compaq bios

[Dan]

I was given a Compaq Presario 4402, with win95 on it.
The current os is pretty messed up, and I'd like to wipe clean the hard drive and start all over with win98se. (I have none of the Compaq disks)
I can't seem to access the bios to run fdisk, and after reading Markoman's latest post, am beginning to wonder if it's possible to do this task.
Is there a way to wipe out this hard drive and start fresh, or is there something that Compaq has done to keep this from being performed???

[GaryRouth]

Hi Dan

I just posted a replay about the Compaq partition over in Matt's thread. Not my best ever, but gives what little I know about it.

I'm thinking that since you have none of the original disks, you might want to try a conservative approach first. You could try booting to Safe Mode & cleaning out any leftover (unused) devices in Device Manager; looking in Add/Remove for programs that might be partially uninstalled [the uninstaller can't run, but the programs have been partially deleted] - then uninstalling them manually (with regedit if necessary); then a run of RegClean might help (you can try this before resorting to regedit, actually) http://download.com.com/3000-2094-881470.html?tag=list

If that solves enough of the problem, it doesn't take long for the whole procedure.

Theoretically, like I mentioned in Matt's thread, you could go to Win98, if you think you'll be able to find drivers OK. (As long as you leave the Compaq partition alone)

Oh, & if I remember - is it F10 to enter Bios Setup on your Compaq? (if not, I suppose you can try the other standard keys, like F1 and DEL. . . )
Good luck
. . . Gary

[HAL9000]

When it comes to the BIOS on the hard drive on a Compaq, all you have to be concerned with is being careful with FDISK. If for whatever reason you need to use FDISK on a Compaq hard drive, if you see a non-DOS partition, DO NOT DELETE IT, that's where the BIOS info is loaded.

[Glyph516]

Since I know that the other repliers probably know more than me you may not want to jump on my advice but I'll tell you what I did. The OS on my old compaq presario I had, got all screwed up and what i did was that i went and got a startup disk for win 98 from my other computer, started up my compaq and formatted everything and started from scratch with win98 and i haven't had a problem since.

[Dan]

ok,
I ran fdisk and deleted the primary dos partition...then created a new one. when I boot to C:\> I am unable to load the win98 installation disc. If I type E:\ (for the cdrom) I get a message "invalid drive specification"
anyone have any ideas on how to load this OS on this machine??

[Markoman01027]

Go into the BIOS and make CD-ROM primary boot device and put in the win98 cd, and see if you are able to boot up.

Make sure your E drive is being detected in the BIOS. Check all connections for all drives.

[Dan]

how do I get into the bios?
when I press delete or F1 at boot I get the Compaq diagnostics...

[Redo40]

F10 will get you into the bios. Did you restart and then format the new partition after you made it?

[Dan]

I did restart, and made the partition active...how do I format this drive now?
also, f10 at boot only gets me to the diagnostics and not the bios...any other ideas??

[Redo40]

I'm not sure about the bios problem, f10 usually works for me on Compaqs. I got a little ahead of myself on the format, it can be done after you get the cd-rom working. If you can't get into the bios, try using a bootdisk and it will load the drivers needed for the cd-rom, then you should be able to see it when you type E:, if not try D: and see if it shows up.

[Dan]

I was able to get the computer to start with the 98 startup disc and the installation cd. When it gets ready to load win98 it seems to hang at "windows setup"....how long should I wait, and what might I try from here?

[Redo40]

Using the win98 bootdisk, start, at the A:/ prompt type format c: and format the partition, then try E: and setup again.

[Dan]

thanks Roger, I think I'm on my way...will post back when I know for sure....

[Redo40]

Your welcome, keep us posted. Good luck!

[Dan]

I'm loading windows as I write, thanks all for your help.
Still don't know how to get to the bios setup....can anyone help with this ?? (like I reported before F10 and delete don't work).

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Not my favorite thing to do, but I went over to the Compaq website (which appears to have discontinued keeping any manuals around for your Presario 4402, while keeping drivers and bios upgrades - now, does this make sense?) . . . and found on the webpage in the link below a download that should yield a bootable floppy with a Compaq Bios Setup on it. There are lots of details at that page. If I read the instructions right (there is a more detailed instruction list on another link about 3/4 of the way down the page), you can not only re-create the Bios Setup with this download, but you can also run it from the floppy. Interesting thing is = all the pages I've looked at so far for the 4402 mention using the F10 key to enter Setup. So something might be wrong that this download can help.

Here's the link:
http://www29.compaq.com/falco/sp_det...twareVer=12578

And here's Compaq's brief summary of the download:
"This SoftPaq creates one diskette that allows a user to upgrade to Version 1.51/C Revision A of Computer SETUP for Compaq Desktops/C, or to restore this utility to the Diagnostics Partition (if that partition has been destroyed). SETUP is pre-installed on the Diagnostics Partition and can be run by pressing F10 when the cursor blinks in the upper-right corner of the screen during power-up or reboot. SETUP can also be executed directly from the diskette created by this SoftPaq."

Best of luck!
. . . Gary

[Dan]

thanks Gary
I was able to get the video and sond driver there, but not the modem. I'ts a 28k modem, so I think I'll just replace it with post wheel technology...
I'll be curious to see what this bios utility is all about...I'd love to remove the Compaq splash screen and the diagnostics utilty.
thanks again for doing the research for me...

[glc]

The "diagnostics" you see is ALL you can get to - this is the interface to the BIOS.