zx5000 problems

I was recently given this hp pavilion zx5000 machine to fix by my boss.
It had a corrupt windows registry. I copied all his files off with a
Linux live cd to another windows machine using samba. i then tried to
reinstall windows xp using a xp home sp2 disc i have not the repair disc
since he never gave it to me.

The machine now boots into a black screen unless i press esc and choose
hdd from the boot list menu. even though i have changed around the boot
settings to pick hdd first it still boots to the black screen.
If i do pick hdd from the list it then comes up the the message

"smart failure predicted on hard disk 0:Toshiba XXXXxxxx

warning: immediately back-up your data......

press f1 to continue"

I have tried the hdd tools in the bios setup and both the short and long
say nothing is wrong with the drive. If i press f1 it now boots windows
until i installed all the latest patches and then i refuses to boot even
in safe mode. so i used the repair disc i should have in the first place
but it crashes while installing windows.

Is the drive actually defective ?
Have i destroyed the hidden partition that the repair disc uses ?
is there a known problem with one of the latest patches from MS that
screws up this series of laptops?
and why the hell do i get that black screen? mbr problems maybe ?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Replace the drive. Period. If the hardware is not 100% in working order,
there is no guarantee that anything will work right. So quit messing around
with defective hardware... Ben Myers

On Sat, 25 Nov 2006 00:08:21 +0000, jeff <> wrote:

>I was recently given this hp pavilion zx5000 machine to fix by my boss.
>It had a corrupt windows registry. I copied all his files off with a
>Linux live cd to another windows machine using samba. i then tried to
>reinstall windows xp using a xp home sp2 disc i have not the repair disc
>since he never gave it to me.
>
>The machine now boots into a black screen unless i press esc and choose
>hdd from the boot list menu. even though i have changed around the boot
>settings to pick hdd first it still boots to the black screen.
>If i do pick hdd from the list it then comes up the the message
>
>"smart failure predicted on hard disk 0:Toshiba XXXXxxxx
>
>warning: immediately back-up your data......
>
>press f1 to continue"
>
>I have tried the hdd tools in the bios setup and both the short and long
>say nothing is wrong with the drive. If i press f1 it now boots windows
>until i installed all the latest patches and then i refuses to boot even
>in safe mode. so i used the repair disc i should have in the first place
>but it crashes while installing windows.
>
>Is the drive actually defective ?
>Have i destroyed the hidden partition that the repair disc uses ?
>is there a known problem with one of the latest patches from MS that
>screws up this series of laptops?
>and why the hell do i get that black screen? mbr problems maybe ?
>
>any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>

Ben Myers wrote:
> Replace the drive. Period. If the hardware is not 100% in working order,
> there is no guarantee that anything will work right. So quit messing around
> with defective hardware... Ben Myers
>

i have been reading on the hp forum that they wont replace the drive
until it fails that check in the bios setup. since it hasn't i wanted to
make sure it was defective first.

its still under warranty so i might take it back and get them to check
it out for me.

If the computer is still under warranty, a SMART failure should be enough reason
to merit replacement of a defective drive. Contact HP and see what the next
step is... Ben Myers

On Sat, 25 Nov 2006 08:20:13 +0000, jeff <> wrote:

>Ben Myers wrote:
>> Replace the drive. Period. If the hardware is not 100% in working order,
>> there is no guarantee that anything will work right. So quit messing around
>> with defective hardware... Ben Myers
>>
>
>i have been reading on the hp forum that they wont replace the drive
>until it fails that check in the bios setup. since it hasn't i wanted to
>make sure it was defective first.
>
>its still under warranty so i might take it back and get them to check
>it out for me.

I have the exact same problem with my laptop. I even tried to install
Ubuntu and Fedora core 6 on my laptop but sometime they work and
sometimes my computer just freezes.

I hope putting a new hard drive should resolve these issues.

Bens right and as drives are a mechanical device and failure is
failure?.. Just try swapping out to a new drive, Try reloading the OS
and if that fails then post back for more help.. If you need help
trying to recover needed data on an unreadable drive (Laptop only)..
We may be able to help.. Weve swapped platters as well as drive
components here but its not the primary business were in.. Good luck!