Identifying a Compaq Presario

[Jason Dunn]

A friend of mine bought a Compaq Presario from an auction, and there's no model number on it anywhere - Windows XP got it working without native drivers, but not everything is working properly (no audio). The video adaptor isn't being identified at all - it's not listed in the device manager, and even in the advanced display properties, everything comes up as UNKNOWN.

All he has is a serial number, and Compaq/hp wants to charge $35 to identify the model number, presumably so he can find the right drivers for it. Does anyone know of an application that might be able to tell him the model number, or some way of identifying it?

[Kati Compton]

Well, here's a list of a couple model numbers, with stats...

http://h18027.www1.hp.com/athome/presariohelp/fixproblems/english/uk/portable.html

It's notebooks, though.

Is it a notebook or desktop?

If it's a notebook, I might try looking at a site for replacement batteries. If he can find a model # on the battery, and match it with a battery at the site - usually the sites indicate what notebook models use the battery.

[Jason Dunn]

Sorry, it's a desktop computer.

[Mark Kenepp]

Sorry, it's a desktop computer.

I guess the battery option is out :wink:

Have you tried opening the case and looking for something there?

We had a few Dell machines that had some product code stuck to the power supply inside the case.

[Jason Dunn]

Have you tried opening the case and looking for something there?

Yeah, I suggested that, he said there are all sorts of labels on the inside, but all are serial numbers - no actual product/part numbers.

[cml]

Is the ROM still active? The one Presario that I have (granted it is ancient -- about nine years old) has the model number on the diagnostic screen.

[foldedspace]

What sort of processor does it have?

[JustinGTP]

I did a little research.

I went to http://www.compaq.ca and that only redirected me to the HP Canada site, which was no good.

I then surfed over to the US version of Compaq, and found this little tid bit of information about "how do I find my model number" found here (http://h20015.www2.hp.com/en/famiNumbDocument.jhtml?cc=us&lc=en&plc=&docName=c00004461&prodId=compaqpres89327)

And here is a bunch of model number for Compaq products. (Not sure what relevance here, but you never know :wink:Link (http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Nav?h_pagetype=prodhomes&h_lang=en&h_cc=us&h_product=82702&h_page=hpcom&cc=us&lang=en)

Well, I hope you can find "the one"

-Justin.