I have a Compaq V3000 that has been working pretty well until I installed Windows Vista about 6 months ago. Then it started shutting off all the time randomly like 5 minutes after I would turn it on and I got that to stop. Then randomly I came home and my computer screen was black and I turned it off and took the battery out; however, the lights on the keypad stayed on...even the power light. Then when I took out the power cord and put it back it the lights turned off. Finally, after several tries, I got my computer to turn on all the way. Then I turned it back off that night and the next morning it would not turn back on. I have been working on it for over a week now and still get the same outcome. Here's exactly what happens:

I turn my computer on...then the Compaq startup screen comes up...then the screen goes black and when I try to hit F10 or F8, a real fast message comes and goes...it's hard to even read...but it says "Operating system not found." It did this before I got it to turn on that last time too...but then I got it to turn on. But now I just keep getting the same outcome. I got the F10 page to come up one time and I was told that my harddrive looked like it was going bad but they couldn't tell for sure.

Please help! : )

Well I see two possible solutions. A. OS problem or B. your HDD is going bad.

So what i would recommend is if you have a old HDD laying around use it and try reinstalling your os on it. if it works then your HDD is probably bad so purchase a new one.

Do you have any external harddrives hooked up to your system?

Answer me about the external first before proceeding

Yes, I do have an external harddrive with me. What should I do now?

Yes, I do have an external harddrive with me. What should I do now?

Please don't double post. its spaming and impolite. be patient.

And is the external hooked up to your computer?

Well, I was unaware an accident on the computer was spamming. I hit a button and it did that. Didn't think it was a big deal. : )

And no, I have not hooked it up.

The Compaq V3000 has had a lot of trouble with inverters for the screen... What do you get when you boot in safe mode by repeatedly pressing <F8> as soon as you depress the <on> button? Do you get a screen then?
Were you able to download all the Compaq VISTA drivers from the www.hp.com site?
Tell us more about the age of your Compag and the hardware configuration, memory, etc.
Please tell us what you have downloaded for that model from the Compaq site... and whether that included installing an updated BIOS.

When I repeatedly press F8, I don't get anything. I ran a self test on my hard drive and it said that it couldn't find one; however, it said that before that last time I got my computer to come on too.

I have had my laptop for three years now and I put Vista on it a few months before Christmas. I don't believe I downloaded anything from HP and I 'm also not sure about the all of the updates it did on its own.