Any special reason to why you need the correct disk's?
I have an Compaq too (Deskpro EN or EL or something) and I have not searched for an original disk.
I did get all the drivers for my machine elsewere, so I really did not have a need for such disk's.

Maybe he meant the ROMPaqs/Softpaqs ? The older Compaq PCs also had their BIOS utility on a hidden partition.

@King_Corduroy I've found this for the Presarios, but I can't test them due to lack of suitable PCs:

Compaq Presario 4505
Presario Desktop Models System ROM Update (686P9 Family ROM)
ftp://ftp.hp.com/%2F/pub/softpaq/sp18501-19000/sp18788.txt

Compaq Presario 7360
Presario Specific Models System ROM Update
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp15501-16000/sp15675.txt

Presario Specific Models System ROM Update #1 for Models Sold in 2000
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp13501-14000/sp13520.txt

In case you need something else, check the index file:

Index
ftp://ftp.hp.com/%2F/pub/softpaq/allfiles.txt

Ahhh... I had no idea that they still used that ancient approach to setting up the BIOS.

No no, I hope not at least but what I meant was the restore disk. I just wanted to make it like it came when it was new, also this computer seems to be a little unique in that there is a knob on the monitor which controls volume and that information is sent to the computer via the VGA cable. So finding drivers for the video might be difficult and trying to get that monitor knob to work right without the compaq drivers would no doubt be a pain.

With Compaq's, there should not be a bios... per se.

Instead you may have a Dallas RTC or equivalent, yes? also PCI/EISA bus?

If this be so then the softpaq's you will need.

Sigh

@King_Corduroy - Did you ever find these restore disks (not the BIOS update or whatever the others in this thread are going on about)?

I just got one of these machines (the 4505) and want to factory restore it with the original Compaq stuff (not only drivers).

lutiana wrote on 2023-04-29, 22:45:

@King_Corduroy - Did you ever find these restore disks (not the BIOS update or whatever the others in this thread are going on about)?

I just got one of these machines (the 4505) and want to factory restore it with the original Compaq stuff (not only drivers).

https://archive.org/details/CompaqQuickrestor … 0Series#reviews

Try this one.Pay attention to the code in the comments, because the original code does not always work...

Thanks @DirtyGary, that really helped me work this out.

I've been down this rabbit hole and found this https://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bpb12296.pdf (which is mirrored here on the Retroweb.)

Basically the entire series looks to have used the same motherboard, but with different options on CPU, RAM, Video RAM and cache (for example the 4505 shipped with no cache, 16Mb of RAM, 1Mb VRAM and a P166, the 4528 on the other hand shipped with 256kb of Cache, 32Mb of RAM, 1Mb VRAM and a P233). The board appears to be this one on the Retroweb.

There are two recovery sets available on Archive.org:

• For the 4508 (BN2A) and 4528 (BN52)
• For the 4532 (BN28).

Those BN numbers are important as this is what the restore CDs us to identify the system being restored, and is referred to as the "Configuration Code" for the various models. The serial numbers for these units are in the format of:

1234BNxxA567

where BNxx is the identifier (see the PDF linked above for a reference table of the various configuration codes).

So to get either of these restore options to work, you simply enter the machine's serial number, but change the numbers after the BN to an appropriate number that works with the recovery media (2A, 52 or 28).

And lastly for anyone who wants to know how I worked out what media works with what model identifiers, that is pretty easy. It's in the \MAP\BOMID.TXT file in the ISO.

I am mostly posting this here for posterity, and because this may also apply to other such Compaq series of machines of the time.