Resolved Compaq Computer Boot Problem

Compaq Computer Boot Problem

My daughter has an old (10yrs or thereabouts) Compaq Pressario desktop model 5423US (Pentium 4 1.6GHz) running Windows XP. For years this computer performored flawlessly.

But not now. Recently a thoughtless young relative made use of it and somehow (no one knows or witnessed how) got the machine ******* up to where it will boot to desktop BUT not load or display any of the previously installed files or standard desktop icons.

The desktop wallpaper (the open-field country scene) displays and the mouse cursor shows but nothing else. Mouse clicking, right or left, does nothing. Ctrl-alt-del does nothing including not even activating Reboot. Have to push and hold Power button to get computer off and rebooted.

I have tried booting while hitting F8 and choosing "last known good configuration" also "Debugging mode/; (though don't know what I should be doing in that mode). Still loads same blank Desktop with open-field wallpaper.

We cannot find any original XP System disk so are at a deadend as to possibility of ressurecting this Desktop computer.

There may not be any way of getting this machine restored to working order, but as usual for me, I turn to you experts as to any possibility of fixing this machine.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Timothy Johns

 

It may have a recovery partition on the hard drive. If so, you can use it to restore the computer back to factory condition. "Factory condition" means all software and files added to it since that day will be lost.

Some of those recovery partitions will allow you just to reinstall Windows. In that case, all the added software and files should be retained although you will have to get all the Windows updates again.

Instructions are on this page.

 

Thanks for your advice, but turns out that now, today, 1/30/12 there is no further concern. Just earlier this afternoon I found my daughter's restore disks for this Compaq computer and I restored the desktop to proper working order.

Thanks anyway for your help.

Best regards, Timothy

 

Hi Timothy, nice to see you got everything back to normal. Make sure you keep those recovery discs in a safe place and keep your young relative away from the comp. You should mark this Thread as Resolved. At top of page Thread Tools. Cheers Neil.

 

No matter which way, 10 years is good service.

Plan (or save towards) the next computer. Further service might not be assured

Matt

 

Per Mattman: I agree, 10 years is excellent service. I run a Vista laptop now, but occasionally still miss XP which I used longest and had become pretty expert at trouble shooting and customizing. With Vista (which I really do like for many of its features) and Win7 I'm just pretty much along for the ride.