not recognizing OS, HD, or bios! 1

[wrock]

ok- Im trying to fix a pc (Compaq Presario,win98se) that, upon boot, only gives "no os found on hardware" I have checked the HD, its getting power, and all other configs, jumpers, etc. are normal. Won't bring up BIOS or prompt. The client didnt have any disks that went with it, plus no bootdisk available. I tried another Compaq recover disk to no avail. Only thing I could think of is taking out the HD and cleaning it on another machine, then attempt a full recover.... but before I do this, does anyone know an alternative?
thanks!!
~*~prinzesswrock~

 

[gargouille]

Just so I understand you correctly, you've hit F10 booting and it won't get you into the BIOS setup?
If there are 2 memory modules, take 1 out and boot...it'll by default take you there 'cause the memory count will be different.

A regular Win98 boot disk will probably work...if you have 1 and it'll boot...do fdisk(space)/status and see what comes back.

You'll maybe want to verify there's nothing wrong with the hard drive (other than losing the whole OS!) so you need to download the hd diagnostics from the mfr.'s website and run them. I wouldn't bother trying to install anything on it until I was confident it was okay.
Just me.

 

[edfair]

[F10] while the cursor is in the upper right corner. And get the Compaq diagnostic and setup disks for the specific machine. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Stealer]

Assuming that you get it going I believe that you are going to have to get your hands on the original Compaq restore disks to install Windows. You will most likely have to buy them from Compaq directly.

The suggestions given above sound like good advice to me. Just a note that as soon as the machine powers up you should start tapping the F10 key to get into the bios. You may only have a 2 or 3 second window to get into the bios so don't wait to long before starting to tap the F10 key.

Good Luck
Stealer