My nieces laptop has a problem, when she tries to start it, it comes up with "COMPAC" in the middle of the screen as its meant to, it then shows "F12 Boot" then the screen goes blank for a moment, it then comes up with "windows/system32/config/system" it then shows, you can attempt to repair this sytem using the original windows disc.
The problem is, her mum and dad don’t have the original disc, and are more than likely not going to get it either, as the bloke they bought the laptop from, has since died, anyone got any ideas as to how they can get the laptop up and running again without the original disc, and could it be a virus that has caused this.
It could be a virus, or many other things including a hardware crash, most likely hdd error. she should be able to use any windows install disc that her computer will support, so if it had windows 98 don’t try putting vista on it. If you go into the bios of the system you can likely get a better idea if the hdd is still there or croaked. Its a compaq so the odds of it being from a hardware failure are pretty good. If you have the restore disc for your windows you may be able to use it depending on which version you have and what she had.
Could have been some version of malware. As to getting it back up you can borrow somebody’s install disk but the drivers are unlikely to be there so you have to go online to get the drivers. For that you will need a pen drive to copy the files to. It will be a long process
Try pressing F8 as fast as you can when the Compaq logo appears. See if there’s a "recover my computer" option.
Otherwise, do you know anyone with a Compaq computer (similar age) that has THE SAME version of the THE SAME operating system? (e.g. must be XP Home for XP Home)
If you can borrow their CD and it’s the same VERSION AND OPERATING SYSTEM you can safely do a repair with their CD and hopefully get it running.
If all else fails, Call HP/Compaq and tell them you got a computer second-hand and it was missing the install CD. Sometimes they can arrrange to replace it free or cheap – worst they can say is no.