"Bill P" wrote in message
...

"philo" wrote in message
...

"Bill P" wrote in message
...

"Bill P" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have an old Win98se HP computer which I am going to give to my
Grandson.
I want to do a clean install and have inserted the rescue floppy and
restore disc 1 as per the instructions. I then boot up the computer
and
everything goes well until after the cd rom has started. A message
finally
appears "This computer does not have any valid information". The
process
then stops.
Would appreciate any help.
Regards Bill


That should be Packard Bell and not HP



Is the rescue disk the same one that came with the computer?

You cannot use a restore disk from one computer on a different one than
original


Hi philo
Yes it is the original restore disc for that computer.
The original hard drive was replaced under guarantee. I have Googled for
"no
valid information" and apparently PB installed what is called a "tattoo"
somewhere on the orig hard drive probably to prevent the rescue disc being
used on a different machine. Don't know how to get around this.
Regards Bill



I'm sure it's too late now to explain that to the manufacturer.

Though you may have to hunt down a few drivers...You should be able to use
any retail win98 cd