all about the Compaq Contura Aero isn't it neat?

Introduction

The Compaq Contura Aero laptop is an ultralight, cheap, sub-notebook. It used a slow, energy efficient CPU and had only the bare-bones necessities. It was, and is, more than enough computer to word process with. Compaq discontinued this laptop due to poor sales rather early on. It still is a great machine to write on, but it is getting more and more difficult to find support. The following information is my attempt to help fill the void. All of this information was provided by kind individuals of the Aero Community. This site is not associated with Compaq. Thank you all very much!

Currently, the best resource for the Aero is the following FAQ and Uli Hansen's Aero Page.

The FAQ

It is here where you will find all sorts of collected lore of a community of aero users. Topics include: How to install a new harddrive, how to upgrade the OS, and much much more.

The FAQ is avaliable in a variety of formats:

• A mulitpart version in HTML.
• A Windows .hlp file
• ASCII Text Format from rtfm.mit.edu
• I also keep a copy of the Aero FAQ on this server, in ASCII, zip, and gzip format

Other Documents

• My Handy Download List of current Compaq softpaqs that pertain to the Aero
• Christian's replacement harddrive list
• The Faq on how to use Linux with an Aero by Ali Albayrak and Harald.T.Alvestrand.
• Some good documents on various Operating Systems and the Aero:
  • 4mb Laptop HOWTO
  • Some other pages on sticking Linux on your aero: One, Two, Three, Four, Five
  • Kenneth Harker's Linux Laptop home page
  • Operating systems vs. the Aero by Reed Wade OS swapper extraordinaire)
• Other Aero Pages:
  • Technical experiences with the Compaq Contura Aero
  • Utilities for the internal PC Speaker on the aero
  • A Little Aero Page with lotsa good information on harddrives, video modes and stuff. Now defunct.
  • Ruel Hernandez's Aero Page has many interesting aero links
  • Contura Aero Land

Compaq Corporation's Official Stuff

• Contura Aero Family Maintenance and Service Guide.
• One of the Aero Help files in Windows 3.1 .hlp format.
• Compaq's Technical Support for the Compaq Aero.
• Compaq's Information on the Aero
• Compaq's Service and Support stuff (FAQs and Files).
  • ConturaAero
  • Downloadables
• Some old Compaq Product Information

Pictures of the Aero

• The expansion port pinout, thanks Guillermo Kleinlein
• The Aero gets the Axe, thanks Loring Chien for the scan
• Photographs by Javier Hernandez of the Aero in various states of disassembly.
• Photos by Javi of the Aero's motherboard.
• Diagrams of the Aero procured by Steve Lawson
• Photographs of the infernal aero hinge problem and a fix in Japanese.
• More photos by Wagner Yotov of the inside of the Aero.
• Steve Lawson scanned in his new Clean Track trackball thingy. He reports that it seems to help.

The Incredibly Wonderous Compaq Aero Mailing List!

• The info file from the Compaq Aero Mailing List
• To receive the lastest info on the aero mailing list, please sende mail to majordomo@aisb.org with "info aero" as the body of the email message
• You can also access the mailing list as a newsgroup news://news.aisb.org/aisb.lists.aero.
• The Archives of the old Aero Mailing List; some examples of what people post:
  • How do I keep my clutch (the screen-hinge-thingy) from breaking?
  • How do I update my ROMs?
  • How do I install Windows '95 off CD via winlink
  • I have Windows '95 installed, now how do I get my floppy (and other PCMCIA stuff) to work?

Miscellaneous Other Stuff

• Sounds in .wav format that sound OK with the internal speaker driver.
• Info on Duracell NiMH Batteries in Acrobat format.
• Files that you may want for your aero.
• Another great place for information on all laptops is the newsgroup comp.sys.laptop. Be sure to put "aero" somewhere in you subject line so other Aero users can do key-word searches to find material easily.
• external parallel port hard drive
• Installing Windows 95/98 to a Clean Disk
• BootDisk.Com has all sorts of great tools
• FileMaven is a great freeware WinLink replacement

In case you are interested