Major Problem, Need help

[Justinh722]

I have a compaq presario 5000 desktop with windows ME. I put the recovery cd in to do a backup and the cpu shutdown. When i went to turn it back on it went to the invalid system disk error. I looked in the manual and tried everything i could. Nothing would work. I tried the boot disk and did everything i could for commands.... sys c:.......scanreg /restore......scandisk/all/surface....i tried it all. Nothing worked so i tried a windows 98se recovery disk from a dell web pc i had and it restored the hard drive to windows 98. I can now boot to the hard drive but i want windows ME back.

I try to use the recovery cd after i installed the windows 98se but it goes to this screen that says compaq recovery cd.....please contact compaq technical support....hit any key. I did that and it just restarted the computer back to windows 98. My version is created specially for my cheap web pc and it doesnt recognize a lot of my drivers on my compaq. It is stuck on VGA so my settings wont go past 16 colors and 800x600.

MY QUESTION: Is there a way to totally erase my hard drive so there isnt any operating system on it? Could i then try the compaq recovery cd to get my windows ME back? For some reason the recovery cd will not work at all. I would deeply appreciate any and all help. I just really want windows ME back.

[Justinh722]

Can someone please help me out i really need some help. I've been trying for over 2 weeks now and its too cheap of a computer to spend so much money on for a cpu shop to fix.

[BearNunya]

Justin,

Chalk this up to a hard lesson learned, now that you have installed a different version of Windows on your computer the recovery CDs are no longer going to work. The recovery CDs will only work on the computer they came with and with the same version of Windows. Sorry man, looks like you will need to purchase a full edition of Windows ME CD to reinstall the OS. Never try to use the recovery CD from another computer the results will almost always be bad. :(

[gstone4911]

Hi Justinh722

You could give this a try.
Use a boot disk to Format the C drive.
format c: /s
This will destroy the current OS.
After formating try to boot the computer
with your Compaq Restore CD.

[Justinh722]

Hi Justinh722

You could give this a try.
Use a boot disk to Format the C drive.
format c: /s
This will destroy the current OS.
After formating try to boot the computer
with your Compaq Restore CD.
So i just stick the boot disk in and go to the help option...then exit the help and when the A prompt appears type.. format c: /s ..and it will wipe out the current OS i have installed? Thanks for all the help

[gstone4911]

when the A prompt appears type.. format c: /s ..and it will wipe out the current OS i have installed?

That's correct.

Then boot the computer with the Restore CD in the drive.
However I should add that some Compaq's requirer certain
files on the C drive in order for the Restore CD to work.
But it's worth a shot.

[zerbert]

I went to look for the msdos.sys files and there are none on my computer. How does that happen? The command and IO sys files are there.