Recently when my computer crashed I attempted to restart the machine. During bootup a message appeared saying there was suspected damage to the hard drive and that all important data should be backed-up as there is likely to be an impending collapse of the system. We have now attempted to boot the computer again but without success. There are very strange noises coming from the machine, so there is clearly an internal hardware problem. During the start up process a DOS prompt eventually appears asking for a boot disk to be inserted. After inserting the boot disk I am then prompted to insert the master CDs (which I know will restore the system software). I am not keen to go down that path yet, as I want to try and save the material already on the old system. I suspect the data may be irretrievable and that we will need to be looking at a new PC purchase. Is there anything that can be done at this point to achieve a normal boot-up so that we can retrieve some important material from the hard drive? The computer is an HP running Windows 98.

Since your computer is a brand name machine, I can understand why you are saying after inserting the master CDs it will restore the system software (since brand name machines come with system recovery CDs, which will format and restore the computer back to factory configuration). When the computer is starting, it attempts to find an operating system on the hard drive. If it cannot, the computer will prompt for a boot disk to be inserted. It seems your computer cannot load Windows from the hard drive, so is therefore asking for a boot disk. I have seen computers refuse to boot, together with strange noises from the computer case. This does generally indicate there is something wrong with the hardware. More often than not, it is related to the hard drive since this is the component with the most moving parts (which can make strange noises’¦). In any case, if hardware in your computer is failing, it’s unlikely that restoring the system software will fix your problem since you will be attempting to install the software on a faulty hardware base, which probably won’t work!

Since your computer is not booting into Windows under its own accord, I don’t think you will be able to achieve a normal Windows bootup. The only possible way to boot your computer would be using a DOS boot disk to boot to a DOS prompt and then attempt to access your hard drive. However, I think it’s unlikely this would work due to hardware problems with your drive and even if you could access the drive, you have no way to transfer the data to any removable media (e.g. CD-R) apart from the floppy drive, which wouldn’t be able to hold many files due to the limited 1.44MB capacity. If you desperately want to recover the data from the hard drive, then your best option would be to take the computer to a computer technician and ask for their help. However, this probably won’t be a cheap avenue to pursue.

Now dealing with the aspect of fixing the computer, your first option is to attempt to get your computer fixed. My guess is the problem is the computer hard drive. Considering that your computer is probably out of warranty, you have a choice of sending your computer to HP for repairs (although I don’t know if they will support a machine this old) or have a local computer shop fix the problem (which is probably the more convenient option). Assuming the hard drive is the problem, a new hard drive isn’t very expensive (approx. $120 for an 80 GB drive). However, adding the cost of labour (if you take the computer to a computer store) the total cost probably won’t be cheap. If you are familiar with computers, you could always try replacing the drive yourself. However, if you try this path then you should be 100% sure the problem is the hard drive, otherwise you may end-up buying a new drive only to find something completely different is wrong with the computer! So I wouldn’t recommend you try this yourself. Your second option is to buy a new computer. Given your current computer is rather old, if you have wanted to upgrade the machine for a while then this is a pretty good reason to buy a new computer. If you are happy with your existing monitor, then it would be cheaper to buy a computer without a monitor, although if the current monitor is small (e.g. 15′) or in bad condition then I would recommend you buy a new monitor so you can gain the full benefit of the new machine.