got a nasty virus.. not here to talk about the virus tho.. i have done the built in destructive recovery a nice little feature on the hp systems which is supposed to take cpu back to factory shipped condition.. however after doing destructive recovery now 3 times i still have every file folder movie and music and programs that i had installed. nothing is deleted the destructive recovery has done nothing but make me sit at the cpu for 2 hrs while i reinstalls xp.

Did you not receive a reinstall disk with your HP?

Matt Lascola
Domain Administrator

HP Pavilions that ship with Microsoft Windows XP do not come with
recovery CDs. Instead, they use a hidden space (partition) on the hard
drive to store the recovery information. The use of a hidden partition provides a convenient process that eliminates the use of system recovery discs that may be lost or scratched.

this is the email i got back from hp tech support.. i had already done everything that they said before they even sent the email becasue i had to do a destructive recovery a long long tiem ago and the tech walked me threw it on the phone so im familiar with the destructive recovery procces.. everythgin goes as it shud excpet nothign get taken off excpet my background is changed to an hp logo.

here is the email taht tech support sent...

Dear Justin,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

I gather from your mail that, you would like to perform a destructive
recovery on your HP Pavilion a410e desktop computer.

I realize the importance of the issue and will make sure that I give
you appropriate solution to troubleshoot the issue.

Justin, there are two types of recovery processes. One is a non
destructive recovery where the data on the hard drive is saved except
for the My Documents folder. Second type is a destructive recovery
which will reset the system back to factory settings.

If you have performed a non-destructive recovery, then the data on
your computer will still be present.

Please follow the steps given below to perform a destructive recovery.

=== Destructive Recovery ===

The information below explains how to reset the HP Pavilions software
to its original state.

CAUTION: If extra hard drives have been added to the HP Pavilion,
disconnect the IDE and power cable from the back of the
extra drive before performing a system recovery to
prevent data loss on the new drive.

CAUTION: Performing a Destructive Recovery will format the hard
drive. This will delete all the information on the hard
drive and reinstall Windows XP and the original software
that came with the PC. In this case, be prepared to
reinstall software that was not originally included
with the PC. You will also need to reconfigure an
Internet Connection and obtain all critical Windows
Updates, Virus definition updates, and anti-spyware
updates.

CAUTION: If the PC has a Personal Media Drive attached, remove
the drive before performing the recovery.

HP Pavilions that ship with Microsoft Windows XP do not come with
recovery CDs. Instead, they use a hidden space (partition) on the hard
drive to store the recovery information. The use of a hidden partition
provides a convenient process that eliminates the use of system
recovery discs that may be lost or scratched.

CAUTION: If Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been or
will be installed, download and install the SP1 software
patch to prevent boot up issues. Refer to the "Download
SP1 software patch" section below. PCs with Service
Pack 2 do not need this update.

There are two options to perform a full recovery. These two options
are listed below.

Option 1: Recovering the system from the Windows XP Desktop

CAUTION: A destructive recovery will format the hard drive. This
will delete all the information on the hard drive and
reinstall Windows XP and the original software that came
with the computer.

1. Disconnect all peripherals and internal non-preinstalled devices
from the PC, except the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
2. From the Windows XP Desktop, click Start, All Programs, and then
HP Tools.
3. Select HP PC System Recovery. The Recovery screen will open with
the question "Do you really want to start HP PC System Recovery?"
4. Click Yes, to continue the recovery process.
5. When the Recovery screen opens, click Next.
6. Click Advanced, and then click Yes to perform a destructive
recovery.

Option 2: Recovering the system without using Windows

1. Disconnect all peripherals and internal non-preinstalled devices
from the PC, except the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
2. Turn on the computer.
3. When the initial blue HP screen opens, press the F10 key repeatedly
until a recovery menu appears. The progress indicator that first
appears does not indicate that a recovery is taking place. The
progress indicator represents the time before the recovery process
is started.
4. When the Recovery screen opens, click Next.
5. Click Advanced, and then click Yes to perform a destructive
recovery.

After the System Recovery is complete, and the computer starts
successfully, update the computer software by visiting the Web sites
below:

* Update the system virus definitions

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...

* Get the latest critical system updates using Microsoft's Windows
Update

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...

* Update the HP software on the system

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...

=== Download SP1 software patch ===

To download and install SP1 software patch, visit the Web site below
and follow the instructions given:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...
m=pv-9155-1

NOTE: Clicking the link(s) above may give an error indicating it
is invalid. If this occurs, copy the portion of the
address on the remaining line(s) and paste it at the end of
the address showing in your browser until the complete
address is displayed in the Address box.

I want to be sure the troubleshooting steps I provided resolve the
issue. If the issue continues, please reply to this message with the
results. We will be glad to assist you further.

You may receive an e-mail survey regarding your e-mail support
experience. We would appreciate your feedback.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running,
please visit our Web site at:

http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare


Sincerely,

Benny
HP Total Care


Our advice is strictly limited to the question(s) asked and is based on
the information provided to us. HP does not assume any responsibility
or liability for the advice given and shall not be liable for any
direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in
connection with the use of this information. Always back up your data.
For more information, including technical information updates, please
visit our Web site at http://www.hp.com/support.

Under the paragraph

CAUTION: Performing a Destructive Recovery will format the hard drive.

HP should have explain further that the recovery CD does only quick format instead of full format. A quick format only removes the partition master file table, while leaving the files themself intact. This is how virus comes back alive after performing destructive recovery. A full format wipe out every files and folders and take considerably long to complete especially if default file system is NTFS (most OEM machines are anyway)

i_Xp/VistaUser

it also says...

CAUTION: Performing a Destructive Recovery will format the hard
drive. This will delete all the information on the hard
drive and reinstall Windows XP and the original software
that came with the PC. [b]In this case, be prepared to reinstall software that was not originally included with the PC. You will also need to reconfigure an Internet Connection and obtain all critical Windows Updates, Virus definition updates, and anti-spyware updates.[/b]

everythign is stil there all my software and games that i have installed after i got the cpu. to us HP users a destructive recovery is supposed to be equivelent to reinstalling straight from disc.. but in this case the "os disc" is located ina hidden space (partition) on the hard drive to store the recovery information. The use of a hidden partition provides a convenient process that eliminates the use of system recovery discs that may be lost or scratched.

Did you read my post in Response number 3 above?

i_Xp/VistaUser

Um.. that's not correct
"This is how virus comes back alive" and "A quick format only removes the partition master file table"

See here for what MS says about regular vs quick formats:
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...

Both remove files. Only difference is scanning for bad clusters.

Even if the MTF or FAT was zeroed out and the actual files still existed a virus could not be resurrected. This is because the record of the beginning and ending clusters of the file are now gone with the zeroing out of the MTF/FAT. It would take a hex editor to find the pieces and a manual edit of the MFT/FAT to bring that file back to life. This could only be done on space not overwritten by a new install. Even then it has to be loaded into memory to be able to execute the rouge code contained within it.

Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search

hp finalyl sent me another reply adn said that i need to do this... hopefully ill be able to fig it out..

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...

Hmmm! when I bought my new HP laptop directly from HP, I was told by them and it was mentioned in the literature that came with it to copy the partition to as many CD's or DVD as was necessary. I have had the computer a little over a year and installed a program that really screwed things up. Instead of using the partition I used the DVD's that I had made and it took it all the way back to only what was on it when I bought it. Try that route.

I was told by them and it was mentioned in the literature that came with it to copy the partition to as many CD's or DVD as was necessary

That's exactly what users should do the first time they turn on the PC. You should invoke the Recovery CD creator to create your copy of the Recovery discs. FYI: This Creator will only run once as per license agreement with M$.

i_Xp/VistaUser