I put in the compaq quick restore cd, and did what the book said to do:
(After inserting the quick restore cd, press enter to continue. you may recieve the following message:
CDR101: Not ready reading drive N. Abort, Retry
After inserting the Quick Restore Cd, wait at least 15 seconds for the cd-rom drive to spin up completely before pressing enter to continure. If the message is still displayed, Press R to retry, then continure the quick restore process.)
I did this and I still get that cdr101: not ready message. What do I do? My computer has problems and I want to get it reformatted.

Hello Marry,
In your message you don't mention which version of Compaq computer you have.
But I believe you maybe have a Presario...
Normally the QuickRestore kit is composed of two discs: 1 floppydisk to boot the computer to start restoration and 1 CDrom which is used as archives for the floppy disc.
All restoration is automatic, and on Compaq's models this is done normally with 2 drives: C and D
When used, Quickrestore is only formating partition C and keep D as a backup if you wanted to save importants files or folders.
That's why I don't understand how and why you are asked for a partition N ????
Are you sure to use the correct restore kit ?
given when you bought your Compaq ?
If not you can find it on the Compaq web site, which is now Hewlett-Packard, since the two manufactorers merged together: www.hp.com
Or you can call the hot-line to get it in The states.....

Do you have 2 cd rom drives on your computer? This plays a big factor in restoring a Compaq from the restore disks. When you restore you are restoring from dos and in dos the cd rom dri
ves reverse themselves. So if you do have 2 drives and the disk is telling you to insert the cd into the DVD drive, then put it in the opposite one. Maybe a CD-RW or something. This has happened to me on more than one occasion.
Another tip on restoring Compaqs:
Chances are you are attempting to restore because for some reason your copy was corrupted. Well if you let the floppy disk restore for you it will restore from a backed up copy on your D drive that Compaq put there. Chances are the copy it will restore it with is the corrupted copy you are trying to replace.
To replace it properly use a standard win98 bootdisk first and remove all partitions. This will force the restore disk to create a brand new copy of windows for you. Otherwise you will find yourself sitting through a second 2 or 3 hour partition/format session waiting for the restore disk to do it's thing.

I have a Presario 7588. I don't know what I did with the floppy disk. I wanted to do this tonight, do you know if there is a place I could download it?

Hello Terri,
Do you have yourself a Compaq ?
because all information you give are wrong...
The Quickrestore from Compaq is a autorun program, made especially for the machine when the computer is sold.
As I said you need the two disks to use:
1 floopy to boot the system to the restoration
1 CDrom used as archives for restoration.
There is no way for the Kit to be corrupted !!! you don't corrupt a CDrom
at least you can destroy a floppy disk, but then all the restore program will not run...
As Compaq dealed with Microsoft for windows OEM version, all restore kit are dedicated normally to the machine which is sold.
That's mean you have a security code read into the Quickrestore to see if you use it with the correct computer and protect it against piracy into another computer....

Hello Mary again....
As I said, you need the complete restore kit to be able to restore your computer.
You need absolutely the floppy disk which boot all the system to format and restore your computer, Floppy has all information to order the CDrom connected with to run properly... without the floppy , you can't get it...
Call the 800 hot line from Hewlett-Packard to get a new QuickRestore Kit, this is free...

I found that on the cd there was something so that you could make a floppy, I did that, and it didn't work. Any ideas?

NO Mary !!!!
You have only one solution !!!
1) contact Hewlett-Packard via the suport assistance on the NET and ask for a free QuickRestore pack
2) Contact Hewlett-Packard via the free line 800 to order the same pack.
YOU CAN'T REBUILT YOURSELF A FLOPPY DISK as this floppy use a boot system to give order to the CDrom connected to it. THEY MATCH TOGETHER to unzip all the program required by your Compaq including Microsoft version OEM.....
THAT'S THE ONLY SOLUTION YOU HAVE
You have also the possibility to go with your computer to your Micro-informatic dealer to ask for assistance, but that you will pay for it....

Hi Mary, hi Imp, hi everyone,

Imp... Bonjour à mon compatriote ! c'est super sympa de ta part de t'appliquer à aider Mary... prends bien garde à ne pas trop la troubler avec des propos Francophones comme Micro-informatic (LOL ! juste pour te taquiner !).
-----
Imp... Hello to my countryfellow! it's very kind of you to take pains helping Mary... take care not to puzzle her this much with Franco-Frenchie words such as Micro-informatic (LOL! just to tease you!)

->to American readers: 'informatique' is the French word for IT and 'Micro-informatic dealer' stands for Microcomputing store.

Have a nice day,
Gérard from Paris, France

Message à Frenchie....
Cher compatriote, je te remercie pour ton post fort sympathique, le hasard des rencontres sur Internet est parfois interessante et cosmopolite.
Effectivement j'essaye d'aider Mary, qui à mon avis essaye de bidouiller son modele Compaq avec un kit d'un appareil different. Pratique courante aux USA, seulement là ou le bas blesse, c'est que celui-çi est protégé par un code "password" interne et ne reagit qu'à la condition de retrouver le même code sur la machine avec lequel il a été vendu... Je n'ai pas osé dire cela à Mary
Pas beaucoup de francais viennent ici, et pourtant il y a multes informations interessantes..... Cordialement....

To Imp:
Appearantly you did not take the time to read my post clearly!!!!!!
I never said that the CD ROM got corrupted. A CD ROM CANNOT CORRUPT!!
The process of a Compaq recovery is as follows:
If you do not insert the CD ROM into the drive then the floppy disk will instruct the "D"system save drive to back windows up by replacing it with a copy of windows that has previously been backed up and saved on the D drive. This is the copy that has usually been corrupted in some way. Did you understand that or do I need to try and make it clearer for you?
As for creating this bootable floppy? YES YOU CAN. If you go into your "D"system save drive there is a dos command file there that creates this disk. I KNOW BECAUSE I DID IT. I can't remember the exact name of the file but it is obvious when you see the file name. It is bootdisk.dll or something like that.
As for do I own a Compaq? Yes two, but they are old ones. They are so old you probably wouldn't even be able to understand how they work.
As for my work with them I have recovered many when the owners gave them up for dead. Many were recoverd with out the recover disk as I am sure you think it is impossible to do. You can't use the recovery disk if the owner can't find it. If you know what you are doing, NOTHING (INCLUDING THIS)is impossible.
To Mary:
I would like to help you if you haven't resolved this yet. You can email me, or if you have free long-distance as most of us do in the USA now, call me:(724)351-3842