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CONSUMER ALERT - Many Hewlett Packard and Compaq Buyers Can't Use Disk Space They Paid For

Not all of the massive hard drives Hewlett Packard (HP) and Compaq tout in their ads and on their boxes can be used by Pavilion and Presario owners for writing letters, storing photographs or music and other every-day uses. Without telling buyers, HP and Compaq fill as much as 10 percent of each hard drive with a hidden "recovery system" - backup copies of the operating system and factory-installed software.

Industry analysts say the computer giant saves money by not giving consumers CDs with backup software. However, these corporate savings cost Pavilion and Presario owners hard drive space they paid for, but can't use, because it's in a partitioned-off space containing HP's "recovery system." HP introduced this system on Pavilion models loaded with Windows XP, beginning in September 2001, and later added it to the Compaq Presario product line. Pavilion model computers also have a stripped-down version of Windows XP operating system without some security features and other features of Windows XP sold at retail as a stand-alone product.

HP hid the recovery partition, which prompted complaints from consumers that they didn't get CDs of the software loaded on their computers and all the space they paid for. Bruce Greenwood, an HP marketing manager, acknowledged that the change to the no-CD policy generated 50 user complaint calls a day.

Besides a lack of disclosure, the lack of recovery CDs can cause other problems. When hard drives fail, the recovery system can't be used and software can't be reloaded. In many instances, computer owners then must call technical support and pay the computer company to send the same CDs it used to provide for free with a user's original computer purchase.

Ironically, these CDs recreate the "recovery partition," again taking away useable space from computer owners.

You can review a copy of the lawsuit our law firm filed to address this problem by clicking on http://www.jameshoyer.com/problem_hp_harddrive.html