HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition

For the many posts that have expressed frustration I make this
contribution. I too was equally frustrated after spending many hours
attempting to install a new Maxtor SATA drive in my Pavilion 630n (the
original drive failed). After approaching the task from every possible
angle using the 15+ years of experience working in the field I resolved
myself to chat online with a HP support technician. The chat session
(partial transcript below) was very enlightening as is revealed that HP
motherboards utilize a proprietary disk management partition. Basically
without the partition you cannot install XP even from the HP System
Recovery CD's (which also do not the disk management software). The end
of the matter is if you have a hard disk go bad in an HP Pavilion you
MUST use an HP authorized service center as the disk management
software is not publicly available. So regardless of whether your
system is under warranty or not you must pay HP to have it fixed. You
other option is to purchase a replacement non-HP motherboard.

Any attempts to install XP on a drive without the disk management
partition will result in file copy errors. At various points during the
XP installation the install will hang indicating that a particular file
could not be copied. The end result is the OS will not load
successfully.

Partial HP Transcript:

Jay Geraghty: checking hold on
Jay Geraghty: it is out of warranty I know that
Ralph S: In that case you may need to take the computer to a nearest
authorized service center.
Jay Geraghty: did that and they could not figure it out (Best Buy)
Jay Geraghty: about 6 months ago I had a similar problem and they
replaced the main board
Jay Geraghty: now I am having the same problem again??
Jay Geraghty: are these machines problematic?
Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service
provider so that they install a utilities in your computer and resolve
the issue.
Jay Geraghty: what utilities? are they not on the restore CD's
Ralph S: No, they can be installed by the authorized service provider.
Jay Geraghty: would you suspect the main board it light of the
symptoms?
Jay Geraghty: it light of it being out of warranty would I be better
off just getting a new machine or main board?
Ralph S: You can get a new motherboard.
Jay Geraghty: I have been reading similar problems online with other
Pavilion owners
Jay Geraghty: seems like a weak line of machines
Jay Geraghty: no real explaination of why this issue repeats itself
Jay Geraghty: have you seen this issue with other customers
Ralph S: No we have not seen this issue, this issue happened because
DMI utility is not installed in the new harddisk.
Jay Geraghty: the restore CD's don't install the util?
Ralph S: No, they will not install the DMI utility.
Jay Geraghty: can I download?
Ralph S: Sorry for the delay.
Ralph S: The utility is not available for download.
Jay Geraghty: so basically a hard disk cannot successfuly be installed
into an HP Pavilion without using a service provider
Jay Geraghty: because of the DIM util?
Ralph S: Yes. You are correct.
Ralph S: It is a disk management utility.
Jay Geraghty: WOW, that stinks - really restricts your customer base
wouldn't you agree?
Ralph S: I do understand. The HP authorized provider can install this
utility in your computer.
Jay Geraghty: yeah for $$ - so basically an individual cannot repqir
their own machine when it is out of warranty
Ralph S: yes, it can be rectified you need to install the DMI utility,
however only HP authorized service provider could do it. Once you take
the system to them they would install it.,
Jay Geraghty: okay, thx for your candid responses Ralph. It has been
very enlightening yet sad :(

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition
    ... > without the partition you cannot install XP even from the HP System ... > Recovery CD's (which also do not the disk management software). ... > Jay Geraghty: checking hold on ... > Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service ...
    (comp.sys.hp.hardware)
  • Re: HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition
    ... > without the partition you cannot install XP even from the HP System ... > Recovery CD's (which also do not the disk management software). ... > Jay Geraghty: checking hold on ... > Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service ...
    (comp.sys.hp.hardware)
  • Re: HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition
    ... Odds very good are that you could also install XP from a Microsoft-hologrammed ... >Recovery CD's (which also do not the disk management software). ... >Jay Geraghty: checking hold on ... >Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service ...
    (comp.sys.hp.hardware)
  • Re: HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition
    ... I have an HP Pavilion too. ... > without the partition you cannot install XP even from the HP System ... > Recovery CD's (which also do not contain the disk management software). ... > Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • RE: HP Pavilion Disk Management Partition
    ... So regardless of whether your system is under warranty or not you must pay HP ... > without the partition you cannot install XP even from the HP System ... > Recovery CD's (which also do not contain the disk management software). ... > Ralph S: You may need to take the computer to a HP Authorized service ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)