compaq/HP code purple after system restore

[Rhonda85]

Has anyone had any experience with the code purple problem after doing a complete system restore on the HP or compaq PC's? I swapped a motherboard on compaq with the exact same model number (asus as7v8-la) and did a system restore and once win xp started to load it gets a configuration error and tells me to contact compaq customer care CODE PURPLE!
Naturally the people at "customer care" only want to charge me just to talk to tech support, no thanks. I know that the motherboard may need to be so called tatooed for a fee. Anyone know a way around this?

 

[T3C]

Code purple on an compaq or HP means that the motherboard needs Tattooing, it is not possible to complete this process without a set of disks that are not available to the public as far as I know. untill this process has been done you will not be able to use compaq/HP recovery processes as the recovery program no longer recognizes the computer as a compaq/HP machine, this is a security thing stopping you installing an OEM version of windows on any computer with the recovery disks.
You either have to use a regular version of XP. "not the recovery disks" or get the board Tattooed.

Your best bet is to call HP/COMPAQ and have there techs tell you what needs to be done to complete the process.

Good Luck!
-T3C

 

[Rhonda85]

The people at HP/compaq are a joke. I fixed the problem my self by editing a .bat file. In case anyone cares here is how to fix CODE PURPLE mess:

There is a config file that needs to be cleared c:\hp\check config\cfgchk.bat. Edit the cfgchk.bat file and clear all code from the file. Save it then it will bypass the so called tatooing requirement. So how do you edit a file when the PC won't even load windows? I just put the hard disk in another machine with XP loaded as a secondary drive, edited the cfgchk.bat file and then put it back in the compaq box and worked fine. This is a lot easier than trying to configure a BartPE boot disk!

 

[Severian]

thanks for the tip, it's always a pain, working on proprietary machines...this is good information to have.