"You need to post the Model # of this Computer..." See How do I find my product name/number or if Windows is still working well enough, on his computer, try Automatically detect.... here: http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en... Go to the HP site and look up the different types of Recovery procedures! Brand name systems do not normally come with a regular Windows CD. Sometimes they come with a single Recovery CD, but often they do not, and you are supposed to make that yourself, and in any case, a Recovery CD set, when you first get the computer, or at least while Windows is still working properly. All brand name systems original software installations have two partitions on the original hard drive. The second one is smaller and has all the data on it needed to restore the original contents of the first partition, C. You may or may not see the second partition in Windows, and if you can see it, you are often not allowed to access it, or if you are you are warned that you should not alter it's contents. The second partition is often nearly full of data and has just enough free space on it such that you won't get a low disk space warning about it - if you add any data to that free space, at the very least the single Recovery CD will probably refuse to run the Recovery procedure because the checksum of the data on the partition is not what it expected to find (the same thing happens if you delete something on the partition, or alter it's contents, or if some of the data is corrupted). The contents of the second partition must be intact, and the data in it as it was when you first got the computer, if you want to be able to restore the original contents of the first partition, by using a single Recovery CD, and/or by using a built in Recovery procedure. If the feature still works, some brand name system software installations have a prompt you see while booting for key you can press to start the Recovery process. That may or may not require you have at least a single Recovery CD. Otherwise, you must use either a single Recovery CD or a set of Recovery CDs to restore the original software installation. Your friend was supposed to make a single Recovery CD (that can be used along with the original contents of the second partition on the orginal drive to restore the software on C to what it orginally had on it), or at least a set of Recovery CDs (that can be used to restore the contents of the whole original hard drive, even if the second partition contents are not there or are corrupted or if the hard drive cannot be accessed and the software needs to be loaded on another or new hard drive) by using a program or programs already put there by the brand name builder, while Windows is still working well enough to run the program(s). If he has not done that, if Windows still works well enough to run that (those) programs, make the single Recovery CD AND the set of Recovery CDs now. If that(those) program(s) no longer work, if the model is not too old, you can often order a set of Recovery CDs from the HP site, using your specific model number or the product number for the model. E.g. I ordered a set for a friend's Compaq and it cost less than $30 for 5? CDs, and they got to my place in about 4 days. If you can no longer get the Recovery CD set from HP, you could try searching on the web for one but that's usually fruitless, or you can use a regular Windows CD, or a copy of one, of the same Windows version as the original software had (e.g. XP Home SP2 or Pro SP2) along with the Windows Product Key on the case to install Windows, but that's a lot more work - you would need to load the drivers for the mboard and other devices that came with the system, Activate Windows, install other programs he wants to use, etc., etc. Whichever way you use, you then need to install all or nearly all the critical and security Microsoft Updates (AutoUpdate will install them if enabled using default settings, a few at a time, but that takes a lot longer), the latest Adobe Flash version, probably Adobe Acrobat Reader, etc., etc.

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The Model number of his computer is 5410us.

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What's the product number? - it's probably on the same label. When I searched to see if HP listed a Recovery CD set for your model, I found there are two Presario 5410us models. Compaq Presario desktop PC 5410US - product number 470027-571 It has a Celeron 1.2 or 1.3 ghz cpu Celeron mboard, Socket 370, 254552-002 "Loretto" The other is 5410us - product number 5410us It has an Athlon XP 1.3 or 1.33ghz cpu Athlon XP mboard, socket A?, 244759-002 It appears HP has no info about or software downloads for the Athlon model, other than a parts list, but it may have downloads for another model that uses the same mboard. Another clue - RIGHT click on My Computer, select Properties - whether it has an Athlon or a Celeron cpu and it's speed will be shown lower down on the right on first screen under the heading Computer: . If neither of those model product numbers are the same, we need the product number, and the following may not apply. ..... According to this http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/... if a Recovery Disk set were available for this model, it would be listed here (this is for the Celeron one): http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/... There is no Recovery Disk set listed. There is no Recovery Disk set listed in the parts list for either model. HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Creating Recovery Disc Set in Windows XP http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/... Also tells you how to try using F10 and the built in recovery feature However, that applies to computers made in 2003 or later. The Celeron model was made in 2002. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/... I can find no info about when the Athlon model was made - I'm guessing that's about the same time, going by the cpu ghz available for it. You still would have a second partition, but there may be no F10 or whatever to access a built in recovery program. In that case, you can make a Recovery CD set, or possibly a single Recovery CD you can use along with the intact contents of the second partition, if Windows still works well enough.

