No, absolutely not!

The only restore disks which will work are the ones which were supplied with the system when it was new!

Your friend will need to purchase a Retail copy of Windows, download the necessary device drivers from Hp's website (they provide support for Compaq systems now, since Compaq was merged with HP) and perform a clean installation of Windows.

Check for device drivers first, as some drivers may not be available for Windows XP, and an earlier version of Windows may be needed.

On the flipside, you may not need any drivers with XP if the system came with ME.

A lot of older devices are supported natively with XP. Before I looked to download any drivers, I'd check in Device Manager to check if there are even any yellow question marks next to any devices.

To some extent I'd disagree with simply checking device manager for 'yellow exclamation marks' attached to devices. Sometimes Windows XP simply uses generic, general purpose drivers for devices. Sure they work, but that doesn't necessarily mean they work effectively or efficiently. The actual manufacturer drivers for devices are always the best ones to use.


That said, visit this site first to check for driver and software downloads:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...eC?lc=en&cc=us

You'll need to enter the product line and model number of that Compaq.

Then have a read through the articles I've linked in this topic for fuller descriptions of what you need to do to prepare for a reinstall, and for what you need to do to wipe the system clean and start over using Windows XP.

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6632.html

This is especially true for any chipset/motherboard related drivers, and IDE/SCSI controllers.

The admin here wanted me to use the default Windows drivers for the Adaptec 2110S that I used to replace a 29160. No way would I ever castrate that kind of hardware.

heh heh.......

The admin there is incompetent! Tell him/her I said so if you like!