fresh XP install problem

[fanch72]

Hi,

I had a HD partitioned in 2 partitions, C and D. On the C I had winXP and softwares on the D. I tried later to join the C and the D using Partition Magic. PM said that the size of the clusters were not the same on the 2 partitions, so I tried to change the one on the C. The process unfortunatelly failed... Resulting in a crash of my computer. So I decided to make a clean install... and start from scratch. I inserted my WINXP cd and started the installation from the boot. The install asked me if I wanted to delete the partition and format the whole HD, which I did. Then all files from the CD were copied on the HD and it said that the PC would restart. I took the CD out of the cd-player and ... nothing. The OS could not be found. If the CD was left in the CD-player, well the all process starts again, inpecting the drive, copying the files...
What should I do? It seems that there is a problem with my drive, but what????

Thanks for some help.

 

[aquias]

My recommendation is to get a windows 98 bootdisk (or create one) and run FDisk from the bootdisk, format using the disk and then try the XP install (you'll have to reformat the drive again to get NTFS however this should remove any FAT or remaining file corruption).

 

[DTSMAN]

boot from your PM disk and do all your disk maintenance there and then setup in bios to boot from cd and boot from the windows cd.

 

[linney]

Only press the "Any Key" button once at the start of the booting process, if you press it at every restart during Setup the whole setup process will start again. Do not remove the XP CD until Setup has finished (after approx. 39 minutes).

I'm probably wrong (apologies in advance) but you seem to have removed the XP CD after only the setup files were copied during the first early part of installation.

HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP (Q313348)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q313/3/48.asp

Read the paragraph,
"How to Partition and Format Your Hard Disk by Using Windows XP Setup."


For more help (shows enlargeable screenshots) go here.

http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/InstallXPPro/installxppro1.htm

Again, apologies if I have misunderstood your problem.

 

[fanch72]

Hi!
if I leave the CD in the cdplayer, the whole process starts from the begining. If I take the CD out and do nothing, I get "Boot failure, insert system disk and press enter", if I press a key before this message, the computer locks itself.
I really dont get it...

 

[linney]

Your hard drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software (which runs from a bootable floppy) that can thoroughly check out you hard drive for faults and also perform a format of the drive.


There are some useful troubleshooting tips in these articles, especially the solutions involving the Bios, Bios virus scanners, and removing USB devices.

xp setup
thread779-576242

310064 - HOW TO: Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation When You Upgrade

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310064&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316639 - HOW TO: Prepare to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316639&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Setup stops responding or displays an unrecoverable error message

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811267&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Windows Setup Hangs When "Setup Is Starting Windows" Screen Appears

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=217073

How to force a Hardware Abstraction Layer during an upgrade or an installation of Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299340/EN-US/

How to Disable a Service or Device that Prevents Windows from Starting

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310602&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH