Pavilion DV8T stuck on disk 2 during recovery

Question

Hey everybody,
I purchased the computer two years ago, when I tried to make recovery disks I got an error and was told from HP I needed a new set of DVDs which I wasted around 40 to 50 dollars anyways short story told, HP said they were going to send me recovery disks and I didn't receive anything.
2 years later the OS wouldn't load due to a corrupted file, I paid for the recovery disks, it loads disk 1 and when prompted to install disk 2 it just hangs. I've tried around 5 to 8 times in the last couple weeks with no success.
I also deleted all partitions, did a low level format, and tried again with no success, I tried to partition the drive with fat 32 and ntsf with no success, also tried to wipe the hard drive again and used the cyberplayer DVD disk HP recommends to use for wiped hard drives but also didn't work. HDD and memory tests passed
I spoke with HP and they answer was to send me another set of recovery disks which I know it will be useless since the first time I received 2 sets and both of them failed.
I was able to install my own version of windows 7 but half of the drivers don't work and HP doesn't even bitter to post the correct drivers/software on their support web page.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Answer 1

I recently upgraded my dv8t to Windows 8 Pro (using the built-in disc drive). It installed fine and had no errors with installation. After using Windows 8, I decided to try to use my recovery partition (which I verified is still on the disk drive) but F11 failed. Given I spent close to $1900 on this dv8t entertainment notebook, I figured I would pay the $12 to order this recovery set, directly from HP.
Yesterday I received the CD set. The CDs arrived in prestine condition, no scratches or cracks of any kind on the set. So I turned on my notebook, and it booted into Windows 8. I then inserted Disc 1 of the set into the drive, and then rebooted from the sign-in screen.
Disc 1 (Volume label: BOOT) was detected and proceeded to launch. First, it wiped my hard disk and then it copied the files. I verified it was reading because I can feel the drive spinning along with the LED light flashing as it read the disc.
Next, it requested Disc 2 (Volume label: DISC1). I then inserted disc 2 and confirmed that the optical drive detected the disc as the drive spun and the LED light was visable. I verified this by observing the HDD & optical drive LEDs which never illuminated after that. I waited for nearly 45 minutes after that and there was no activity from the system. I even ejected & re-inserted the media to see it the drive would detect the disc upon auto-run.
I performed some research online and found this forumn which confirms everything I have experienced. I believe the user in this forumn who received multiple replacement sets by mail and experienced the issue repeatedly.
Though my notebook is out of warranty (1-year warranty), I decided to call HP support and inform them of the issues with the disc media I received. After being on hold, I spoke to a "technician", one of those outsourced customer service representatives from India that actually call themselves "technicians". So I explained the issue with the discs, known issue as it's reported in this forumn, my troubleshooting (I'm a helpdesk technician myself), and my results. The technician kept saying I would have to purchase a support plan for support as it may be a issue with my hard drive or optical drive... I asked him "if it was an issue with the hard drive, how did Windows 8 launch every time prior using your recovery set?" He then said it was my optical drive. I asked him "if it was an issue with my optical drive, how did it read disc 1?" Unable to answer my questions he tried to sell me a support plan. I asked several times to speak to a more qualified technician. He would tell me "let me check with my resources" and then put me on a brief hold. Unable to allow me to talk to anyone, I asked for a refund on the faulty authored recovery media. He then said he was going to transfer me to the correct department, and then guess what... he hung up on me.
***Note to HP - I believe that the recovery media set needs to personally be evaluated and tested by HP as I do not believe end users are using defective or scratched media for this recovery disc set. I believe the issue to be either a programming error on either Disc 1, or maybe even Disc 2's volume label being named DISC1.
For your convenience, I am listing the HP part numbers for the faulty authored media set which should be tested on a dv8t-1000 notebook. If you need a product number for the notebook it is: NQ226AV
Media set part numbers:
HP PART#: 588725-001
HP PART#: 592889-B22
HP PART#: 588725-001-CD1
Individual disc part numbers:
Disk 1 of 2 - 588726-001
Disk 2 of 2 - 588727-001
Please look into this and e-mail me. If you fail to respond with a resolution to this post, then I am buying Sony or other brands moving forward. I encourage anyone else who reads this thread the same.
Best regards,
HP Customer