Friend's Compaq Presario 5345 Desktop PC's Win98 installation is trashed.
When you boot the computer (even in safe mode) the desktop is just a collage
of color blocks - no icons, task bar, etc. You can "click" on a block and
"set the emphasis" to be block but cruising the mouse around the screen you
don't find anything remotely clickable. A <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> will not bring
up a task bar nor reboot the computer. None of the Window key shortcuts work
to invoke a function. I suspect he' infested with malware which hosed the
system (had to go 2 weeks back to back last year to remove Gator
infestations - he just couldn't resist that OK prompt).

Of course no data is backed up externally but I can move that off. The
biggie is - they can't find any of the Compaq disks or other software
(primarily MS Works Suite) they use. I've checked the HP/Compaq web site and
even though you read about ordering Restore (Recovery) CDs I can't find a
link to order for this model. I get drilled all the way down through the
parts list and there's no option for CDs and a search doesn't bring one up.

On this system the HD is partitioned and the D: partition is named
SYSTEM_SAVE which I sincerely hope is the stuff I need to restore the system
to factory condition.

Anyone have any suggestions how to perform a miracle and get this thing back
up and running?


Jayne Johnston (aka - JJ)
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