Vista - Re: get rid of windows vista

I just got the following instructions from HP online help to recover the MBR
However, HP recovery disks are required:


1.Enter the system BIOS and select the Boot menu.

2.Change the startup (boot) order so the computer starts from the first optical drive (CD-ROM/ATAPI
CD-ROM/DVD). You may need to enter a sub-menu called Boot Device Priority.

3.Insert Disk 1 of the System Recovery disk set in the first (top) optical drive.

4.Press F10, then press Enter to save the changes and restart the computer.

5.When the PC restarts, it reads from the Recovery CD, and displays a screen of options (typically
R, F, and Q.

6.Press and hold the ctrl key, and press the Backspace key. The Manufacturer Menu is displayed.



NOTE: Drive 1 may be shown as 0x80 in the menu of earlier versions.Not all options shown in the list
below will be available for some PCs.

Manufacturer Menu:

<1> boot from drive 1

<2> Start recovery program on CD/DVD

<3> boot Floppy a:

<4> clear the partition table of drive 1

<5> erase the Master Boot Record of drive 1

<6> wipe all sectors of drive 1

<7> create a primary partition on drive 1

<8> create a SmartImage partition on drive 1

<9> Install ST Master Boot Record

<A> Install Standard Master Boot Record

<S> Save DMI Sysinfo to drive 1

<T> Test the system RAM for defects

<ESC> restart this CDROM

Select option <4> clear the partition table.

The following message appears: No Operating System Installed or Partition CorruptedPress "R" to
perform a full system recovery.

Do not press R. Instead, press and hold down ctrl, then press Backspace to bring up the Tools Menu.

Select option <5> erase the Master Boot Record of drive.

The following message appears: No Operating System Installed or Partition CorruptedPress "R" to
perform a full system recovery.



NOTE: If there are no partitions, the following message appears: No MBR or master boot record
found.Continue using these steps.

Do not press R. Instead press and hold down ctrl, then press Backspace to bring up the Tools Menu.

Select option <6> wipe all sectors of drive.

An Erasing Hard Drive progress bar will appear. This process will take approximately from 15 minutes
to over one hour, depending on the size of the hard drive.

When the hard drive is completely erased, the following message is displayed:

No Operating System Installed or Partition CorruptedPress "R" to perform a full system recovery

Press R to begin the automatic System Recovery process.

Also, when performing a system restore from HP recovery disks
make sure you have only ONE hard drive connected and just
your monitor, mouse and keyboard.

Otherwise you will have a TOTAL DISASTER and files will be
written seemingly randomly over all the HDs. Installation will complete,
but you will be unable to boot into XP.

How bizarre!!

"DCR" <dcr@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:uX%23f5MVLHHA.2140@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Also, when performing a system restore from HP recovery disks
> make sure you have only ONE hard drive connected and just
> your monitor, mouse and keyboard.
>
> Otherwise you will have a TOTAL DISASTER and files will be
> written seemingly randomly over all the HDs. Installation will complete,
> but you will be unable to boot into XP.
>
>

Bizarre indeed, but true.
It is the way HP's restore program works.
If you use factory supplied restore DVDs, there is a
"Supplemental CD" that you insert after the restore,
and for many, many reboots and over 2 hours it finishes
the restore and re-writes the restore partition.
HP warns you to disconnect everything except monitor,
keyboard and mouse, and to remove any removable HD
in the computer external HD bay before doing a restore.
I thought it didn't apply to internal HDs, but after 3 failed
restores I learned my lesson. When installing Vista (both
x86 and x64) all HDs were left connected and both installs
were completely successful.


"John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message news:eMYuEEnLHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
| How bizarre!!
|
| "DCR" <dcr@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
| news:uX%23f5MVLHHA.2140@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
| > Also, when performing a system restore from HP recovery disks
| > make sure you have only ONE hard drive connected and just
| > your monitor, mouse and keyboard.
| >
| > Otherwise you will have a TOTAL DISASTER and files will be
| > written seemingly randomly over all the HDs. Installation will complete,
| > but you will be unable to boot into XP.
| >
| >
|