Compaq Presario 700 (Rare) Laptop

This laptop is soooo rare I now have 3 of them...  It always makes me smile when I see the word 'rare' in an eBay listing as 1) just because something is rare, doesn't mean it's valuable and 2) it's probably not rare at all...

I made a cheeky offer on this and after a bit of negotiating got it for a steal and I picked it up from Argos (eBay Click and Collect service) so now it's time to unbox it and see if it works.

Packed with nothing more than newspaper :( I hope it hasn't damaged in transit.

It looks in really good condition for a laptop that was first release in 2001!

More importantly, will it work OK?  Time to grab my trusty 2-Power Universal Power Adapter and find out...

We have life!  Unsurprisingly the CMOS battery will need replacing as it's not keeping the time.  Does the hard disk drive work and will it load an Operating System?

The laptop was making some very strange noises whilst it was loading Windows XP, I was starting to think the hard disk drive might need replacing but then I checked the optical drive and found this:

A quick look in Windows Explorer revealed there wasn't anything of interest on the CD-R disc, just a couple of drivers someone has used to install the Windows XP operating system on the laptop (probably before they listed it for sale on eBay).

It doesn't look like they had the original discs to restore the OS as it looks like some sort of cracked version made by 'Gamerman' - whoever that is?!

Needless to say I wont be leaving the laptop like this so it's time to put my investigative cap on and see if I can locate and restore discs for this Compaq Presario 700 laptop or if I can find the Drivers and Utilities CD/DVD disc so I could install the OEM version of Windows XP Home Edition as that's what's on the COA on the bottom of the laptop...

How To Replace The CMOS Battery on a Compaq Presario 700 Laptop

Step 1 - On the bottom of the laptop, remove the two torx headed screws holding the bezel in place that gives you access to remove the keyboard

Step 2 - Turn the laptop back over and use plastic spudger (or carefully use a flat blade (slot) screwdriver) to remove the plastic bezel holding the keyboard in place

Step 3 - Carefully remove the keyboard and then unscrew all the screws as indicated in the photo below

Step 4 - Carefully remove the metal cover to reveal the motherboard, CPU and optical drive

If you look closely you can see the CMOS battery hiding above the optical drive:

Step 5 - Disconnect the CPU fan and place the metal housing to one side and then carefully flip over the laptop and remove the 2 screws holding the optical drive in place

Step 6 - Turn the laptop back over to gain easy access to the CMOS battery!  If (like my laptop) there is a cable in the way of the battery, unplug it!

Step 7 - The button cell/battery that you need is a CR1220 - luckily I have a wide selection of button cell batteries so I was lucky to already have one ready to use...

Insert the new replacement CMOS battery in to its holder

Step 8 - Plug back in any leads you unplugged, insert the optical drive (and screw it in to place), reconnect the CPU fan and screw the metal cover back in to place, connect the keyboard, clip the bezel back in to place, flip the laptop over and screw in the remaining screws

Step 9 - TIME TO TEST (pun intended) - turn on the laptop and press F10 to enter the BIOS

Step 10 - Set the time and date and then Exit and Save from the BIOS

Step 11 - Power on the laptop and boot in to Windows!

BINGO!  It now boots without any CMOS battery errors :)

HP/Compaq Laptops - Spares and Repairs

Earlier on today I took a quick look through all the 'Car Boot Sale' laptops that I've got and I've found another 7 nx9000 series HP/Compaq laptops so I now have 9 in total that I need to fix/repair/refurbish!

First things first, I need to see what Spares and Repairs I might have as a few of these laptops have missing HDD Caddys and covers for the RAM etc so time to rummage through my Spares and Repairs box for HP/Compaq laptops...

Pin Badge Collection Update October 2020

My collection has grown somewhat since my last post on the matter so thought it about time I posted an update so here are a couple of photos for you:

 It's a bit difficult to find an angle where all the badges can be clearly seen hence why I've had to take 2 photos from different angles.  My favourite new pin badge is the PC Virus one with the Police Constable's helmet on top of it!

Starting A Retro Computing Pin Badge Collection

Having once worked at Currys in the UK I was the Business Centre Manager (fancy name for the salesperson who knows about Computers) I got given a Compaq pin badge by the local rep in return for listening to their in-store training.  I also gained an MCP so got a pin badge from Microsoft and recently I saw some Compaq pin badges on eBay and it's all starting to snowball out of control in to a full-blown collection!

How To Create A Backup Image of a CD and Upload it to the Internet Archive Website

Drivers for Windows 95 and Windows 98 laptops are not always easy to find so it comes in handy if you have the original System Restore Disks that may have originally come with the laptop but the world of Retro Computing isnt always that forthcoming as a lot of the discs have been either lost or thrown away over the years - so what can you do to get hold of old system restore discs I hear you ask?!

Well, you can visit https://www.archive.org which is the Internet Archive website and you can see if anyone has uploaded a backup copy there that you can download, burn to a disc and then restore your Vintage/Retro laptop back to factory settings!

The only way these disc images get on to the Internet Archives website is by people uploading disc images of the Restore Discs that they have.  This is why it is important that if you have any system restore discs, when you  get a chance, make backup images of them and get them uploaded to the site.

In this quick video I will show you one way of creating a CD disc backup and how easy it is to upload them to the Internet Archives website...

Using A Universal Power Adaptor With Your Retro Computing Laptop

I don't know what people are doing with the original power supplies for some of the laptops I keep buying but more often than not, I'm either getting the wrong power supply (they seem to think it's OK to use any ol' power supply even if it's the wrong Voltage) or I'm not getting any power supply at all.

To begin with I would scour the likes of eBay and Amazon looking for the correct power supply that would have originally come with the laptops and pay between £7 and £25 without even knowing if the laptop(s) worked or not!

