Someone (who wishes to remain anonymous) removed the side panel of my Compaq Presario PC to see if more memory could be added. Nothing was bothered while the side panel was off. The first time the computer was turned back on after the side panel had been removed and replaced, the message "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter" occurred.

I have no bootable CD disk to get the computer started. I have tried the F10 key and nothing different happens. I also tried the F8 key. I have read about creating setup disks but have no access to another computer with a floppy drive on which to create them (I am on my husbands laptop now). And I think these would wipe out our data by setting up the computer as it was when I purchsed it so I am not sure I want to do this anyway.

I am not at all experienced with hardware or the internal workings of a PC. If anyone knows what I can do to do to determine the problem and save my data, please let me know.

I have a Compaq presario SR1010NX with Intel Celeron processor 2.7 GHz, 256MB DDR SDRAM memory, 40G Ultra DMA hard drive. The operating system is Windows XP. The computer is one and a half years old.

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. One of my computers is a Compaq desktop, 1Gzh AMD machine. I have taken the side panel off more times than I can count and never had a problem. So, even though you state 'nothing was bothered" and it no doubt is true that nothing was bothered intentionally. However, it may be that a cable came loose. First thing I would suggest is to open the side panel again and carefully inspect the inside. Pay particular attention to the flat, ribbon cable from the motherboard to the hard drive. Check to make sure it is securely connected, and while doing so, observe anti static discharge precautions!! Touch a metal part of the case with one hand while you check the connection with the other. Check the hd end first, make sure it is pushed in all the way. Then do the same with the motherboard connection. Now, it could be that poking around the first time made the hd die, especially if anti static discharge precautions were not observed. But before we panic lets investigate the simple and obvious causes first.

You will need a boot disk if you can't get this to post. If you don't have one (bet you wish you had made a set right about now...) you can go to www.bootdisk.com and get one. Don't you have a Wxp install disk or a Compaq recovery disk for your system??

Austin,

Thank you so much for the reply! You are right...I do wish I had made a set of cds! The person who took the side panel off definitely did not adhere to the static discharge precautions. He had never heard of them until we starting reading through all the paperwork that came with the computer.

We checked the cable you mentioned. The same result occurs

I had found the microsoft set up disk web site and I thought that running these disks would overwrite all our data. Will it? Or will it just get me to the point that I can access my hard drive? We do not have any floppy disks on hand or another computer that has a floppy disk drive. So I will go to the store and then to the library to use one of their computers to create the setup disks.

Thank you again for your suggestions! I will post again after we have the setup disks.

Cindy

A boot up disk will just enable you to get the system up for some diagnositcs. It will be very limited if you do not have a windows install cd or the recovery cd that came with your system. My old compaq shipped with a recovery cd. Yours should have as well.

Compaq support has info on your computer. Just for starters, here are all of the manuals:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualC...n&lang=en&cc=us

They should tell you about system recovery.

This post has been edited by austin_o: Dec 17 2005, 12:32 PM

I have created and attempted to use the six setup floppy disks. After the last disk, I am prompted to:

Insert the CD labeled: Windows XP Professional CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive

The computer came with the OS already loaded and no disk with the OS was provided. Am I going to have to purchase the OS in order to continue? When I press F3 to quit, the computer restarts and I then get the original error Disk Boot Failure. So I seem to be stuck again.

Forgot to mention that I recovery cd was provided either.

I did a quick review of the on line manuals for your computer. It looks like you were expected to create your own recover cd??? That is what I go out of it anyhow. Somehow that does not seem reasonalbe to me. You could call compaq/hp and ask thier tech support. There should be a sticker on the computer that has the Windows OEM license key on it. It is possible that hp/compaq can provide you with a recovery cd if you have your complete system info/serial number and OEM key.