Replaced hard drive, locked out of Windows, Recovery DVDs freezing?

My fiance has an HP Pavilion G61 laptop. He purchased it through a rental company back in 2010. Last month, the hard drive fritzed out and died on him. We had it replaced through a local computer repair store, as his laptop was no longer under warranty, but when we got the laptop back, Windows was not activated on it. We called them back and asked them to fix the issue, but after a few days, they discovered that the Windows code had been locked out and was unusable. We searched online for similiar instances and he was told to purchase the HP system recovery DVDs and run them, and that when the recovery was done, it would be back to factory settings and Windows would be activated. We received the discs in the mail after buying them from HP, and can get Disc 1 to run fine all the way to completion. Then we get to the "Insert disc 2" screen, and we put the disc in and...nothing. Absolutely nothing. It freezes on this screen every single time and does NOTHING. We're incredibly frustrated and he is talking about trashing the laptop because it's completely useless at this point. Can ANYONE help me out and tell me what is wrong and how to fix it?
For reference, it's Windows 7 Home Premium edition that was on his laptop.

I would test the hard drive and memory just to be sure there is not some hardware issue causing the problem with the recovery discs.
When you first power up the notebook, use the F10 key (tapping rapidly) to enter the bios and run the diagnostics. Post back any messages or errors please.
I can help you get Windows installed without the HP discs but is a huge undertaking and should be a last resort.
Also, Please post your full product Number for me.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/findModel?cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en
#2
Please Do Not post your s/n

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Hi,
All you should need to do after replacing the HDD is the following.
Start the notebook and open the CD/DVD drive. Insert the first Recovery Disc. Hold down the power button until the notebook shuts down. Press the power button to start the notebook which should now boot from the Recovery Disc and start the recovery process.
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Cannot boot into Windows XP, should I replace hard drive?

THE PROBLEM: I have not been able to boot into or use Windows XP (SP2) for almost 3 years. I have been using Linux instead for 3 years and am using it now. The Windows Recovery process only half works, it works up until you have to boot up the computer from the hard drive. Then it no longer works. The computer will load the files from the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD that came new with the computer onto the hard drive. But when you get to the point of booting off the hard drive, with newly added Windows & Toshiba files, nothing happens. It does not boot up into Windows XP. In fact I can see the newly added Windows & Toshiba fileson the hard drive when I boot into Linux (Live) off the hard drive.
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Go to Solution.

My plan is to try to use the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD to load the WIndows XP files onto the hard drive, then use the Windows XP Recovery console CD I downloaded from here
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Good plan, Bob!
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@lucasc ,
Hello and thank you for posting on the HP support forums. You will not be able to do this without damaging the recovery partition. If you want to do a fresh install on your system use the system recovery.
If not you will install the operating system of your choice. Before doing so make sure the notebook came with the operating system and you have supported drivers for the OS you want to install.
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I hope this helps. Thank you again for posting and have a great day.
Please click the "Thumbs Up" on the bottom right of this post to say thank you if you appreciate the support I provide!
Also be sure to mark my post as “Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others who face the same challenge find the same solution.
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Hi
Please boot unit to Bios using F10 key once unit is powered on go to Diagnostics check if the Hard Drive is getting detected. If not getting detected reseat the HDD & check if not issue with HDD & Solt of HDD.
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*Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.
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Computer Profile Summary
Computer Name:
Beanersputer (in MSHOME)
Profile Date:
Monday, September 21, 2009 9:29:54 AM
Advisor Version:
7.2x
Windows Logon:
nello
Operating System
System Model
Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 2 (build 6002)
TOSHIBA Satellite A135 PSAD6U-01800D
System Serial Number: 37334232K
Enclosure Type: Notebook
Processor a
Main Circuit Board b
1.60 gigahertz Intel Celeron M 520
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Board: TOSHIBA IAYAA 1.00
BIOS: TOSHIBA V1.20 03/06/2007
Drives
Memory Modules c,d
78.45 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
13.51 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
MAT**bleep**A DVD-RAM UJ-850S ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]
Hitachi HTS541680J9SA00 [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2204SGCULZ6E, rev SB2OC7DP, SMART Status: Healthy
1918 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'J401' is Empty
Slot 'J400' has 2048 MB
Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0)
78.45 GB
13.51 GB free
Network Drives
None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details)
Printers
local user accounts
last logon
nello
9/21/2009 9:17:22 AM
(admin)
local system accounts
    Administrator
9/1/2007 9:32:47 PM
(admin)
Guest
9/12/2009 1:14:34 AM
Marks a disabled account;   Marks a locked account
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on Documents\*.pdf
Microsoft XPS Document Writer
on XPSPort:
Send To Microsoft OneNote Driver
on Send To Microsoft OneNote Port:
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Display
IDE Channel [Controller] (4x)
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (2x)
ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M Series [Display adapter]
Generic PnP Monitor (19.7"vis)
Bus Adapters
Multimedia
ENE CB1410 Cardbus Controller
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
ATI I/O Communications Processor USB 1.1 OHCI controller (2x)
ATI I/O Communications Processor USB 2.0 EHCI controller
Realtek High Definition Audio
Communications
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TOSHIBA Software Modem
6TO4 Adapter
6TO4 Adapter
6TO4 Adapter
6TO4 Adapter
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Atheros AR5006EG Wireless Network Adapter
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Microsoft AC Adapter
Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
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Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad [Mouse]
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub (3x)
Generic volume shadow copy

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****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

Replaced hard drive, locked out of Windows, Recovery DVDs freezing?

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