Windows 7: Legacy boot disabled and I'm stuck

He can't get into the BIOS as of current. I had this problem with Windows Vista when my motherboard and CPU was failing. I couldn't solve it so I installed a new copy of Windows 7.

The problem is someone changed the BIOS from Legacy BIOS mode to EFI mode. There must be an option in the BIOS to change it back. The kids might of also set a password on the system, a EFI/BIOS password, and without it he is sunk.

Edwar is correct that the "Legacy" setting which could affect boot is if it was installed in UEFI mode (having a UEFI or MSR boot partition on a GPT disk instead of MBR) and was changed in BIOS setup to Legacy, OR if it was installed in Legacy and that was now disabled.

So you'll need to enter BIOS setup and patiently look through the Boot Options for Legacy setting to Enable or Disable - whichever it's set at change it to the other, save setting and reboot to see if it will start.

The kids might have had something in mind when changing the setting so see if you can find out what they were doing exactly and where. If they could change settings in the BIOS they'd be smart enough to remember approximately what and where they were doing this.

There are other ways to reset the BIOS to defaults given here: How To Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS). But first look thoroughly for the Legacy Mode settings. If you can post back camera snaps we can probably spot the problem if it was done in the BIOS. Find out for sure if you can.

As a last resort the worst case scenario is we can help you rescue your files and get the vastly superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which is the best possible install you can have of Win7, while the Compaq preinstalled Win7 is the worst possible install you can have of Win7.