compaq presariosr1303 wm won't boot

A neighbor lady brought her machine to see if I could maybe start it. It stopped booting a few weeks ago so she called HP and bought a reinstall pkg. It is 7 discs that supposedly make everything blissful and happy again.

Now I have a never ending loop that doesn't boot.

1)..I managed to get the big red "Compaq" on the screen with below 'esc for boot' - f1 for setup - f10 for reinstall.

2)..Clicked the f10 and pretty soon a little light in top left corner blinked a few times..then... "system boot error. insert recovery disc 1" which I did.

3)..Then the little light again and "Non system error. Click any key to continue" which I did. Then I got 2).. again which took me to 3).. and then 2)..3)..2)..3)..etc for a few hours.

So then I hit F1 to setup > Boot sequence > and tried all the combos like CD first and Hdd second and vice versa and all different combos and same result.

IN "esc to boot" there're just 2 lines to click on .. hard drive and cd and I tried making them both as '1st' at different times but no change from the above loop.

I've googled all over can't find just this exact prob. anyone experienced with this, please. She'll be gone for a week and I'd like to get it running for her.

I'll call HP support tomorrow but have never had any luck with any 'support' people. Any ideas appreciated.

Chas.
PS... this small (700) missouri town has no local techs.

 

Hi chasthur,

OEM restore steps can and do vary so while we wait for someone who may be more familiar with your particular HP model and procedure I shall see if I can help you figure this out.

I dug up HP site instructions for using the restore/recovery cd's and the directions seem to vary from what you describe as having tried. See here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...447312&lang=en&docname=bph07145#bph07145_disc

Heres the link to more references you may wish to look over and review:
http://h10061.www1.hp.com/ccsearch/...e_desc=Compaq+Presario+SR1303WM-B+Desktop+PC#

For the above I assumed the Presario 1303 was the Desktop model and not the laptop. Is this correct?

I also assumed you were trying to do a destructive recovery or full factory default setup. This type of recovery will reformat your harddrive and cause loss of all previous data on harddrive. This is opposed to attempting a nondestructive recovery of software and hardware. Is this correct?

If my assumptions were not correct please let me know and I will be happy to find the correct HP references you'll need.

This is link with references to specific recovery problems and errors:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...lc=en&product=447312&lang=en&docname=bph07144

 

This is the best page I can find re:troubleshooting boot problems. See especially "Standard steps to resolve most startup problems" halfway down the page.

 

Thank you both very much. It took all day but by printing all those links, the little glitches got fixed. Thank God or HP for printers!! The little inst. sheet with the 7 CDs only had 'insert discs and follow onscreen inst.' sheeeesh..

I think I'm gonna get one of those Aten AVG splitters so I can leave my machine plugged into the screen while wrestling these problems.

Chas. (very appreciative!)

 

Hello again chesthur,

I hope that means that you were finally able to use the restore disks and were successful in fixing your friends computer. Supplying the links was not a problem. You did all the hard work. In any case your most welcome and thanks back at ya' for the update.

 

Yep Goddez(ss), did and is! An on topic Q. though, at the bottom of the link that sparrow gave me are pics of unplugging some things. Click on her *this* please, I don't know how to put clicks. I took the side off and looked in there HI YI YI what a confusion.!! I gave a little bitty tug on the hard drive thing but it was pretty solid so I just tippy toed out.

Do those plugs (if one is knowledgeable enough to do it) just come out with a tug or do they have itty bitty catches somewhere? I didn't pull hard at all but am curious.

Chas.

 

You did well to stay away from the hardware suggestions; that page is meant for techs. However everyone has to start somewhere. Maybe the best place to start is on your own machine rather than a neighbor's. There's no mystery about hardware connections - they just pull out, but with some force usually required.

The best starting method I've found (short of going to classes) is upgrading, or better, building your next computer. It's not hard at all.