hey all my gf laptop has had some problems recently, starting with the "NTLDR" is missing error message, and i have done some research and ultimately it has led me to trying to repair windows

however, when i boot in the windows xp cd, i get an error message that says "setup did not finda any hard dis drives installed in your computer". I have no idea what to do, the laptop is an HP Compaq NX7400......the laptop was working fine up until sunday night we watched a movie on it, and then she turned it off and turned it on monday morning and the message came up

Thanks for your help!

it you havent made any configuration changes you may be looking at a bad hard drive. relatively inexpensive fix.

Most likely a bad hard drive. You can likely still install it in a USB drive enclosure to save your data. Hope you have the install software to get a new drive up and running.

I may have made a configuration change, when the computer boots up i pressed f9 and it came up and asked whether i wanted to boot off the optical disk drive or notebook drive, and i tried both options but they both come up with the same error.

It's just really bizarre because she literally turned it off and turned it on. We were watching the movie on a train and we didn't turn it off after we were finished and the laptop was left on for over 12 hours. Could that have possibly fried the hard drive??

And raybay, how would i install it in a usb drive enclosure, is that the same thing as an external hard drive?? I am sorry to bother you but like you mentioned the most important thing is trying to retrieve everything on her hard drive, how would i go about using the enclosure to back everytihng up on her computer??? I am unable to get into windows, the computer does not get past the "NTLDR is missing" screen

Also, i looked it up online, and i have built my own desktop computer before, it seems pretty easy to install a new hard drive on a laptop rather than taking it in to get fixed, would you recommend this?

also, what type of hard drive would you recommend for this laptop?

Yes, it is an external USB Enclosure. I am partial to the Vantec 3. They work better. Some other brands are flimsy and the screws break or fall out.

As for drives, We repair and upgrade a large number of laptops every day... and don't like them to come back during the warranty year. So we find the best luck with the Seagate Momentus, followed closely by the Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Western Digital Scorpio. We do not yet recommend Samsung, Hitachi, Maxtor, or TriGem

We are getting early indications that the Western Digital 250, 320, 400, and 500 SATA drives may be more reliable than others... but it is still too early to tell. Of those 120, 100, and 80, the Seagates are Superior, but the Toshiba drives are a very close second.

I have been reading about the possibility that i can convert a usb drive into a floppy drive and then use the usb drive to repair the damaged hard disk drive files, by pressing f6 during the windows setup startup screen. Does anyone have more insight into this issue?? Could someone please help guide me through ti step by step, i have been racking my brain trying to follow the instructions listed by others on this site but i don't even know how to extract the software files on the compaq website (or even what particular download) i need to extract onto my usb drive.

Here is the compaq nx 7400 website with all the drivers listed

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=ob-58364-1

which file do i select to extract onto my usb drive, and how do i go about converting the usb drive into a floppy drive to use on the laptop. Thank you for your help

If your Compaq NX 7400 laptop can read the USB drive, you can install them, but you cannot boot to the USB drive without a bootdriver.
What you posted does NOT have all Compaz NZ 7400 drivers. It has one: "This package contains the driver for the Texas Instruments PCI (TI-PCI) 6x12/7x12 Cardbus (Media Card Reader) for the supported notebook models and operating systems."
I doubt anyone on this forum has the time that it takes do perform what needs doing. You need a friend, or a tech, who can sit beside you with a CD disk or USB download of all the Compaq files.
However, I doubt that you can do what you wish, because a Windows XP Compaq version simply will not allow you to make the changes. It is not the USB drive Idea, but the battle with overwriting windows files and directories that is the problem. If you have files on the USB device that are actually designed to make the repairs or changes, that is another matter... Then there is the matter that you do not have the experience necessary to make this change.
If you do not have the Compaq Windows XP recovery or install disk, and the Compaq is not too old, Www.HP.com will sell you a new one for about $30 including shipping... if the laptop is registered to your friend.
What is more, do you KNOW what changes need to be made?
I suspect that Compaq, left on, has impact damage that occurred some time after you finished watching the movie during that 12 hour period when it was left on. Irreversible hard drive impact damage could have occurred during that time.
However, with the previously discussed USB external enclosure, you can perhaps recover the data, dragging and dropping it to the new hard drive.
Look at www.directron.com, www.newegg.com, www.zipzoomfly.com, www.outpost.com, www.frys.com, www.cdw.com, www.pcmall.com or others of your choosing to buy the USB enclosure and a new hard drive.
The other option would be to reformat the hard drive, once you have saved the important data, and use the Compaq restore or recovery disk to reformat and reinstall Windows. After that, you can reinstall your software, then the files that you have saved to the USB drive or enclosured drive.