HP Recovery of XP

Ok, I had a fatal error during a Windows XP update. I could not get Windows XP Home to start no matter what I did. So I did everything possible to recovery the system. Nothing worked. I would receive the error message each time I tried something.

After hours of trying to recover I decided to use the recovery Cd's that I had ordered from HP and had used before with success. But this time for some reason everything goes great until I get the end of CD #4 and at that time instead of telling me to insert CD#5 I get a message telling me that a file can't be found. I can force the process by clicking retry. This same thing happen on all the remaining CD's but when I get to the end I get the message "Environment is incomplete, insert CD #1 "

I had a similar problem when I used the CD's before, but the problem was I had two optical drives and they were not configured right. But that isn't the problem this time because I remember to change my configuration this time.

As anyone experienced this problem or have any thoughts on this mess. I know I can call HP, but this is the last thing I want to do a this point. Ah the good old days when you got all the CD's with your new PC.

Thanks

 

"File not found" is often due to bad media. In other words, a dirty or scratched CD. A fingerprint smudge in exactly the wrong place can cause the problem although it's usually due to something a little more obvious than that.

Check CD #4 for scratches or smudges. If it needs cleaning, wipe it from the center outwards with a dry, soft, lint-free cloth. Well, you can use a cloth that's not lint free but then you'll need to make sure you blow all the lint off of it.

 

Arie, I agree with you comment, but now days unless you build your own there is no such thing as supply me with a "normal" Windows CD. You were lucky. I have never dealt with Dell.

Yes, I agree with dirty. I did clean. Didn't help. These are new CD's. What puzzle me is the fact that once this not found occur on CD #4, it then happen on the remaining 3 CD's. This just doesn't sound normal to me. Also, what I didn't mention is that this not found occurs when the display is showing change CD, but It never ask for the next CD until I wear my finger out.

Thanks for the help.