computer problem ..wont boot

friend had a computer...harddrive made weird noises..completly fubar i think..so i got a new harddrive...western digital 20gig... htisis a two year old compaq computer..sorry don't know the model #...cna't find it right now... put in new hd...format and partition wiht a boot disk it gave... installed w98 on it... it won't detect the monitor..only 16 colors...other poblems with other drivers... wont shutdown...press button on front and goes of instantly..shut down just freezes... in blakc screen. no "sleep"option available... compaq gives two cds' for recovery..try to boot off of first one (one with bootcat.img and all that other stuff) but won't boot..just stops on black screen...ugh..help? thanx a million

Your basic problem is probably the fact that it's a Compaq. The only company I know of with worse hardware than them is Packard Bell. My suggestion? Get a new computer. Compaqs are never worth fixing.

well thanx for the bad news...anyone got any good news? right now throwing it out aint an option.. :(

You can probably get everything to work again, but you would play hell doing it. Your video drivers aren't related to the new hard drive though. I have a feeling that most of your other problems are just related to Compaq hardware. I don't know how available drivers are for them. Your first try should be compaq.com.

crappaq.com? ugh... no wonder back in the day the old H.S. had all compaqs..haha.. the main quesiton i got tho is why it wont' boot of those cds...i guess if i got them to run, it would fix everything... perhaps if i sent the drive (harddrive) back to normal? is it possible to "unpartion" now ifeel really simple..haha..don't think you cna un partition... but ... i don't now... cuz it used to boot up off cds' fine..i replace hard drive and cd dot work? also, maybe i need to repartition the 20 gig to two or three smaller ones? old Hardware maybe/ only two years old hto..

I'm still in high school, and my school uses Compaqs too. They're 166s too. They SUCK. Anyway, your recovery cds won't work because you have a different hardware profile. It should at least boot on them though..... Check the boot sequence in your BIOS. Messing with your partitions will have no effect on this problem one way or the other.

hello

first of all try to update your Bios .this is important.

Then you have to find the disk drivers fo the Graphic adapter
See the trade mark of your graphic adapter and then find the drivers in the internet .
The graphic adapter will resolve the problem of the shut down too.

another TIP
Dont dont dont dont use never the recovery cd of compaq .

i hope this help

bye

Compaqs aren't like most other pc's, they use a small partition at the start of the disk as the bios - you'll need to go to the support part of the compaq site and download a utility to create this partition - its pretty easy. Once you've that done you'll get an option to add your new hard drive.

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installed w98 on it... it won't detect the monitor..only 16 colors...other poblems with other drivers... wont shutdown...press button on front and goes of instantly..shut down just freezes... in blakc screen. no "sleep"option available... compaq gives two cds' for recovery..try to boot off of first one (one with bootcat.img and all that other stuff) but won't boot..just stops on black screen...ugh..help? thanx a million

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Maybe I can be of assistance here....

The 16 colors are a result of your "Display Adapter" not your monitor driver. I think the first step I would take is to identify what kind of hardware you have and what the model number of your Compaq is. (All this information is vital)

Compaqs are notorious for using CHEAPO hardware, with alot of motherboard intergrated components (sound card, video card, etc)

I would recommend you open the case up and try to identify the models of all the parts; recording chipsets, etc ) Next I would surf over to Compaq and go to the support pages and look for the drivers for each device by the Compaq Model Number. Download those and burn them to a CD.

The next course of action would be to totally clean up the new Hard Drive... Repartition (Just to Be on The Safe Side) and reformat the drive specifying the "/s" parameter (You don't have to, but it's better to use it). Next use a Win98 BOOT DISK not the restore CD (The Restore CD's are useless because, if I am not mistaken Compaq uses a logical drive (Usually the D Drive ) as a restore drive. And the boot CD's are depenedent on some of the files on that D drive.) Either way it is better to start fresh... Install your operating system (I believe you mentioned Win98) from an actual Win98 CD and not those Compaq Supplied CD's.

If everything went well, you should have a fresh install of Win98, with nothing Compaq specific. Now it is time to install the drivers you downloaded from Compaq's site. After installation of the drivers, your computer should work fine. :)

A computer I have is a Compaq and has some Cheapo Hardware in it... I had to do a fresh install also... It was a pain in the butt, because the video card is specific to my motherboard, so it required that I use Compaq's driver :( . I have problems from time to time with programs corrupting the display driver, but other than that everything works fine :)

I hope this Helps you :)

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Originally posted by petemcevoy
Compaqs aren't like most other pc's, they use a small partition at the start of the disk as the bios - you'll need to go to the support part of the compaq site and download a utility to create this partition - its pretty easy. Once you've that done you'll get an option to add your new hard drive.

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I forgot about that. Oops. :dunce: By the way, are you sure it's not just the BIOS controller? I'm pretty sure the BIOS itself HAS to be on the motherboard.

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I forgot about that. Oops. By the way, are you sure it's not just the BIOS controller? I'm pretty sure the BIOS itself HAS to be on the motherboard.

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This Compaq BIOS program everyone has been talking about is called "F10 Setup". When a Compaq is reformatted it loses the "F10 Setup" program... The BIOS is still their and operates correctly... The only thing though...is that without F10 Setup you cannot modify the BIOS. Just remember that Compaq creates a different F10 setup program for each model, so if you lose it in a reformat, make sure you download the correct one according to your model number.

Also: Not having F10 Setup will not cause any problems :) You just won't be able to modify BIOS Settings (As mention above)

well, thanx for all your help... i have about a week vacation comin up and wont' be by that computer.... but when it happens, that i hopefully get it fixed, i'll post my results and how/why things happend..so others can learn... i did learn something tho... its not compaq..its comcrap? haha...
:D

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Originally posted by Simon Templer


This Compaq BIOS program everyone has been talking about is called "F10 Setup". When a Compaq is reformatted it loses the "F10 Setup" program... The BIOS is still their and operates correctly... The only thing though...is that without F10 Setup you cannot modify the BIOS. Just remember that Compaq creates a different F10 setup program for each model, so if you lose it in a reformat, make sure you download the correct one according to your model number.

Also: Not having F10 Setup will not cause any problems :) You just won't be able to modify BIOS Settings (As mention above)

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I thought so.....

ok...i foudn this out the hard way, but for all those who were wondring...

when using a compaq or oany other computer that has all integrated stuff...look for the VIA chip... it will be on the mother board and have an identification number. goto the via website..(not compaq...they ahve all the programs to but "modified" for compaqs..doens' talways work all the time) goto thier website and download all the information and programs needed for the harddrive...hope you have a fast connection tho...the video driver alone is 8meg download!! thank god for cd burners. :)

i would actually suggest downloading all these programs when your computer is still working just incase it crashes in the future

-a