutely nothing odd or unusual. no dangerous programs, no spamware to speak of, Virus scan comes up ok, very little trash in the usual places.

So I'm wanting to exercise all the hardware just to eliminate or confirm something amiss there. What to use? if any of you have a favorite in this category, pls let me know name or link.

thanks
z

 

Are you running XP Pro in dual boot with Windows Media Center? You said it was the Multi-Media laptop, and that usually means you get Windows MCE with it.

When you re-installed windows, did you format and do a totally new/clean install or did you do a repair install?

 

thank U, and
- no
- no
its not media center though it might have been - has the upgraded sound system and wide high-quality screen. anyway, its just winxp Professional.
And, I ran the XP install [setup] from the HP-supplied OS cd but I don't think it accomplished anything great because later, after trying to update it to IE7 and experiencing a number of long mind-numbing pauses, it finally appeared to finish, only to restart [maybe good news] with a clear Error message to wit that the windows\system32\config\system file is corrupted or missing. So, Registry corruption.
did hardware corrupt the Reg? odds say no. a failed windows update more likely

So, from doing some checks on the web I'm assuming the procedure from here is:
- find a C: prompt somehow and rename the bad file
- load the os CD and locate a copy of the 'system' file and copy it to the config directory
- find valid copies of the other registry info [in system restore directory or ??? I'm not too clear] and attempt to copy them into the new registry

help??

 

help pls...Re: Pavilion notebook: need HDW Test App

ok,
finally after a lot of standard 'fixes' I got a hard error: windows could not start because of corrupt windows/system32/config/system file....
so, bad Registry

so, I fired off the Recovery console and was fortunate enough to get the
C:\WINDOWS prompt.

But now running CHKDSK /r for a few hours, I note that it made it to 74% complete and then barfed and started over. Is this normal or a bad sign???

 

This cd from HP...is it the actual OS on that cd or is it one of those lame "recovery" cds?

If it is the actual OS, then you could do a repair install (not a repair with the "recovery console") but an actual "repair" install will only remove and replace the windows operating files...nothing else would be lost. I elaborate on the difference between a recovery console repair and a repair install cause it surprises me some people you would think would know this don't.

Or you could do the complete new install...which completely formats the whole drive and is the end all to all drive problems...as far as software is concerned, of course. However...you loose anything you don't backup, like pictures, docs, etc.

Another option might be to utilize the "recovery partition" if it exist. When you start up the machine...while it is still running through the black & white screens, watch closely (it comes and goes very fast) for an option to hit (usually F11) a key to start the recovery option. This doesn't require the OS cd because they have put the os on this recovery partition. Just follow the prompts...it's set up to be very simple. However...this also is a loose all route, as it does format your hard drive.

Any of these options will cause you have to get caught up on your windows updates. Personally, I would download SP3 and burn it to disc and once you get the windows install setup, just install the SP3 and that will get you pretty recent on all the windows updates...except those that have come out over the last couple three months.

Oh...and don't forget to get all the recent drivers too.

Roger

 

thanks rog
in the interim, a friend gave me a suggestion I shoulda thunk of but didn't, to parallel a new install in a new directory, so that's what I'm doing even as we 'speak'. its going well. will have to reinstall the apps etc but at the very least, its safe, its running well, and all the user files are there.

edit: to HP's credit, the software set is very robust. real os with no oddities, repair console, all that. then separately are all the drivers in an autorun package that just goes and does its job.

 

that can get quite confusing in the long run...i would just do another clean install (make sure you format the drive first) and backup anything of importance 1st.

 

Ok...good luck and let us know what you the outcome is.

Roger

 

you are quite right. the idea was just to get the thing working at all .... it had deteriorated to the point where every boot attempt surfaced a new core OS file that was damaged. fix one, then another, etc.
yes, the right idea is to scrape all the user files off there, then nuke it flat, start over. maybe vista? dunno... at that point I'm done with it.