Code Purple???

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mcgyver76

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Oct 24, 2009
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I have an HP A6130N. I installed a new Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H Micro ATX Motherboard and new ddr3 ozc ram, a new sapphire Radeon 4870 and a new 850 watt power supply. After installing them, I was able to get back to the desktop and everything worked fine except there was no internet; no network card recognized. So, I tried to install the drivers off the DVD that came with the motherboard. However, the DVDRW drive didn't even recognize there was a disc after putting it in. I did recognize a DVD of windows 7 though.

So, I decided to choose the option to put the computer back to it's factory software (reinstalling windows vista). After this ran, it said error, and now won't even boot into windows. Every time it tries to, it says error and that I have to call support and gives a "code purple" error. I've read some about this and it is basically HP and Compaqs way of screwing you from ever upgrading their systems without their hands in your pockets.

I've read solutions, and they all say just boot from a CD or DVD and do a fresh install. However, I can't get the stupid thing to boot from the CD. I created a DOS boot disc and also another disc that erases the hard drive (I think it's called killdisk). Anyway, no matter what I do I can't get the damn thing to boot from the disc. I've changed the BIOS order to CDROM and DVDRW drive for first boot priority but still nothing. It still goes straight into windows and to the error. It offers to try to fix the startup but running this does no good. I tried to leave the new windows 7 disc in and it won't boot from that either. I can't do anything at all with my upgraded system now. PLEASE HELP!!!!
 
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this goes way back in proprietary attempts at keeping a bit of microsoft with a label of their own. Unlike win 98 days, when you could copy data and make a cd for a basic operating system, it is complicated enough today to go get a fresh cd, oem or retail. I always go oem, but it is not my choice for you.

Dynamics increase for your mobo with new os. And be sure to REALLY format the disks, I mean by old command prompt, separate from vista or xp CD.


age old tale...

 
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Thanks for your help. I agree about formatting. My problem is I can't get to the disk to format it. I can't figure out how to format it because I can't get it to do anything except boot straight into windows and to the error that shuts it back down.

The only thing I can think to do now is to take out the internal hard drive and connect it to another pc via SATA and then format it. Any other ideas???
 
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Mcgyver76,

Is this a DVD you purchased or one you burned from an ISO image? It sounds as though the DVD is not bootable. Also, Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Support Forum located here http://tinyurl.com/9fhdl5 . It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to also check the threads available there for additional assistance and feedback.

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team


 
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If you have more than 1 optical drive, unplug it. In the BIOS, disable all other boot devices except the dvd drive with the disc.

If you have a valid bootable disc, it will boot off it. If not, it'll hang on a black BIOS screen. Check the back of the disc to make sure it's not scratched or smudged.
 
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You can't slap a new motherboard into an OEM computer and expect the product restore to work... unless it's exactly the same motherboard that came with the computer. HP / Compaq (and all other large OEMs) have a customized BIOS that needs to be in place in order for the restore process to work. You now have 2 choices: you can put the old mobo back in and run the restore (if the old mobo works) or you can try to obtain an OEM DVD of Vista and install it onto your computer with the new hardware in place and using the product key on your case.

You have to remember that when purchasing an OEM computer, you are stuck with that configuration if you expect their restore media to work. They will not support you if you have made significant hardware changes, as they will only support the original hardware configuration. In order to install the Windows 7 Upgrade, you MUST have an activated previous version of Windows already installed. Since you upgraded a pile of components, you likely had to reactivate Vista before you could upgrade to 7. I know that you'd like to blame HP in this case, but clearly it is not their fault.

It also sounds like your optical drive is defective... if you cannot boot from bootable media, then that's an excellent indication that your drive is bad.
 
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I'm not trying to blame anyone, I really don't give a **** who's fault this is. I do thing it's bull**** that you can't do a fresh install of windows that you bought along with your system if you choose to upgrade that system.

I will just stick to my plan of taking the HD out and reformatting in another computer, then installing windows 7.

The DVD drive was working fine prior to my upgrade... I highly doubt it suddenly went bad at exactly the same time I upgraded.

Thanks for your help!
 
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Drives fail... often without warning... especially in the case of optical drives. You won't know the drive is bad until you stick a disc in and it won't read. This can sometimes be blamed on Windows, but if you try to boot from known good bootable media and you can't, that is an excellent indication that the drive is defective.

Like I said, you can't expect to upgrade hardware in that computer and still use your restore media. Your restore media IS NOT generic Windows... it is customized specifically for use with that computer. It has drivers for all the original hardware and it has copy protection in place to ensure you don't run to 50 different computers and install that version of Windows. (Since it doesn't require you to enter a product key). As soon as you make significant changes in the hardware, the drivers (quite obviously) don't work anymore... because they are not the correct drivers.

ALL OEMs do this. It isn't something specific to HP / Compaq. If you want a generic Windows DVD, you will have to find other means to obtain one. While I don't necessarily condone downloading or copying one, in your case it would be perfectly acceptable since you have a valid Windows license. There's nothing stopping you from upgrading the hardware... you just have to remember that the restore media provided with the computer (or the disc set you created yourself) is for the computer's original configuration ONLY. You might get away with changing everything but the motherboard... but as soon as you change it, your restore media will no longer work and you will have to get an OEM DVD of Windows.
 
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I understand. Thanks. I figured out the problem tonight. I switched out the SATA cable connecting the DVD RW drive to the MOBO and Viola! - worked like a charm. Now I'm enjoying Windows 7 and will never buy a pre-built computer again.
 
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Your solution is here:

http://www.billoblog.com/?p=152

I did it on my Compaq desktop after changing to a different motherboard and it works. The process in the blog above is about disabling a simple .bat file that runs on startup that checks your motherboard to ensure it is the same one that shipped with the OEM operating system. Not a simple fix if you are computer illiterate. But if you can get into the command prompt with a simple dos boot disk, you can fix this problem yourself. Good luck.
 
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Here's the solution from that forum. I dumbed it down a little because I'm posting it everywhere I can...

Code Purple is a problem exclusive to HP's, the easiest solution is to avoid them. However, it's already too late for you as it was for me. Basically it's an attempt to force you to pay them to service or upgrade your PC, or if you didn't learn the first time, buy another. Here is the most concise answer I found, tried to translate into plain english.

***PLAIN ENGLISH QUICK AND EASY FIX FOR ALL SYSTEMS****
***Windows 7 code purple or Windows Vista code purple***

With the code purple error on the screen, press shift+f10 (the shift key and the F10 key (at the top of the keyboard) at the same time) to open a little screen called a command prompt. (So, you get a little black screen with white text that says something about your Windows verison first and a little ways down you'll see "C:\>". It's all ready for you to start typing.)
Type the following line, just as you see it here...

notepad C:\hp\bin\checkdmi\checkdmi.cmd

so it will look like this

C:\>notepad C:\hp\bin\checkdmi\checkdmi.cmd

Press Enter.
You will see the text for the file listed in a window using a simple text editor.
Go to the beginning of the text. Press enter to make a space. Type this...

goto cleanup

So, whatever comes after, the first line looks like this...

goto cleanup

Save the file and exit notepad and restart your PC. You are good to go.

Please repost like crazy.
 
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