reformatting issues

[dont_smokerocks 10+ year member]

hello, I was given a hp pavilion dv1000. I was told it has a virus and the previous user just bought a new laptop instead of fixing this one. I was also given a unused, in box copy of windows xp. Is it possible to just erase everything and just put in the new copy of xp or will i lose my drivers? Is what I am asking even possible? please help.

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[Terranova 10+ year member]

yes just boot from cd, insert the windows xp disc and go through the steps and just reinstall windows. you will wipe everything off the drive but if you have an internet connection try to download the drivers before hand.

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

yes just boot from cd, insert the windows xp disc and go through the steps and just reinstall windows. you will wipe everything off the drive but if you have an internet connection try to download the drivers before hand.

Recipe for disaster and frustration ...
If you do a clean install of XP, you won't have drivers for ANYTHING and, believe me, it is a fvcking pain in the *** to find drivers for pre-manufactured computers ...

The unit will have a built-in recovery partition ... Power the unit on and hit F10 or F11 at the HP boot screen (it will tell you usually at the bottom left which one to hit) and it will boot into the recovery console ... From there, perform a complete system recovery without data backup and it'll restore it to how it came from factory ...

From there, I recommend first uninstalling Norton and loading something decent on like Kaspersky or NOD32 (if you're cheap, AVG is free and half-decent, though it definitely has flaws) and then uninstalling the rest of the pre-loaded shit you don't want/need. After that, download all the Windows updates (including optional updates) and you should be set. The whole process will take a few hours, so make sure you plug it in.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

do you have the key code for the xp disc? pressing F10 on startup is the easiest way. i always like to start with a clean copy of windows. all that extra bullshit that comes with computers from the manufacturer ticks me off.

 

[thndrchckn 10+ year member]

yea but sometimes the recovery partition is screwed up. Honestly if you recover it with the hp partition your gonna be losing speed by having all their useless programs on it. What I would do is get...]

gpu/video

sound

chipset/motherboard

nic/network card

download them put them on a disc or usb drive. Install xp and if nic drivers are detected automatically. I would just do windows updates and do custom install from there site and download the remaining hardware drivers. If windows update doesnt find the other hardware just install the hardware drivers you put on a disc/usb drive prior.

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

I can't say I've ever had XP automatically detect NIC drivers on a laptop ... and I reformat Vista computers w/ XP on a weekly basis ...

Also, if the recovery partition is screwed up, the hard drive is likely failing and you should then run diagnostic software before wasting your time installing XP ...

 

[thndrchckn 10+ year member]

my bad didnt realize its a laptop. Depends on how old it is. Xp can detect quiet a bit with older computers newer not so much. But Either way to have the fastest best install is to do a fresh xp install. And download drivers prior. Maybe more work but worth it in my opinion as its the base install not any extras that hp/dell/gateway all have with there recovery paritions/discs.

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

Well, if he had the recovery discs from HP (purchased from HP, not self-created), it would have the OS on 1 disc and the apps/drivers on the remaining discs, in which case you could pick and choose which drivers and apps you want to load (All drivers, no apps would be my choice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif )

While I agree a fresh install will definitely be faster, I have to assume that the OP is not very computer savvy given the fact that he posted this thread and it will be a major pain in the *** for him to find drivers prior to installation given he probably doesn't know how to find out what hardware he has or where to find drivers for said hardware. Installing from the recovery partition is the easiest thing to do (and best thing for a non-computer-savvy person), even if it isn't optimal from an end-result performance standpoint.

Or, if he wants a fresh install, he can order a set of discs from HP for about $40 for his laptop and then he can just install the OS and the drivers.

 

[dont_smokerocks 10+ year member]

)
While I agree a fresh install will definitely be faster, I have to assume that the OP is not very computer savvy given the fact that he posted this thread and it will be a major pain in the *** for him to find drivers prior to installation given he probably doesn't know how to find out what hardware he has or where to find drivers for said hardware. Installing from the recovery partition is the easiest thing to do (and best thing for a non-computer-savvy person), even if it isn't optimal from an end-result performance standpoint.

100% correct.

anyway, i found this link. should this have all the drivers i will need? http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=435618?=en

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

100% correct.
anyway, i found this link. should this have all the drivers i will need? http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=435618?=en

Does it have all the drivers ? Yes, it looks like it ... But there are several of each product listed, which means that you'll have to figure out which one you have (i.e. there are 4 different WLAN devices listed).