Hi Chippy,
Your PC can almost certainly be brought back from the dead.
You probably need to re-install everything.
But - you need to back up your files first.
To do this you need to get your PC booted then copy your documents onto a removeable medium. Floppy disk has too small a capacity, so best bet is either a writeable CD drive or a pen drive (which is a wee cheap thing you plug into the USB port).
If you can't get booted try to do it in safe mode - press F8 repeatedly at the start of the boot sequence then select 'safe mode' when the menu comes up.
Once you are happy you have your docs backed up then use the Compaq Restore CD that came with your PC.
Sometimes this doesn't work . . . then you need to manually reformat the hard drive and then run the Restore CD. To do this you need to boot from CD or floppy and run a program called fdisk. Delete all existing partitions then create a new primary DOS partition using all the space on the drive. Once you have done this run the Restore CD again.
If you need more help I would be happy to come and take a look. My flat rate for onsite technical assistance on the island is a bottle of malt, whether it takes half an hour or two days.
Let me know how you get on anyway - good luck!
-
Nick 