I don't know the keystroke(s) needed to get into the BIOS. It flashes on the screen for about 2/10 second. FWIW, it's an older HP (HP Pavilion ZT1190).

With the Recovery Console, I've tried FIXMBR, FIXBOOT, and CHKDSK. It doesn't let me do much more.

I've also tried a utility I found online called FIXNTLDR (at http://www.tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm.)

My friend told me he's running XP, but couldn't say if it was either Home or Professional, or even the service pack he was running.

Now I've discovered another problem. The G, H, and apostrophe keys no longer work.