HOW TO BOOT

At boot enter Boot Menu, select USB. Or , boot to BIOS and select USB boot.

During the boot process you will see on the screen to press delete to enter setup
Press and hold delete during the boot up process to enter BIOS the scroll down to advanced bios features press enter change your first boot device to cd,press escape then press f10 to save to cmos to restart
(note after you have loaded the operating system you must go back and change the first boot device to your hard drive)

Manual for the Compaq Presario 2100:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00246219.pdf

A PXE-61 error message is most likely a faulty hard disk.
Try reseating the hard drive first and if you still get this error message again then you need to replace the hard disk.
To boot up with the CD you maybe able to press the F12 function key when you power up the laptop, this will bring up the a menu option to select an alternate boot device. If this option is not available then go into the BIOS configuration and change the bootup order and make the CD as the first boot device and the hard disk as the second device. You can can it back later.

om my armada m300 before the boot screen comes up i tap f10 a few times to get in service mode, it mayy not b f10 on urs though, may b f3 or similar.

Typically you'll receive that message if either the hard drive is unbootable (no boot image) or worse, it has crashed.

Enter the bios and check the boot order. Hard drive should be first and also check to see if the hard drive is detected (this info is usually on the first bios page)

Let me know if you have any other questions / problems etc.

There are Linux password recovery programs on the Internet that allow you to remove the passwords on User accounts.
You can Google search and download the program, you then need to make a boot CD with this program.

ALternately you can purchase a copy of Windows XP or Vista and wipe Windows 2K and install XP or Vista on the laptop.

While your computer is booting up, when the manufacturers screen comes on, press and hold F2

I think that has to do with the BIOS if it cant boot compeletly. Try pressing the key indicated to enter into SETUP if you cant just try and look for a jumper on the motherboard that is written CMOS it may be a button or something.

When the system starts, hold the F10 key and go into BIOS and set CD Rom as 1st Boot device (in Boot Order). Because most Compaq's would put the BIOS in a hidden NON-DOS partition on the hard drive, you may have to get an OEM recovery disk for that model. Because there is no BIOS to go to, the machine doesn't know it has a CD, HD or Floppy to go to. A boot floppy/CD is no help. Alternative 1: With another desktop and IDE to Laptop HD connector, FDISK (make active partition and hidden partition [5mb]), Format both, copy the cabs from WinME CD to c:\windows\options. Alternative 2: Find the COMPAQ OEM CD for that model. Since there was no exact model number Click here Please indicate whether this is helpful or not.