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 :)

Compaq Armada Series QuickRestore Recovery CDs

This came all the way from Israel today (vie eBay):

I didnt realise but it has both Windows 95 and Windows 98 restore options/CDs.  I can't wait to try them out!  I need to make a backup ISO image of them first so these can go away in to storage.

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EDIT/UPDATE:

Not sure why you can't find the ISO files on the Internet Archive when you search for them so here's a direct link to the Discs:

https://archive.org/details/95-us-a-01100

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Compaq Armada 7400

This turned up a few weeks back but I've only just had a chance to take a look at it.  It's a bit dirty, the hinge covers are damaged and there are a couple of screws missing.  It did however come with not one, but two power supplies which is a bit of luck as it's not a normal round connector but a square-ish one with 4 prongs inside it.

On connecting up one of the power supplies that came with this laptop I briefly saw the Compaq logo appear on the screen before it turned itself off.  Seems there is a loose connection as when I wiggled the power cable at the rear of the laptop it would let me power it on but as soon as I moved the cable slightly it powered off again - I'll have to take it apart and see if it's fixable at a later date.

Compaq Armada 1700 PII 233 256MB 10GB

I received this in the post today:

It seems to be password protected as I get this when I power it on:

Turns out I must be a natural hacker as the first 'password' I tried no only let me in but it was also the local Administrator password when Windows 2000 finished loading!

Oh and the bonus was a 'free' Madonna CD that was left in the drive, it didn't play the first time I tried.  The laptop is covered in dirt and dust so I ejected the CD-ROM and gently cleaned the lens with a cotton bud, tried again and it worked like a dream!

It has a 162 error, but as we all know that just means I need to replace the CMOS/RTC battery like I've done before so I'll try and get that done at the weekend :)

162 System Options Not Set - Compaq Armada 1700/1750

Are you getting the 162 System Options Not Set on an old vintage/retro laptop?

Is it followed by a message telling you the Time and Date are not set?  Does it go on to ask you to save the changed or ignore them?

The biggest clue to what is causing this error message is the date/time not being set.  When you power off your laptop a small button battery keeps the on-board real-time-clock (RTC) and it is this that keeps the time and date on your laptop correct and on some laptops it also keeps any System Setup or BIOS/CMOS settings stored too.

Luckily there is an easy fix, replace the RTC/CMOS battery!

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Click here to see how to replace the RTC/CMOS battery on a Compaq Armada 1700/1750 - including how to make your own.

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On a Compaq Armada 1700/1750, once you have replaced the battery you will need to then load up the Computer Setup program either via a floppy disk (or if you have it installed on the maintenance partition of your hard disk drive you can press F10 shortly after the POST).

I have it on floppy disk so I inserted it in to the floppy disk drive and launched the setup program that way.

Once in the Setup Program have a look around and make any changes you like and then set the date and time.  Save the settings, exit and then reboot!

I took the opportunity to set the Asset Tag of my laptop and also the Company and now when I power on my laptop it shows the company name (I used the URL of this blog as the company name)!

Compaq Armada M700 PIII 850MHz 192MB RAM

Another Compaq laptop to add to my (ever growing) collection of Retro Computers:

UNTESTED as it's literally just been delivered and still very cold having spent the night in the courier companies warehouse - once it's climatised I shall confirm that it powers on and install a Hard Disk Drive and install an OS...