Then, it suddenly dawned on me, there must have been some Universal Laptop Power Adaptors 'back in the day' - I wonder if I can find some on eBay...


Just in case you want to try and get hold of some yourselves, here is a list of the part numbers of the Universal/Replacement Laptop Power Adapters that I have:


2-Power

72W DC (Car) Adapter - CUC0001B
75W AC (Mains) Adapter - CUA0002B
90W AC (Mains) Adapter - CUA0001B


LOGIK

90W AC Dell Laptop Power Adapter - LPDELL12
90W AC Lenovo Laptop Power Adapter - LPLENO17
(Despite its name, the Logik Lenovo Adapter works with other makes too).


Targus

150W AC Power Notebook Adapter - APA08EU


Although these model numbers are no longer manufactured, every now and again 'New Old Stock' seems to turn up on eBay and that's what all these are/were, new but old stock and were never used until I got them - in fact at the time of writing this I have two more 2-Power NOS power adapters on their way to me in the post!  It's amazing what you can find if you look hard enough.

Compaq Presario 1060 - Retro Laptop Unpacking/Unboxing!

I won another different looking Compaq laptop on eBay the other day and only just had a change to unwrap/unbox/unpack it - to me it looks more like a Toshiba than a Compaq, again it looks like they were still experimenting with their look as most of the future Compaq laptops didnt look anything like this model.

Compaq Presario 1400 - Retro Laptop Unpacking/Unboxing!

Finally got around to unboxing this little beauty today!  It doesn't look like any other Compaq laptop I have ever seen (nor own), it looks a bit 'Apple Maccy' (if that's such a word) a bit like they were experimenting on what their new laptops were going to look like going forward, I don't remember see anything like this before from Compaq so I guess it didn't catch on!

Targus Stowaway Portable Keyboard for Compaq iPAQ

I've got a couple of Compaq and HP iPAQ's (one even has a charger) but until now I've not had a keyboard for any of them.

Once you unfold the keyboard, you have to slide the two sides inwards so you can then use it.  It has a built-in dock that you connect and rest your iPAQ on to so you can type using this full-size keyboard on a very tiny screen!

The battery doesn't work in this iPAQ so I can't try this great little keyboard out and I can't seem to find a replacement battery on eBay right now but I've only been searching using the iPAQ model number so what I need to do now is either find a service manual and get the part number or (the more interesting way) take it apart to see if there is a part number on the battery itself...

---

*UPDATE*

I've just gotten around to finding out the part number of the battery and you'll never guess which method I chose!

There are 4 tiny torx screws holding the back on the Compaq 3660 iPAQ and then all you need to do is take an appropriate spudger and carefully prise the back off.

Now I have a part number I'm off to do some hunting, unfortunately most of the new compatible batteries for these old iPAQ's used to come from China via eBay but with all that's currently going on with the Corona 19 Virus I'm not sure if anyone will be posting any from there at the momen.

Compaq Armada 7350MT Laptop - Disassembly - How To Replace The Hard Disk Drive

As you can see, there is an unlocked/unsecured flap on the side that reveals the hard disk drive and its caddy... you cant actually remove it yet though as it is secured by a single screw holding a metal plate in place which you access from underneath the laptop.

That's it!  The hard disk is now removed and you can do what you need to with it and remember, the rattle noise is normal :)

Disassembly

As this partticular laptop of mine doesn't power on, it's time to remove all the screws underneath, carefully remove the keyboard and top bezel to reveal the motherboard:

Everything looks OK but on closer inspection you can see that the CMOS battery is a bit dodgy and the connectors are stuck fast on the motherboard.

As it's beyond economical repair this will get put back together and placed in my Spares and Repairs pile in case I get another one etc.

Cleaning A Very Dirty Compaq 7350MT Laptop

I picked up a (very) dirty old laptop the other day for a couple of quid that has clearly been sitting in a barn or garage somewhere for a very long time...

To clean a dirty old laptop like this, I use two different products.  First I give it a once-over with the trusty old AF Foamclene followed by a magic sponge/eraser!

After a very short while you then end up with something like this:

As you can see it has come out really nice :)

Todays Car Boot Sale Haul - Laptops and Shuttle PC

This morning (after not going for a few weeks) I woke up early and had an urge to visit my local (all year round) Car Boot Sale and I'm so pleased I did as I came back with this lot:

After haggling I got each laptop for £1.80 and the shuttle for £10 - there's no power supplies with any of the laptops and no hard disk drive in the Shuttle.

Initial tests of the Shuttle (now that I've added a hard disk drive and installed Windows XP Pro on it) show that it seems to be in good working order, although there looked like several decades of dust inside it before I took it outside and air dusted it!   I've already swapped out the optical drive as this one didnt like to boot an OS install disc from it - all I need now is to find a suitable floppy disk drive for it.

Now all I need to do is to dig out the 16V IBM ThinkPad power supplies I got the other month so I can start testing the laptops...

Compaq LTE 5280 Laptop

Picked this up today for just £1!

As you can see it's rather dirty, but better than that - it's Year 2000 Compliant!

It's a lot cleaner on the inside but I'm not holding my breath that it works.

Despite the clean looking keyboard and screen, although it does power on, it doesn't POST and an LED of a tap is displayed indicating possible water damage.

Time to see what the battery and HDD are like (assuming there is a HDD or even a HDD caddy that is)...

The battery has some sort of speckly mess on it and peeking inside the laptop it does indeed look like it has a large amount of water damage.  Fortunately it hasn't spread to the HDD Caddy or indeed the HDD inside:

At least this can be used for Spares and Repairs as once the case has been cleaned up it's actually in very good condition, just needs a new motherboard and well, anything else that is inside!