System does not show hard drive

[Paul Beck]

My neighbor has my old computer with XP. Recently he said he couldn't get
the system to run.
When it is turned on a black screen with" boot disc not active" shows and it
does not boot up.
Looking at the setup boot section, it shows the hard drive is not
recognized. I tried changing to the CD drive to use the setup discs (the
original discs which I purchased from HP). This does not work since it says
it cannot access the hard drive.
Next I tried setup to go to the floppy disc drive using the startup disc,
but again nothing.
He did have a friend set up the system to show on his LCD Television in
another room.
What do we do next?
By the way - he expects me to keep his computer going no matter what he
does!
Thanks to anyone who can help.
Paul

 

[Willie]

If you can't even boot with the CD, and you have all the settings correct in
the BIOS for boot, the HD may be toast. How long has the computer been
setting unused? You said it is "Old". Possibly open the case, and after
unplugging, try to remove the IDE ribbon at both ends, and reinsert. Don't
know what else.
Willie