My presario cq57 wont boot to windows and there are no recovery discs, how can i reformat the hard drive?

If you are more than just a beginner you can attach that drive to your PC and run a drive copy program that will create an exact image of your current drive. Once that is created then you can add the new drive to the computer make sure your system recognizes it and can boot from it. I have done this many times.

Sounds like you will have to re-attempt a clean install from a Windows installation disk. Unfortunately, the disk will need formatted. You can use a recovery or boot disk to do so.

Lost Windows password:

• Login as Administrator. Try with no password (load safe mode if you don't see Administrator). Press F8 during boot to access Safe Mode.
  
• Login as other user (if other user is available) and manage users. Must be an administrator.
  
• Reformat computer.
  
• Use 3rd party software to remove password. Like http://www.top-password.com/reset-windows-password.html
  
• There is a free boot CD called Hirens. This one command prompt only. http://www.hirensbootcd.org/
  

Your computer can't find the OS on your hard drive. Most likely the boot sector has been damaged (or someone reformatted the drive). The entire hard disc may have failed.

Since this is a netbook, you will either need an external optical drive (USB) and a copy of the OS to boot from or a USB flash drive that has been prepared as a boot version of the OS. HP offers the Mini 5101 with WinXP Home, SUSE Linux or FreeDos. There may be newer versions with other OS options. Make sure to get the correct OS, even if you upgraded it.

You will need to boot to the optical drive or the flash drive. On other computers, this may involve accessing the BIOS to change the boot order. Look for a splash screen with the key information. Then turn off the computer and turn it back on while repeatedly pressing the key. (F1, Esc, Del, and F10 are common keys.) If you miss the timing, turn off the computer and try again.

If you are using XP, you will need to enter the Recovery Console. Then enter the command line mode. If your command prompt starts with any character other than C. Type C: then press Enter. Next type CD WINDOWS. Then try the BOOTCFG /REBUILD and see if a Windows OS is found. (type the command in and then press enter). Then type in the command FIXBOOT. This repairs the boot sector. You will need to confirm the commands. Type CD .. and CHKDSK /R /F to check for and fix damaged hard drive areas

If this worked, type EXIT. Try rebooting the computer. Otherwise use the command FIXMBR and then exit. Enter the HP recovery program (on the original hard disc or on Recovery discs, if you made them). Restore the computer to the original configuration with that program. If you ever did anything to repartition the hard drive, the recovery partition may not be accessible. You will lose any stored files and need to reinstall any programs you added to the netbook.

I hope this helps. Please note: losing this part of the hard drive may indicate that you have a failing hard disc. You will need to decide if you want to replace the drive or the netbook. If you decide to replace the hard drive, match the original drive size and data/power specifications (2.5" drive and SATA cable, probably). Use a USB/SATA/IDE hard drive adapter and a cloning software either added to the hard drive or from an optical disc to transfer the OS to the new drive and then set it as the boot drive before installing it in the netbook.

Cindy Wells

The hard drive has issues or the windows files have been corrupted, remove the hardware and reseat it back in place sometimes this will activate the system, next! use your backup recovery disc if you have one, no change! the hard drive will need to be tested.

If there still need the data on there computer then you will need to try and recover it.
I would say just install a new copy of windows and start fresh.

Two possibilities are involved. 1) The hare drive is not responding correctly. This could result from a loose cable (needs to be connected to the motherboard and the drive) or a damaged drive (either from damage to the disc or lost boot information).
2) A non-boot disc is being accessed in the boot sequence. This could be a CD/DVD in the optical drive, a floppy disc in that drive (older laptops) or a USB connected drive (either a thumb drive or a regular external disc).

The second issue is easy to solve, disconnect/remove any other media. Then try to boot. Alternatively, on most Windows machines, you can press F12 to choose the boot sequence. However, you need to press the button between the POST (power on self test) and the loading of Windows. For me, this can take several attempts.

For the first, the options depend on your skill/willingness to open the computer. One option is to use a Live CD (a bootable disc) to see the status of the hard drive. Use the F12 sequence if needed to boot from the disc. (The live cd could be a Windows Recovery/Install disc.)

To save files from the disc, you can either use a UNIX Live CD and an other drive (an external optical R/W drive or hard drive) or remove the disc completely and connect it to another computer. For this second option, use an IDE/SATA/USB dongle, a laptop hard drive enclosure or hard drive dock. The dock will work with a SATA drive; disc enclosures need to be selected to match the drive type (IDE or SATA). When you do the disc removal, you will see if the cables are loose. Be careful with static while opening the computer.

Then replace the drive with a new one, reformat and reinstall the OS or use the recovery disc to attempt to fix the boot problem.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

Your computer may have a recovery partition seperate from the hard-drive that you are accustomed to accessing. When you boot try pressing the F12 key or whatever key that is prompted to enter boot options. Here try to select the recovery partition and reformat from there.

Do you have the recovery discs that originally came with the computer? If you do, I would use these to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows. This would be the fastest option.

To do this:
Insert the disc into the CD-ROM
During boot-up and before the 'Use last known good configuration screen' you're speaking of, it'll ask you do 'hit a key to boot from CD' -- Do so
Follow the on-screen instructions. Your objective is to clean the hard drive completely (reformat) and reinstall windows (recover).

If you do not have the recovery disc that came with the computer, you can use the exact same steps above with a Windows XP disc. Be sure to 'format' and 'install' windows--not just 'repair.'

Re-boot computer when all finished.

Unmountable boot volume means that the computer can't read the hard drive. Which means that either the data on thehard drive is corrupt, or that the hard drive is dead (gone bad).

If you have important data on your computer, there is some disc recovery/maintenance software called SpinRite http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm It is $89.99 but is really good at recovering data for when the hard drive isn't completely dead.

If the hard drive is still good, but only the data is corrupt, and you don't care about it too much, you can just use the restore discs that came with your computer to re-install the OS (Windows).

Your other option is to buy a new hard drive for your laptop and re-install Windows.