HP Pavilion ZE-5155

[k2x4b524[]

I have been given an older HP Pavilion ZE-5155, it's a neat little laptop, it's got all the goodies of its era, save wireless, which is fine for what i plan to use it for.

BUT my thing is this:

it WILL NOT let me install XP SP3, clean install, or otherwise, it will always shut down during the install. All fans run and it starts to warm, but not overheat. I've tried the usual suggested things, removing the battery *which is toast, and doesn't matter anyway*

the original drive that came with it has SP2, which works brilliantly, and won't accept the SP3 update either.

so i'm left with the usual culprits, overheating, possible bad battery, but i'm wondering if bad ram can be causing it to do this? It currently has 512mb PC-2700 in it, i DO have a toshiba from the same time period with the same ram, so i can swap out if need be. I'm wondering also if someone else has had this issue in the past? How did you get around it?

Or should i put something like linux, or win 98 or *gasp* me, or 2000 on it. It is only going to be used as a portable cisco router / switch terminal, it doesn't have a serial port, but i have an adapter with XP drivers, which works wonderfully.
the floppy is a nice touch, it's pleasant to hear that RRRRRRRRR, as it loads up

Suggestions?

 

[Stone]

What's SP3 got that you can't live without?

 

[Malc]

HP laptops seem to have a bit of a reputation for overheating and shutting down when they get older, My ZD7000 does it, The fans go supersonic and it shuts down. Have you given the laptop a good workout with the original drive in it, I've never had a problem installing SP3 but it might be worth trying " nlite ", I use it to create a new XP install CD with SP3 and drivers added for a few of my different machines and just burn the ISO image to CD-Rom, It works and it's free, You will need your own XP CD and the SP3 package. Not saying it'll work but might be worth a shot.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I've lately gone to installing from SP1 (slipstreamed) to the unofficial SP4. It's a lot faster than going through SP3 and then installing all of the numerous updates. Appears to be fine and includes Net Frameworks as well. You might have better luck with it.

 

[k2x4b524[]

That is definetly worth looking into. The reason i want to use the latest service packs is simply because when it is plugged into the router and / or switches, it is also going to be part of the network at the same time, meaning, serial cable to switch and router, and ethernet to internet. I was taught to be security conscious, and that is a result of that.

And yes, when the fans scream up to full, it still isn't very warm. i even went so far as to put fresh heatsink goo on when i cleaned it. Putting it through its paces with the old drive, it runs like a champ, even with the fans going full bore, its only when i attemp SP3 that is takes a dump.

Chuck, i will try your suggestion, i might get lucky with it, if not i've decided that i might go with Win 2k or Win 98se with unofficial service packs. It's got a floppy drive, so i can use it for dos gaming if i choose.

NLite, haven't done much looking into that, i will check that out too.