New Compaq Presario "HELP"

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I just picked up a "Compaq Presario V5101US" Laptop for $40.00 off Craigslist.It has a broken hinge & the guy somehow deleted Win XP.

My question is: How do I re-install the operating system and leave the recovery partition intact?

PS: I can get into bios,win set-up etc.Just do not know how to do the ? asked & possibly get into recovery mode...Thanks!!
 
You might try this, it is from the HP help on a business laptop:
I am not sure the Compaq consumer laptops have a restore partition.

To perform a recovery from the recovery partition:
1. Back up all personal files before performing a recovery. For
more information, refer to Chapter 2, “Backing up specific
files or folders.”
2. Turn on or restart the computer, and then press f11 before the
Windows operating system loads.
3. Select a recovery option, and then click Next.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to perform a recovery from
the recovery partition

The user guide for your unit is available online here:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00653089.pdf
 
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shanneba...Thanks...There is no operating system on the laptop.The previous owner said He pressed something & now no operating system.
I have the windows recovery cd & I would like to re-install windows leaving Compaqs small system partition.I am going to try a recovery again using the recovery cd.I tried earlier but no luck.That is why I would like to re-install windows leaving compaqs small partiton they have on the hard drive.
 
I found this on the HP web site:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docum...c00608578#N1850

Recovering from the recovery disks
The Windows operating system (OS) can be reinstalled, using the recovery disks, without destroying any existing programs or user data. This action is normally only performed if the PC does not start properly or does not boot into the Windows operating system.
To preserve the user data, copy or backup the user data to an external storage device before performing this task.
Do the following actions to reinstall the operating system from the set of recovery disks.
Connect PC to the AC power adapter.
Open the disk drive, insert the first disk in the set of recovery disks, and close the disk drive.
Turn off the PC.
Press the Power button to start the PC and immediately press the F11 key.
The PC begins operation from the disk and performs tests on the hard drive. After a short delay, a black screen, with a message, is displayed. If the C:\ drive and the special recovery partition are intact, three options are available:
Press 'R' for standard System Recovery options .
Press 'F' to format the hard drive and reinstall the original factory settings. All data will be lost!
Press 'Q' to Quit this menu.
WARNING: If the disk tests indicate that the operating system is not installed or the drive is corrupted, the only option presented is 'R' perform a full system recovery . This option will reformat the drive and destroy all the user data. See Before reformatting the hard drive for more information.

Select the standard System Recovery option by pressing R .
The recovery process will check for the presence of the recovery partition on the hard drive.
If the partition and the recovery files exist, the rest of the recovery process is performed from the hard drive, and none of the recovery disks is requested.
If the partition or the recovery files do not exist, prompts are displayed to insert or exchange disks as needed from the set of recovery disks.
When the OS is reinstalled and the PC re-starts, the programs and data files exist on the hard drive; however, clicking on the menu icons will not start the program. It is necessary to reinstall the programs using the original product disks.
 
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Darn..No luck with F11 all I get is a black screen & then then boot from CD prompt.I feel I will have to re-install the operating system but I would like to Keep the partition on the HD that compaq has installed....just don't know how to do that without wiping out the small partition that I feel Compaq has all the laptop drivers.
 
You could always get a pirated version of Windows *but use the legit serial # that you have*, and choose *not* to wipe the drive during install; or just wipe the target partition and not the restore partition.
 
Boot from the CD, you should end up at the "R" for standard recovery option, if the system partition is intact. Just don't remove that partition during the Windows install.
 
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
You could always get a pirated version of Windows *but use the legit serial # that you have*, and choose *not* to wipe the drive during install; or just wipe the target partition and not the restore partition.

Thanks..I will have to try that as I have a legit Win XP CD..Have My fingers crossed!!
 
If you don't have the HP Restore disk you may not get the "R" prompt, if you don't remove the existing compaq system partition during the Windows install you should be ok.
You might even be able to access the restore partition to create the HP restore disks later.
 
I do have the HP restore disc & I am now at the "welcome scrreen on the CD.My ? is...How do I re-install win xp leaving HP's drivers partition?
 
I am at the recovery console I have the following...

1: C:\WINDOWS
2: D:\WINDOWS

Which Windows installation would You like to log onto

What do I type?????
 
With the HP recovery CD, you should be able to install XP OS without removing the Compaq system partition as long as you don't change the hard drive partitioning during the XP install.
 
Originally Posted By: shanneba
With the HP recovery CD, you should be able to install XP OS without removing the Compaq system partition as long as you don't change the hard drive partitioning during the XP install.

re-booting to cd again to see if I can install Win XP without wiping the D:/ partition
 
can you see how large each drive is?
I am not sure if you are seeing C: as the HD and D: as the CD or the other way around.

Does pressing SHIFT+F10 bring up a command prompt? You could them do a dir command to see how large the drive is.
 
I am formatting now.I think the HD is around 60gig I am 73% done on the slow format as I could not do a quick format.HP's web-site stinks as I cannot see where I can punch in the laptops serial number & see what the computers specs are like I can do on Dells web-site.
 
Originally Posted By: shanneba
Using the model you provided in your first post, "Compaq Presario V5101US", and searching on the HP.com home page brings up results that include a link to the product specs:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docum...=reg_R1002_USEN

Thanks! well,I could not do an installation on the C drive to a file error.I am now using My Win XP Pro CD & hope it will install the operating system.
 
Perhaps I am not following this correctly, but:

Just after the first screen appears (the logo screen), press the F10 key repeatedly until a recovery menu appears. This should get you to the recovery partition.
 
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