BOMID numbers

[ray wood]

What is the BOMID number of a Presario 4784. Need to know to put into a Quickrestore CD and floppy in order to install into a new blank hard drive.

[Sanjay Kumar Suri]

I found this on the internet:

Q: After installing a new hard drive on my Compaq, I tried to use the Quickrestore system CD that came with the PC to do a clean reinstall. But I keep getting to a part of the installation procedure where my screen asks me for a number related to a BOMID file. When I call Compaq, they wonâ t give me this number. What can I do?

A: When you installed your new hard drive, you lost a file called BOMID that contains info the software uses to verify what model your Compaq is (and to install itself correctly). This may also be a safeguard to ensure people donâ t use Compaqâ s Quickrestore CD with other companiesâ PCs.

Sometimes thereâ s a reasonably quick way to retrieve your BOMID number: When the procedure asks for the number (or directly after you fail to give it one), the installer should offer you the option to continue. If you select continue, it should send you to a DOS prompt. Type uiabomwr bom id number at the prompt and press ENTER, and you may get the information you seek.

This trick may not work on some older Compaq models. If it doesnâ t, you can always temporarily reinstall and boot the old drive to get your PCâ s ID information from its BOMID file, and then reinstall the new drive and proceed with your installation. To get your BOMID info off the old hard drive, boot your PC with the Compaq boot diskette, but when your PC demands the BOMID number, cancel the procedure. That should get you to a DOS prompt. There should be a drive partition called N: which you normally donâ t see or deal with. Type n: and press ENTER to get to this prompt; then type cd map and press ENTER (on some systems you may need to type cd tools instead of cd map). Next, type type bomid.txt and press ENTER a final time.

This should display some text with a line that includes â uiabomwr_201â (or something similar). The number (201, for our example) is what you need. Now reinstall the new hard drive, load your Quickrestore CD, and enter the number you got when it prompts you for your BOMID number. Visit Compaqâ s Web site ( ) for more information regarding this me