HP or Compaq recovery CD?

Bobblink

I have an old HP Vectra with a XE310 motherboard, running XP pro. I have all my stuff backed up and want to do a clean install (This machine will not be connected to the internet).

A friend has offered me his Compaq XP pro recovery disk to use. Will it work or do I need the HP version? (which I am struggling to find).

gjchester

Bobblink wrote: »

I have an old HP Vectra with a XE310 motherboard, running XP pro. I have all my stuff backed up and want to do a clean install (This machine will not be connected to the internet).

A friend has offered me his Compaq XP pro recovery disk to use. Will it work or do I need the HP version? (which I am struggling to find).

From memory the HP and COMPAQ recovery disks of that vintage usually came as three disks. The first started the restore, the second was the specific drivers and the 3rd the OS, you needed all three to so a full recovery.

I think the OS disk files in the three disk set were in a semi compressed form so not easily installed, but its been years since we had XE's so hard to remember.

However some sets were just an OS install, so its possible that the restore disk alone will be fine. So you may be able to boot the OS disk and manually install drivers.

NiftyDigits

Download, save and then run this file as Adminstrator: OEM BIOS on the PC.
To run a file as Administrator in XP, you need to;

Locate the program you want to start..
Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you right-click the program icon, and then click Run as.
Click Run the program as the following user, and then type the user name, password, and domain of the administrator account that you want to use.

You will see a screen like this:

Report back as to what is written in the line/s that begin with F:

Bobblink

F:Hewlett-Packard OEMBIOS.CAT CRC=00A1EECB
F:Hewlett-Packard OEMBIOS.CAT CRC=3BA155E1
F:HP & Compaq OEMBIOS.CAT CRC=CD4E1902

NiftyDigits

So it seems the Compaq disc will work.

Bobblink

That is good news, when I saw mention of "Compaq" my hopes were raised. Thank you for confirming it for me. I will get hold of the CD and see how it goes. Thanks again.

NiftyDigits

You have a PM.

Bobblink

Thank you, for your help and time :beer: