I need to do a factory restore but my Recovery CD is corrupted and HP doesn't make them anymore for my computer as it is too old. Is there any way to do a factory restore without the CD?

Try tapping the F10 key every couple of seconds during a boot. Most OEM machines have a recovery partition on the hard drive.

I hit F10 and a menu came up but I didn't see anything about a recovery partition. I might add that I'm relatively ignorant about the inner workings of computers and all the technical jargon, I do know what a partition is though

Don't worry about the partition, it's probably hidden and it doesn't concern you. In that partition there is an image of your system that was made just before it left the factory. Just follow the directions to recovery your system and you should be fine. You 'might' have an option to do a 'non-destructive' or a 'destructive' recovery. If you choose the 'non-destructive' it will 'try' to repair your system and save all your files. If you choose the 'destructive', it will restore your system to the way it came fron the factory. I suggest trying the 'non-destructive' first. You can always try the 'destructive' if it doesn't work.

You say the CD is corrupted - in what way? and did you contact HP/Compaq directly re' the discs? And sometimes (often?) they are out there on the www at other sites? This link covers several aspects of the CD(s): http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/... and: http://h10061.www1.hp.com/ccsearch/... Sorry they're so long a link; just copy and paste...?