Having problem re-installing OEM OS

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cbleman

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I was handed a PC that wouldn't load into Windows outside of safe mode, no matter what I tried to do. Something about the config.sys file, but due to not getting paid for this, something I ignored. Prior to doing any work on the PC, the user submitted to me that the existing data on the hard drive wasn't of any great importance, so backing up data wasn't a concern.

I attempted a flat out recovery from the recovery CD, but the CD wouldn't load on start up. I changed the settings in BIOS so the CD player was first, no success. I had a liscsensed copy of windows 98 (not SE) sitting here un-used, and decided to give that a whirl. Using the regular copy, I had no problems at all, and the computer is working just fine with my copy of installed.

For whatever reason, I was under the impression that OEM versions of Windows usually had a hidden sector of the hard drive that would allow you to install off the recovery CD as long as it was on the original computer. Well, now with my copy of Windows installed, the computer doesn't recognize the OEM recovery CD at all.

What I want to do, is to re-install the original OS from the recovery disk. The original install had existing programs that aren't included on my copy of Windows.

PC info.

HP Pavilion 6635
Windows 98
Seagate OEM 10GB Hard drive

My personal tech experience is decent to good. I may not be an expert in termanology explanation, but I can comprehend enough to be dangerous.
 
i know with my old hp it wasnt on the hard drive that it was setup but on my old pc the cd check the bios cause when i changed boards and tried to use the restore cd it told me i didnt have the right pc so it checked something in the bios cause the hdd was the same
 
I attempted a flat out recovery from the recovery CD, but the CD wouldn't load on start up. I changed the settings in BIOS so the CD player was first, no success.

From HP recovery instructions:

-Turn on the computer and place recovery disc number one into the top optical drive (CD, CDRW, or DVD drive).
-Restart the computer by clicking Start, Shut Down, Restart, and then OK.
-A Recovery Welcome screen should appear. Press any key to continue.

None of that happend or is happening, no matter what I attempt. Not sure why. It works just fine with a regular CD copy of Windows 98, but the recovery CD gets no recognition what so ever from the machine.
 
Sorry, working on 2 CPU's at the same time. I should have been more specific, but I went through the entire troubleshooting procedure. I went through step by step confirmation, and none of the above lines appeared, and after typing Y to everything, it went straight into Windows start up as opposed to reading from the CD rom. I can read from the CD rom when in windows, but the only EXE file there is copydisk. I have tried using the following commands"
d:\ recovery
d:\ hp_recovery
d:\ hp recovery.

All with no luck.
 
since you haven't solved it ill take some wild guesses. how many cd-rom drives is on that computer? try getting a cd-rom drive from another computer and see if it will boot. disconect all of his cd-rom drives and use only the one from the other machine

try resetting the BIOS or use failsafe and/or optimized defualts.

like micro said are you using the correct boot CD? there may be more than 1 recovery CD.

just as a test, disconnect the hard disk and try to boot up with the CD. that way it won't try to boot to the hard disk and be force to try the CD. make sure you have "enable other boot devices" or whichever it is called.

if it still doesn't boot there is a hardware problem or your bios configuration is wrong. or the restore partition is corrupt or missing

i'm out of ideas after that.
 
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