compaq restore disk.

[v-8power]

My mom has a compaq presario sr1000 that she has been getting a imminent hard drive failure warning on boot up. She followed the procedure for making the restore disks, but when i went to use them, the 2nd disk was no good. It only allows you to make 1 copy. I called compaq to have them send her a new one, but they say it's too old, and dont have any. She is running xp but i dont know if it's home or pro. Any ideas on how to get restore disks? I know she cant afford a new comp. or new OS. Thanks in advance.



Edit: I have a copy of XP pro can i use her key with that disk by chance?

 

[shane96ranger]

Edit: I have a copy of XP pro can i use her key with that disk by chance?

If hers is Professional, yes. I would bet the ranch that it has Home though. It usually states the version on the authenticity sticker. I have a Compaq home disk I have used for several installs... on Dell computers even. It should be fairly easy to round one up (an OEM disc).

 

[cvar]

STOP using your compaq, and clone its HDD ASAP. Do this BEFORE it fails.
When HDD failure happens, it's usually sudden and fatal.

Since your computer is still running fine, then your best bet is to ignore those silly re-install discs, and instead buy a new HDD, then make a bootable bit-for-bit copy of your existing HDD onto the new one. I've done cloning MANY times, and didn't need to reinstall anything. It's also a good way to expand your HDD capacity at the same time. It's also great for making a backup of your entire HDD contents (eg, another spare).

Step 1: buy a new HDD
Step 2: Power off, and attach your new HDD into your computer. Best to use the spare socket inside your computer, but otherwise you can use any external HDD enclosure that attaches via USB. Internal one has much faster copy speed.
Step 3: download & run a special program that clones your old HDD contents onto the new HDD. See added info below.
Step 4: Power off, and plug your new HDD in place of the old one.

That's it! Your computer will run exactly as before. Your new HDD is an exact copy of the old one, plus it has extra unused space (new is usually much bigger than old).

There are many freebie HDD cloning programs available from HDD manufacturers. Most (all?) of them insist (& verify) that you have THEIR brand of HDD attached somewhere on your computer (either inside or inside an external enclosure). Eg, My favorite is MaxBlast3, by Maxtor. Another is Acronis TrueImage, by Seagate. Another is Clonezilla (not from manuf). Youtube has how-to videos, if you need. The CD containing cloning S/W is sometimes inside the retail package with your new HDD.

The cloning program is OFFLINE, meaning that it's on a separately bootable CD, and NOT running within Windows. You reboot using the cloning CD instead of booting Windows, and it walks you thru the process. It's all automatic, and you simply choose the SOURCE and DESTINATION Hard Disc Drives (HDD) with your mouse.

Lastly, if your HDD is failing, then all downloads & burning of your cloning CD (if any) should be done on ANOTHER computer. Your failing HDD should be OFF, and spun up only when you're ready to clone it.

BTW, cloning avoids having to deal with Windows (& other) license keys. Whatever was on the old HDD is on the new, in SAME form (eg, O/S, your photos, files, etc. remain as-is). So no need to reinstall anything, at all. OTOH, recovery discs to reinstall Windows will force you to reinstall everything from scratch (total PITA).

 

[v-8power]

Thanks for the info. Turns out she has xp home media center 2005 edition. I'm not real sure what route i'm going to take yet. She has had other issues with the computer lately.

 

[shane96ranger]

Thanks for the info. Turns out she has xp home media center 2005 edition. I'm not real sure what route i'm going to take yet. She has had other issues with the computer lately.

Hardware or software issues?

Sent from my Quad Core Acer A210

 

[veefer800canuck]

I have an old OEM Dell XP disc from an ancient Dimension 8400 Pentium 4 machine. XP Home 2002 edition.

Despite dire warnings on the front of the disc to ONLY install on DELL systems, I have, over the years, sucessfully installed it on probably a dozen different computers, some Dell, some IBM, a Compaq, and a homebuilt rig from parts. It always worked.

The only thing I had to do is round up a few device drivers using a different PC and install them using removable media or a USB stick, but the OS itself always worked great.

Search Ebay, maybe you can find one, and see if it will work for you.

If all else fails, PM me, and maybe I could burn you a copy and mail it off, see if that works (with a new HDD of course).

 

[AllanD]

I have saved in my extensive archives, an ISO for the 2005 Media Center Edition of Windows XP from a "system builder" Disc.

I can burn you a copy and mail it to you.
I can also send the ISO as "Data" on another disc so you can make your own

 

[v-8power]

Thanks for the offers, but it turns out my niece had a disc i could use.

 

[v-8power]

Hardware or software issues?

Sent from my Quad Core Acer A210

I dont really know what she was having problems with.