If a compaq presario cq50 says error 1005, what does that mean?

thats the silly hp loop back deal (and has the F11 key active)
omg its old . 2008 but HP supports it. even on w7 (facts)
good luck with VISTA Microsoft shut down all support on VISTA, you do know that and what that means, right?
cq50-104ca if the PC will not boot, it resets over and over (reboots)
it just means the OS is dead, nothing more.
that means the HDD is bad, in some cases:

• HDD bad, test it?
• do the recovery? do startup file fixes?
• do full recovery.
• Upgrade to w7 like you should have done back jan2017?
• ever seem you service book yet, its free, see F11 now.
• read F11, in the book for full recovery
• if the HDD is bad (or was) F11 too will be missing, gone!
• if F11 is gone, then only new install disks work, fresh.
• or from ISO to USB mem stick installed. if HDD is ok.

now the book you cant find. and was there all along, at real HP
why ask fixya and not HP forum?
the book is here. open it,press Ctrl+F(find) and find F11 and thar
she be, HP magical F11. (seen 2006 to NOW)

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01572022

Make sure the disc is readable. Try to copy the entire disk on another laptop/pc. If the copy runs fine, then it must me something else -- perhaps the HDD.

This happens when the operation system is corrupted or files needed for successful boot are missing ..so the the basic fix is to reinstall the operation system or use teh recovery partition if you have one on your laptop or the recovery disk if you got one when you bought it ..
this link will show you how to operate this using the recovery partition built in
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_8463155_restore-compaq-presario-cq50-disk.html
basically restart and press F11 for the boot menu and select recovery partition ..and go for it ..
If the partition is missing or damaged use a recovery disk if you have ..or a operation system boot-able one ..The last one need to be inserted ..and the computer restart ..and if it is set to boot first from the disk will ask you to press any key to do it ..and you will go on with the instructions for a clean install ..You will need all drivers for it when you finish ..so is best to get them before using another computer ..
here is the support site where you can find them
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&lc=en&product=3795238&

it lloks like a File System Failure at the Recovery Partition!
Needs to purchase the Recovery Disc for your Notebook.Please Contact HP tech Support Number :1-800-474-6836 and pay the amout varying between $15 - $ 30 and HP will ship it to your Shipping Address and then insert the disc1 into nb cd/dvd drive and restart the Notebook.
Hope this will fix the issue.Keep Smiling and God Bless

Try another hard drive in the system, sounds like the drive is going bad, then after replacing the hard drive, then go ahead and recover the system. Bad sectors on a hard drive can make it where it won't restore.

If you can get your hands on a windows boot disk, then you can try to format the hard drive, wiping it out and installing it can fix that problem as well.

Here is a link to download the drivers for your compaq presario cq50-115nr notebook:
http://www.laptops-drivers.com/compaq/complete-xp-drivers-for-compaq-presario-cq50-115nr.html

If you had Problems that caused you to do a System Recovery, it Sounds like it could be your Harddrive.

pl. downloading

wot dose it say when your trying to get online

This can happen if the Recovery Partition is corrupted or the Hard Drive is bad.
 First, I recommend you to check the Hard Drive using the Hard Drive test utility available in the BIOS by following the steps below :
Start or restart the notebook and start tapping the F10 key.
This will get you the BIOS Setup window.
In this. go to the Diagnostics or Tools tab where you can find the Hard Drive test utility.
Select using the Up/Down arrow keys and press enter to start the test.
Make sure that you complete the Full test which may take around 80 minutes to complete.
If the Test result is Pass, we can come to a conclusion that the issue is with the Recovery Partition which is corrupted.
You need to purchase the Recovery Disks for your Notebook in this situaiton.
Contact HP Chat Support to get the exact link to order the Recovery Disks for your Notebook.
However, if the Test Result is Fail, you need to take backup of the data in the Notebook and replace the Hard Drive with a new one.
Hope this helps...