HP Pavilion a350n Desktop PC System Recovery FAILS

Hi there. My computer is a HP Pavilion a350n Desktop PC http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=371643& . Yesterday, my little brother pushed the F10 key on the keyboard and the system recovery provided by Softhinks began. After the recovery system was finished the PC restarted and and just has it was about to start, it said it wanted to check the second HD on the PC for its consistency. It is formatted in FAT32. After the analyse of the HD, the PC continued with its logging process, until i got the error message that their was an error in the recovery process and the Operating System wont function properly until the error is fixed. What can i do to solve this issue?

 

Hi Deathnin and welcome,

Assuming that you ran the "Standard" recovery, as HP calls it, I would suggest that you do it once again. This time disconnect any peripherals other than the keyboard, mouse, and monitor. If it still hangs on restart, you will need to run the "Destructive" recovery, as offered from the F10 boot screen (Advanced button). That will wipe the drive completely and you will lose all of your personal data and any programs you have installed since the computer was new. Backups would be nice. If you have critical data on the drive, you should get a BartPE CD and use it to retrieve any important data to separate media before proceeding with any restore process. In lieu of a BartPE CD, you can use imaging software or remove the HD and install it as a slave on a healthy system.

Lots of possibilities, so go slow until you have a game plan and are sure you can tolerate any consequences involved.

H.P. Instructions for Recovery Process

 

i did perfrom destructive recovery after the first trial failed, but i did not remove other devices such as printers. The second HD formated in FAT32 stores the recovery data, but after the recovery is done, the PC checks the second HD for consistency, after the checking it, the computer stops at the screen that displays the Windows letter, with the bars moving left to right. Thats when i recieve the error that there was an error in the recovery configuration, and i should fix the problem or the OS wont function properly.

 

That means the FAT32 Recovery partition is not of any value to you.

You can get a set of CD's that will restore the system to the way it was when new. Order them from here.

An alternative would be to borrow an XP install CD from a friend and boot to it to do a Repair Install.

 

BTW, have you tried booting to Safe Mode?

 

I think the FAT32 recovery HD has a corrupt data on it. So if i order the recovery discs how can i install it if windows wont work, i dont know how to install it from recovery discs.

 

There will be full instruction with the Recovery CD set. Basically all you do is place the first CD in the drive bay and attempt to boot. If it brings up the Recovery screen, you're on your way. Just follow the screen directions from there forward.

If it does not boot to the CD, you will need to change the boot sequence in your BIOS setup routine and reboot for effect. The instructions will cover that process also.

All the best.

 

i have ordered the discs. They do not work, i l keep getting is the recovery discs are not compatible with the pc model. At first i thought i had the wrong discs but they were the correct ones. So wht is going on here? i even used the recovery discs i created during the period the PC worked. I got the same response about the Recovery CDs not compatible with the PC.

 

If you are absolutely sure you have the proper CD's for your computer, then you must also be sure that the computer hasn't been modified in any major way since you bought it. Same MOBO - processor - hard drives - video card - NIC.

If you're OK on those points, now would be a good time to call HP customer support and give them a brief description of your problem. You may be able to persuade them into supplying you with an XP install CD.

 

If i were to get a XP install CD, how do i go by installing it if windows itself doesnt work.

 

i need detail instructions on how to install windows when the OS itself wont work, should i press esc to show the cd/hd console so i can boot the install CD from the BIOS?

 

Place the XP install CD in the CD drive bay and turn on the computer. If you see a message on the screen asking you to press any key to boot from the CD, press the enter key. That will allow you to install install XP directly from the CD without any need for booting to Windows.

If you don't get that screen prompt to boot from the CD drive, you will need to change the boot sequence. Leave the CD in the drive bay. On your HP, to check the boot sequence and set the CD drive as 1st on the order, press the F1 key (or any other key if indicated differently by your bios for entering Setup) when you first see the HP logo at boot. That will get you into the CMOS setup routine. Use the arrow keys to move the selection over to BOOT and when it's highlighted, press enter. Follow the screen directions to move the CD drive to the first position on the boot order. When finished, press the F10 key and select to Exit and Save the changes. Since the XP install CD is still in the drive bay, you should now get the screen prompt asking you to press any key to boot from the CD. Press enter when you see that prompt.

From that point on, follow the screen prompts and also refer to the instructions that PeteC posted to assist you along the way to a clean install.

 

I was able to borrow a XP pro install CD from my friend. i did what pete wrote and formatted the disc and windows xp pro is now installed on my computer. i was able to install all the missing drivers bk on to the pc. Wht i can to seem to determine is the verison of my DVD burner. it name is HP DVD Writer 300n, but there are 3 series under that name. Wht program can i use to view the name and driver type of hardwares installed on my computer? Once again, thanks SuperGeek and PeteC.

 

I like Everest for that purpose. It's free.

If no joy, you may have to look inside the box for the model tag on the drive. Alternately, try each download from HP, until one works.

I prefer the earlier version 1.51 and it is still available at other sites.

Here is one.

It actually contains more info on your installed software. The newer versions are missing the "Installed Software" section.