I ordered a lap top model ARMADA 1573DM on ebat with a linux operating system on it. the seller was kind enough to give me a user name and password for the machine but when I got it will not allow me to go to a dos prompt to reformat the machine. I am thinking that the original user has a system admin password that is different from the one that he gave me because of some messages that is has giving me while I have tried many things to get this reset. I would like to install a 95 opperating system on it but it will not bood to the cd rom because 95 cd's do not register as a bootable cd. I have proven thatthe cd rom workes by putting in a professional cd and the cd- rom boots to it. are there any loop arounds or suggestionsa that I can try to use to resolve my situation?

Get a copy of FreeDOS. That'll let you format the machine, and you can run the Windows 95 installer from there.

Although, I suspect that Linux would be a far more powerful and useful OS to have on that laptop... but, to each his own.

I appreciate your feedback. the machine isnt for me. its for my niece. its her first system and that is the opperating system she is familier with.

Do you have a floppy disk drive for this laptop? You can use any linux liveCD, DOS emergency bootdisk (if you have a floppy disk drive) or download a bootable CD image from www.bootdisk.com to wipe out the hard drive. Lots of howto windows information on that website too. If you have to install a windows 9x version 98 would be better then 95 IMHO. 98 supports USB for one thing and you probably can still find drivers on the web if anything special is needed.