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Thanks Tubesandwires, you've given me a lot of information to digest. My neighbor is hardly ever home in order for me to get enough information. His Windows still works fine and I will go with the Windows Recovery setup for HP Tools as called out in one of your links. I will also suggest to him to order Recovery disks, if in fact they are available for his HP 5410us. I called him last night and he said his computer has a 1.3GHz Celeron. Looks like I have enough information from everyone who responded to do this recovery. I personally do not like these store bought systems with no Recovery disks and only a folder (System_Save) on a partition. I'll give it my best shot. Thanks to everyone else who replied also.

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"I will also suggest to him to order Recovery disks, if in fact they are available for his HP 5410us." They aren't. See "According to this..." etc. in response 9. "..his computer has a 1.3GHz Celeron. " OK, then he has the Compaq Presario desktop PC 5410US - product number 470027-571 , the model HP does have a lot more info for. If he's interested, there are things you can do beforehand to backup essential personal Outlook Express files, or Outlook files, if he's using either of those.

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There is a possibilty there is no program to make the Recovery Disk set - I have encountered one older HP Pavilion model about a year older than this one that didn't have it. Or the program that makes the Recovery CD set (or single Recovery CD) may quit because the data on the second partition has been altered or is corrupted. In that case, you could do the stuff in the last two paragraphs in response 7. You would need to load at least some of the drivers available in the software downloads for 5410us after Setup is finished. (see the second link after "According to this..." in response 9). The HP site DOES NOT have the main chipset drivers listed in the software and driver downloads for this mboard. It is common for brand name system builders, and sometimes mboard manufacturers, to not list them because there are often newer ones available on the maker of the main chipset's web site. If you have installed the original HP software installation, you don't need them because they have been included, but if you install Windows from a regular CD, you MUST load the main chipset drivers. Intel® 815 Chipset Family http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Pro... Mandatory if you install Windows from a regular CD!! Download... #1 - Intel Application Accelerator #6 - INF Update Utility (main chipset drivers, *.exe download format) Install the Inf Update Utility first - you just run it. Install the Intel Application Accelerator second. The Intel Application Accelerator makes an entry in Programs - that's where you look to see what modes your hard drive and optical drives are running in, rather than in Device Manager. For any case - also there: Optional Download... #2 - onboard graphics drivers They are probably newer than the ones on the HP site. According to my experience with similar mboards, these may give you (a) higher resolution(s) you can choose from than older drivers. If they are the updated drivers I think they are, they install a line in the Startup programs that show up in msconfig, that makes a monitor icon show up in you taskbar lower right. You click on the icon to use the higher resolution(s) - the higher resolutions(s) don't show up in Display - Settings. ....

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I don't know if HP has any specific info about the Celeron mboard - you could try searching for: Loretto. HP and Compaq, and most other brand name system builders, do not make the mboards in their systems, at least not the desktop ones. Sometimes they are identical to retail models made by a mboard manufacturer, sometimes they are an OEM only version made only for the brand name system builder(s) - in either case they usually have the brand name system builder's bios version on them. In this case the Celeron mboard, called "Loretto" by Compaq, is a Lite-On TR100. I don't know if it's an OEM only model, or if it was also a Lite-On retail model as well. Celeron/Coppermine/Tualatin cpus, socket 370, up to 133mhz fsb - i815E chipset. Fortunately, a third party site has the information for TR100: Manual, etc. Go here: http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/Archi... "Loretto" - two HP parts number listings; pictures from the side: http://partsurfer.hp.com/cgi-bin/sp... http://partsurfer.hp.com/cgi-bin/sp... Seem to be the same except one has "SoundMaxII integrated digital audio" and the other has "Integrated AC97 Audio" Quick Specs, same as on HP site as Product Specifications http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/Archi... Picture, from overhead: http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/Archi...

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