[Chilly4572]

I have an old Compaq 5360 model and the other day I tried running the Quick Restore disk on it. It kept telling me to insert the other disk and after I put the other disk in, it would tell me the same thing. I tried restarting the computer and now when it boots up, the logo screen will come on and then it will display "Missing operating system" on a black screen. Please help!!!!!!

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Sounds to me like you're using a system restore disk that isn't associated with this system. Keep in mind that the restore cd's have more and more hardware recognition to avoid you being able to use those disks for other systems.

[BabyTech]

Sounds to me like you're using a system restore disk that isn't associated with this system. Keep in mind that the restore cd's have more and more hardware recognition to avoid you being able to use those disks for other systems.

[wannabe1]

BabyTech is right...that's just what it sounds like. Is this the restore disk that came with the machine in question?

wannabe1

[Chilly4572]

I'm positive it was the correct disk...it referenced the model no. on it

[wannabe1]

Have there been some hardware changes to the machine? If the machine is the same as when purchased and your are sure this is the correct disk, we'll dig a little deeper.

wannabe1

[Chilly4572]

yes we put a new hard drive in it sometime ago....i know that if you try to run those disks and there is additional hardware other than the original. I can't find the Windows CD, I have the boot disk, but no CD....do I just have to buy another Windows program and reinstall it

[wannabe1]

Yes, you'll need the cd...it contains the operating system.

Changing the hard drive is an acceptable hardware change and would not stop the recovery.

Contact Compaq and see if they will replace the recovery set. If they still support your machine, they should send you a set free or, at least, at a substantial savings. If it is no longer supported by Compaq you will have to purchase the OS retail.

wannabe1

[Chilly4572]

So the only solution is to reinstall the OS? That's what I figured and I can't find the disk

[wannabe1]

That depends...

Why were you attempting the recovery? Is there still an operating system on the machine but it's not being recognized?

[Chilly4572]

well, it's on old comp. that my mother was using....i just want it for the internet connection, so i wanted to erase everything that wasnt being used on the hard drive to try and free up some space, make it faster. im pretty sure the OS is still on there, but just not being recognized.

[wannabe1]

All righty then...

Let's see if we can bring it back.

Is the startup disk you have a standard Win98 startup or the compaq startup? I'll want to use a standard Win98SE OEM startup diskette. If you are unsure, download This One.

Save the file to your desktop. To creat the startup disk, double-click the downloaded file and put a floppy in the floppy drive when prompted to do so.

Let me know when you have the disk ready and we'll get started.

wannabe1

[Chilly4572]

I thought that it was the standard WIN98 startup disk, but I did download what was on the link to a new floppy, let me know what to do next.....

[wannabe1]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, Chilly4572...I think I may have accidently unsubscribed from this topic while cleaning things up in my control area.... I wasn't aware you had replied.

Ok...restart the machine with the startup disk in the drive. At the Options screen, press Shift + F5 for command prompt. At the A:\ prompt, type c: and press "Enter". At the C: prompt, type windows\command\scanreg /restore (Note the space after scanreg) and press "Enter".

In the resulting list of files, use the Arrow keys and select the second or third file down in the list...press "Enter" Remove the floppy and see if the machine will boot into Windows. If not, let me know and we'll see if it's a boot issue rather than a registry problem.

wannabe1

edit:highlite command

Edited by wannabe1, 16 February 2006 - 03:45 PM.

[wannabe1]

Chilly4572...

Have you tried the last suggesion?

[Chilly4572]

No, I haven't...I have already cleared everything off of the hard drive and formatted it. I have a 98 start disk and a 2000 cdrom. Like I mentioned earlier, I have gotten to the first step in the installation process - the DOS part. It says that it can't find the location of the installation files....I have no idea what to do and this is becoming just slightly irritating that I cannot correct the problem.