Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 53722 2005-01-25 09:38:00 Compaq gum digger (6100) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
317949 2005-01-25 09:38:00 Hi
I have this old compaq presario 7400.which my sis was using. it was full of viruses and spywares so i decided to format, but i had few thing to back up so i took the hardisk out and put it in my cpu bcoz my sis comp didnt hav eithernet or cdwriter. now when i put the hardisk back in the pc starts but the monitor doesnt. nothing even loads from harddisk. i formated the disk from my other pc but it shuld still boot?. and one strange thing is i cant turn it off i hav to take out the power plug.
gum digger (6100)
317950 2005-01-25 10:09:00 you say you formatted, did you also load an OS from the other pc or have you loaded an OS on this drive yet?
Some PC's can be stubbon with a forced shutdown but push in and hold the power on button untill it turns off, and it should eventually and it may take a while
beama (111)
317951 2005-01-25 10:12:00 I have an ancient memory that Compaqs are slightly odd - as far as I remember the BIOS actually resides on the hard disk itself rather than on a chip.

I'd suggest a visit to the Compaq site
Mercury (1316)
317952 2005-01-25 10:18:00 I have an ancient memory that Compaqs are slightly odd - as far as I remember the BIOS actually resides on the hard disk itself rather than on a chip.

I'd suggest a visit to the Compaq site

good point
does it POST (Power On Self Test)
beama (111)
317953 2005-01-25 11:16:00 Hi
So should do, bcoz there is nothing much about this on the compaq web
gum digger (6100)
317954 2005-01-25 11:25:00 oops. i hold the button down for few mins now it shuts down.. but the problem is when i turn it on the monitor stays on standby. what shuld i do. gum digger (6100)
317955 2005-01-25 19:36:00 I would check and see if everything is connected in the case . (after u put the hdd back) .

Sounds like a power connection has maybe come off the hdd, (or something else) and u need that in order to boot and for the monitor to come on .
Speedy Gonzales (78)
317956 2005-01-25 20:06:00 all the connection looks OK bcoz i can heard the hardisk spinning. onemore thing is that when the computer is started only the power LED infront of the case lights up, the other LED which lights up when pc is busy doesnt light up.
Plze help me guyz.
gum digger (6100)
317957 2005-01-25 20:24:00 Is the data cable on the right way round on both the hdd & MOBO?
Red stripe should be closest to power cable on hdd
Red stripe should be on Pin1 on MOBO if there is no keyway
bartsdadhomer (80)
317958 2005-01-25 20:39:00 I had an extra couple of thoughts:

1 . Check the hard drive ribbon cable . Later ones can only fit one way due to the notches, earlier ones can go in either way round .

2 . The ancient memory:
I bought a 2nd hand compaq in 2001 for one of the kids . It came with Win 95 so I reformated and changed to Win 98 . It worked fine except the Num Lock key was always off on start up . BIOS change required . Where was the BIOS?

Press F1 to the rescue . It turned out that model required two disks - a set up disk and a diagnostic disk - and the set up disk had to be installed BEFORE the OS .

Downloaded the appropriate files from Compaq onto floppies, reformated and reinstalled and it all worked .

Only thing is I can't remember what model Compaq and I've no idea if they continued to use this frustrating system on later models .

I have a printout of the Press F1 detailed instructions but imagine the original post is long gone during upgrades to the site .
Mercury (1316)
1 2 3 4