installing XP on a largely erased computer

I have my father-in-law's Compaq Armada M300 that has a huge number of files deleted from the hard drive because it wouldn't format from an XP installation CD that he wanted to install so he manually deleted files. There now isn't enough there to run Windows so it boots blankly and the CD won't run so presumably the BIOS is a problem but that doesn't even list a CD so that the boot order can be changed. Please can I have help? I'm sure it's simple if you know what you are doing!
Thanks
David

 

I have never heard of a BIOS that didn't have the CD in the boot order, unless the CD drive isn't hooked up correctly, or it's totally dead, or malfunctioning big-time. The only way the CD wouldn't appear in the BIOS would be if it wasn't getting power, or if the firmware is totally corrupt.... laptops CD drives can be purchased online for under $100 for a DVDRW. If you need a basic CDROM, it shouldn't be more than $35 for a new one, or $20 for a used one. Check your local PC shops, they may have a replacement for you.

 

Maybe so, I've never come across one. I suppose if it's a PC from before the days of CD drives being common, then it makes sense. The Armada M300 is one of the early 'high-mobility' type of laptops, that did, indeed, have an external optical drive, and no internal CD drive. However, it does have the option to boot from the CD drive. I looked through the manual at this link http://bizsupport.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01152875/c01152875.pdf and found on pages 31 and 32 (those are the Adobe page numbers, not the actual manual page numbers) where it mentions booting from the CD under Device Security (p31) and Boot Options (p32). So I'd say if it's not booting from the CD, then either the boot order isn't set right (it does appear to be in a strange place in the BIOS under Device Security) or the CD drive isn't being recognized correctly in the BIOS. This laptop also has an available 'docking station' that did have a built-in optical drive (I think I saw that in the manual (???))

 

Hi plodr
Are the steps for creating the boot floppy posted here? I have a desktop that continues to try to boot from HD, even though I set BIOS for CDROM.
thanks,
John