emachine t1090 will not boot up..please help

I have a friends machine..and she needs help bad..it will not boot pass this message operating sytem not found. she put in the restore disk #1 it goes to 1. reinstall xp 2. boot into safe mode with command prompt...ok she does number 1 but it says something about a norton ghost file not found., then it says that the system is reformatted, but it didnt, then the the cd pops out..ok she reboots and tries command prompt and it says her c: drive is r: and her a: drive is b: ok she tried to run commands but it will not recognize any but ..dir or mode......its has a 20 gb maxtor hd, 900 mhz celeron, 128 ramm, running win xp home edition.....i tried to install my xp pro and it said it was installed, but it didnt and then out popped the cd....i think the hd is bad..
so all help will appreciated..

 

bump please help

 

It sounds like her hard drive failed. Many manufacturers put the operating system backup as an image on the hard drive. When a drive fails that image would typically fail as well. If you have a full version of windows you could try reinstalling from that.

 

It actually does sound like the Hard Drive, however eMachines does not use a hard drive image, as was originally stated she has restore discs. eMachines sets their PC's up from factory, then creates Ghost Images on discs of the PC exactly how eMachines wanted it when it left factory, the restore discs would restore that image to the hard drive. I'd try putting in a new hard drive and keeping the receipt, and if that does'nt work then at worst you can return the hard drive from wherever you bought it if money is an issue. http://www.upgrade-solution.com/detail.cfm?show=yes&PID=246&add=yes . That would be a good option if you want to keep the same hdd in there but you could get a 40GB for the same price. That pc should support the 40gb. Also, if the PC is under warranty you may want to give contacting eMachines a try, they have pretty fast replacement part shipment.