I don't know if they still do it, but of the two Compaq machines I've had
the misfortune to work with (one notebook & one desktop) both had the same
nasty little feature: they required a special utility to install part of the
BIOS firmware in the boot sector of the hard drive. A low-level format would
cause all sorts of failures until the firmware was restored. Without that
special utility the machine becomes an inert piece of junk.
--
Phil Mattison
Ohmikron Corp.
480-722-9595 ext. 1