Compaq Evo N610c problems

HI all, wondering if I can get some help. I got a Compaq Evo N610c notebook from my brother and he said it had't worked for him in a while b/c he had lost the power supply and couldn't turn it on. I literally got the notebook. No paperwork, cd's.....nothing. Managed to get a powersupply and turn it on but alas, the notebook has "Issues "
Powered it up an all seemed ok. Black and white windows startup screen seemed a little slow. The coloured screen with the Win2k Pro logo and the blue progression bar popped up for about half a second and then a blue screen. This screen has told me "INNACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" Tells you if it's the first time then restart so I did but same thing happened. I'm not that computer literate but I have a general understanding of the basics. Can anyone help me out with this? I just think i's a waste of a good notebook to just give up on it like my brother.
Many thanks,
John

 

several possibilities - windows is not finding a working operating system
Often this means that the hard drive is not found - may be unattached , dead etc.
The fact that you see a Windows 2000 boot screen is good news that the computer sees a working hard drive
Reinstall windows
If possible wipe out the drive and reinstall windows
The nice thing about compaq is that once you have windows installed off disc
you can go to hp.com > support > drivers or whatever they call it
The hp/compaq system can scan your hard drive - detect what it is - and then you go directly to the downloads page for your laptop
By the way - that laptop is a very nice one