Compaq Presario CQ60 stuck in windows stage 3 loop. Can't restore W/F11 & have no restore disk

[BettyY80]

I'm trying again to fix the endless loop problem that Microsoft blessed us with several years ago with Vista.  My old computer died and my husbands Compaq Presario CQ60 is stuck in the stage 3 of 3 update loop.  I have pressed the F11 but cannot access the partition to factory reset - I just get a prompt to put a cd in the drive which I do not have.  I also used F2 and F8 but cannot find the restore function.  I tried to boot and run command prompt but it goes straight to the loop process without going to the command prompt.  The computer was only a little over a year old when this happened so is still like new.  I have equipment that will not run on newer versions of Windows so I really need to get this fixed (I already have newer computers with Win.10).  Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Does HP have a recovery disk for these?  I really need to get this thing running again!!! The equipment is for my business (and no it can't be updated to work with win10).  MANY THANKS!!!

[WAWood]

@BettyY80 

Sorry, but to be honest, I don't have good news for you.

There really is not any restore function, from the standpoint of repairing a damaged Windows installation but leaving the accounts, settings, data, and applications intact.

Pressing F11 starts the HP Recovery Manager, but I don't know why the reset does not work.  If the drive has failed, that could cause it and you would then not be able to install a fresh version of Windows, either.  Being stuck in the update loop is nearly always caused by a failing drive.

Also, HP has not stocked Vista media in years, nor have the other recovery media vendors.  So, even if you replace the drive, you will not be able to find Vista to reinstall it.