Member Avatar for fvdave30

Hi:

I have a client's machine here that had microsoft xp media center edition on it. It was not working so the client tried the F10 factory install which came with the system. It is a HP Pavilion a1630n machine. After not getting the F10 key to work the client then removed the Windows Folder from the system and proceeded to install Microsoft XP home edition on the computer. The system is working and has Service Pack 1 installed but every time I try to install service pack 2 on the system it installs and then with the windows logo screen come up I get a brief blue screen and it restarts the computer and does it again and again. I can get into the safe mode, both with and without network connection and the system seems to work fine. I can uninstall the service pack and the system will start up in normal mode with no problem. The same thing happens with Service pack 3.

Is it possible that when the widows folder was remove that the client also did something to the hidden partition? I too have tried to get into the hidden partition with the F10 key without any luck. The system stats states that there is a hidden partition with this system. I got this from the HP web site.

Is there anything else I can do without using a slipstreaming of Windows XP?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by gerbil

Dani AI

Generated

Summary: the boot-loop after installing Service Pack 2/3 on this HP Pavilion was resolved by applying an HP compatibility update before installing the service pack, as reported by . also pointed toward tools for restoring or revealing OEM partitions if recovery media or the F10 process is not accessible.

Why this often happens: major XP service packs change core kernel files and drivers. Older OEM drivers (chipset, storage/IDE/SATA, video, and system-management utilities) can fail during the normal boot path and trigger a stop error, while Safe Mode loads a minimal set of drivers and appears fine. The best diagnostic evidence is a crash dump: check C:\Windows\Minidump or the full MEMORY.DMP and read it with tools such as BlueScreenView or WhoCrashed to identify the offending .sys file.

Practical steps to reproduce/fix without immediately slipstreaming:

  • Make a full disk image first.
  • Boot Safe Mode, uninstall third-party AV and nonessential OEM utilities, or perform a clean boot (disable non-Microsoft services/startups).
  • Run chkdsk /r and sfc /scannow from Safe Mode to repair disk and system files.
  • Update BIOS and chipset/storage drivers from HP or the chipset vendor, then retry the service pack.
  • If a dump points to a specific driver (for example iaStor.sys or a video driver), update or remove that driver before installing the SP.
  • If HP provides an XP SP3 compatibility hotfix for the exact model, install that before the service pack (this is the path that worked here).

About the hidden partition: if the recovery partition was altered, tools like MBRWiz or disk utilities can reveal/unhide it, but only after a verified backup. If recovery cannot be restored, request official recovery media from HP for the a1630n model.

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Member Avatar for gerbil

Why not unhide the partition and run its installer, putting MC back on the sys?
A simple command line tool for such a task, and many more, is MBRWiz.exe.

Edited by gerbil because: n/a
Member Avatar for fvdave30

Thank you gerbil. I will try the command line tool. I hope I can do it in normal administrative mode.

Member Avatar for fvdave30

How do I use this command if it is a recovery console command and I can not get into the Recovery console

Member Avatar for fvdave30

I got this crashing after installing the service packs solved. Hp had on their website a patch to stop the computer from looping at start up after service pack 3 is installed. Got the patch installed OK and installed service pack 3 OK and the PC start up and logs on OK now right to the desktop. Every things works find now in the system. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Member Avatar for gerbil

HP n M$. The cold war never ended for those chaps.

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