how do you install a new OS onto a C300EA?

hello, i am new to all this so do forgive me if i have put this in the wrong place!

i am trying to fix a compaq presario C300EA for a friend.

we need to instal a new OS but have no recovery discs and the recovery partition on the drive is empty (we have a new copy of XP to install).

from what i have read it doesn't seem possable, if we flash the bios and or do anything like a destructive format we can then no longer install anything!

there is no floppy drive. the laptop was bought in th UK and on pressing F10 on boot you only get a message asking for a password (assumably this has been put in as a block by the shop it was bought at to stop you fixing it yourself!!)

does anyone know a way round these problems? is it possable? help??

 

You can reformat the hard drive, and then install XP.

As far as the password goes, we can't discuss bypassing such security measures on NBR.

Thanks.

 

hi
thanks for your prompt reply! i don't have internet at home so have only just got the chance to reply today.

i fully understand what u mean about not discussing bypassing security issues etc, but that's not really the issue here, i am not trying to bypass some bona-fide securtiy thing to illegally hack something that i shouldn't be, but rather merely trying to gain access to my own laptop!

its a profiteering issue not a security one! and i mentioned it only so that anyone replying would know the situation i was in and could therefore post a meaningful reply!! if i can't get past the shop's, in my mind illegally entered password, then i cannot access F10 and cannot reformat!! do u understand now?

which brings me back to the point of how do i install a new os??? so say u can, but how!

thanks again for any advice recieved

best wishes

 

you should be able to reformat and reinstall just by popping in the XP disc and booting from it (you shouldn't need to hit F10 unless the boot order is not set to boot from cd first)

 

Yeah, you don't have to hit F10 to install the OS, can you get into BIOS and change the boot order? Most likely the boot order is set to boot from the CD anyways by default unless someone changed it. Anyways, pop-in the OS CD and install off of that (if it doesn't boot off of the OS CD then post that and we can go from there). Just be sure to grab all your data off of the Hard Drive before you format and reinstall XP.

 

hi
thanks for your replies guys.
cant get to bios therefore cannot reformat in tne manner u suggest. i don't know if they are set up different in the us to the uk but here they will only boot from the hd os or a floppy and not the cd so u cant just pop a new os in the cd rom drive and install.
so anyway the only way to do it is to by a new set of recovery discs from compaq........problem solved for $60! i just wanted to try and find a free way to do it!!
thanks again
best wishes
bye for now

 

You realize that if you can't boot off of the XP install disk then you won't be able to boot from the Recovery Disks right? It doesn't matter what bootable CD/DVD you put in there if the computer won't boot from the CD/DVD Drive.

Look up online on how to reset the BIOS of the computer. This should clear out any passwords and so forth that are on the laptop. Once you do this, you should be able to get inside the BIOS and boot off CD.

Another thing to try is connecting a USB CD Rom drive if you have one or know somebody that has one and see if it will boot off that.

Also, is it a USB floppy drive you have for the laptop? If it is, you can try creating a Windows 98 Floppy Boot disk with CD-ROM support and boot off of that. Put your XP CD inside of the CD-ROM drive and then access the setup files from CD-ROM after you boot off of the Windows 98 Bootdisk.

 

hi envision
thank you for your time and input, it is very much appreciated!
we can boot so far from the cd but cannot install the os as there is no driver to detect it, so the recovery discs will work as they contain the drivers.
we do not have any floppy at all. so flashing the bios wont help either.
we have ordered the recovery discs allready so will post when successful!!
thanks again
all the best
toodle-oo!

 

hello again
oh dear! the recovery discs have not worked! new installation gets so far and stalls at about 50% alluding to missing files but reports recovery successful then when it tries to boot it fails and says missing or corrupted files! then shuts down!!

i am now thinking unresolvable hardware problem and throwing it in the bin!
any offers of help most welcome!

cheers

 

Call HP and tell them that the recovery disks they sent you are bad. They should send you another set.

When you said there is no driver to detect it.....what do you mean by "it". I'm going to guess you mean the Hard Drive. If that is the case, you'll probably be able to find the HDD drivers and slipstream them into the OS install disk.