Acer Aspire 1400 deleted 8Mb partition

I have managed using FDISK to destroy the 8Mb partition which I guess enabled the boot process. Similar to Compaq ROMpaq I think.

The Laptop fans/power light up for 3 seconds, initial Acer Aspire graphic screen then switch off.

Key boot keys seem to have little effect (doesn’t boot far enough). Acer have not provided any support. This is a second hand PC!!

Boot disks/CD do not have any effect? Any ideas before I upset the user/owner?