Solid White Light on Ethernet port

[UPCRS-]

Good Afternoon,

I am currently working on a HP 2000-369WM.  Was having a problem in that it would not shut completely down.  I tried making sure that all of the current drivers were installed etc.  In the process, I noticed that there was a solid white led lit up on the ethernet port that will not shut off unless I disconnect the power adapter and remove the battery.  I eventually go to the point where I thought it would be best to use the recovery partition to restore the computer.  It was missing completely.  I asked the owner, and he said that he had brought it in to another person to have them fix it.  I ordered recovery media directly from HP.  I have run the recovery media multiple times, and it has failed everytime.  It gets to the point where it says "Windows setting up for first time use".  Needless to say, this laptop is not useable without windows, and am looking for some suggestions on things to try.  I tried contacting HP support and they of course told me that the laptop was out of warranty, please fork over your first born response.  I tried telling them that I had just purchased the recovery media and that was what I was having problems with, but of course they gave me the same response.  

Looking forward to some helpful suggestions.

[UPCRS-]

O.K. I have received further information.  According to the owner, there was a power surge from a nearby lightning strike.  This strike fried his DSL modem/router, phone, TV's ethernet port, and likely his computer ethernet port.  Is there away to get around this in recovery mode or is it possible to replace just the motherboard?