Jump to content
xisto Community
Sign in to follow this  
Alex_W

Trying To Install Windows Xp And Have Problems PLEASE HELP

Recommended Posts

Hey I am trying to reinstall windows xp. I used KillDisk Pro to format the partition and now when I restart my computer I get an error saying Error loading operating system. I tryed to put my windows xp disk in but it won't boot. I looked at my BIOS settings and that is fine. Can anybody please help me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well, i dont know about what kind of computer you have...like who it was made by but i know that if it was made by dell they should have shipped out a CD that you can boot from and it will walk you through re-installing the process and i have done it before, and along the way I was told to delete the partition that the current system was on..have you tryed that? if it is a dell call their support or talk to them online..they should help if not i dont really know what to tell you....you can try googling the error code and any number that may come with it

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well, i dont know about what kind of computer you have...like who it was made by but i know that if it was made by dell they should have shipped out a CD that you can boot from and it will walk you through re-installing the process and i have done it before, and along the way I was told to delete the partition that the current system was on..have you tryed that? if it is a dell call their support or talk to them online..they should help if not i dont really know what to tell you....you can try googling the error code and any number that may come with it


Well I don't think it is a dell because I bought this computer off of a person and he didnt format it at all so he left me to do it. He didnt give me a cd or anything for it but I will go and ask him if it is a dell. How do you delete a partition because I physicly didnt delete the partition just the information on it. I can't boot a CD so I can't use the windows xp disc to delete the partition. I have googled this for a bit and usually this happens when they are installing windows xp not when it is off. I have went on microsoft and they didnt know eather so I don't really know what to do right now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Could you give me the files for fdisk because all I see is fdisk for windows ME and 98 I don't see windows XP and when I try putting those files on my floppy it doesnt read the floppy when it boots. Or tell me the files I need to put on. That would be a great help.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well, if you can get ahold of him or the disk it would be really good, because i have no ideal how you would delete the partition without the disk that dell provided...on the tower anywhere does it show the dells logo? or a white sticket with two codes on it one is 7 digits long numbers and letters, and the other is 16 numbers...but still try and get ahold of that disk because i would have no clue how to delete the partition without it..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok, you can do 1 of two things.1st thing. You need to go into your bios settings and first make sure boot from CD is first BEFORE boot from hard drive. You dont need to do a fdisk.. your not even past the part of it reading the CDROM. You dont even need a Hard drive to boot from the cdrom so fdisk will not buy you anything. So like I said first thing to do is make sure boot from CDROM is first.. and make sure you have the windows XP cd in before you turn on the computer. Then usually it will say press any key to boot from cd. If that fails and you still can't get it to boot from the cdrom at all , then you need to approach the second solutionSecond solution. Find yourself a bootable windows 98 SE floppy disk. You can even make a boot disk from a windows 98 machine. You can even possibly download on from the internet.Here are the steps: 1) Insert the windows 98 boot disk in the floppy drive 2) Insert the windows XP cd in the Cdrom drive 3) Boot the computer.. hopefully it will boot to floppy, if not the again you need to check your bios settings to set boot from floppy before boot from hard drive. 4) while you booting from floppy, select the option to boot with CDROM support 5) After boot up, it should tell you the drive letter of your new cdrom .. usually D: 6) type: cd d: 7) type: setup.exe or it might be in a lower directory.. can't quite remember off the top of my headThat should then boot from CDROM and tell it to format the disk drive after the cdroom boots.It should then install everything.. hopefully it will detect all the components on your computer.. if not, you will need to find the drivers for each component.. like video card, sound card, modem card, ethernet card, and any other thingsWell good luck

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This problem is not uncommon at all. I can see the most logical solutions have been posted. A couple more things to try are taking the HDD to another computer, wich could even give the chance to back up files, if needed, and some times using the right application, you could fix the HDD. In some cases, tha computer turns out to be a lap top, and it's not very easy to take the HDD and install it in a nother computer, you would need a cable converter or something like an adapter. I would suggest using Knoppix, wich detects many of the main components of computers and enables you to use network cards, that way you can back up. Of course, as has already been said, the most straight and quick solution is to boot using the CD ROM, eliminate partitions and format. To me that's the last resource, but if you don't mind deleting stuff, it's ok.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i had a problem just like your when i tried to install linux on my laptop, here what you do:

my laptop is one of the new toshiba, so dosnt come flopy drive. :P

i downloaded the windows 98 cdrom boot from:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
im not sure if thats the file i used, because was 2 months ago. :D

i burned it to a cd rom using another computer and put in the drive and set to iniciate(boot) from the cd-rom.

the windows 98 boot iniciated and then was just reinstall my master boot record that has been deleted by linux and reformated my disk.

than you put your windows xp cd-rom and install normally. :D


hope it works. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok, you can do 1 of two things.



someone should just email him and walk him through it while on the net. he doesn't have a clue and even if you have a little clue, it can still be tricky with the drivers and getting everything set up perfectly. he didn't mention he even had a cd rom drive. he just said he couldn't use one. he just bought this computer used and nobody knows what kinda messed up crap that could be wrong with it.

but yes, need to see if cd rom can be booted from startup if you have a bootable disk. if not, have to boot from floppy and go in to dos to format, then reinstall operating system by changing the drive to :P or letter you used to distiguish your drive. i use "i" for my r/w drive. no if can't even boot up from the cd rom drive, screw fdisk and formating, ask for your money back because your gonna spend more time than it's worth to get this computer going(for a used computer)

some companies give you a bootable operating system disk to format and reinstall the os, but even if you don't have one, doesn't mean you can't get one. THEN! when you format and reinstall, you will now run in to the problem of the software key unless someone was smart enough to stick the sticker on the back of your pc. if not, you have to steal one or buy one. microsoft is good about giving them out over the phone if you're good at little white lies that don't hurt anyone :) but i am not promoting any illegal activity. just telling you what has worked for me in the past when i knew a computer came preinstalled with the miscrosoft os. i can do without talking to the middle easerns for technical support because i can't understand a word they say and find out they they have a problem understanding me too.

i hope you got a good deal on this computer you are having problems with when a brand new one with everything you need for basic online/offline activity is around $250 not including the monitor which you can always buy used for $25 or so if ya know where to look. to me, buying a used computer is not worth it anymore when computer prices have come down over 500% in the last 10 years and just upgrading is even cheaper if you can do it yourself.

i say donate all used computer to the poor....but not out of country to places like CAMEROON where they will just use the computer you gave them to scam you later on the internet...ok. off topic. i will stop now....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well, if you formated your computer sometime before you wont have problems, the firts time i did it, i spend 5 hours reinstalling the windows, now i take up to half an hour and do this each 15 days, just to see my pc in max speed! :):P:D dont need to give it back your pc like anwii says: ''ask for your money back because your gonna spend more time than it's worth to get this computer going'' :D firts thing to do:1-create a floopy disk with windows 98 boot oy a cd-rom with windows 98 boot2- when your computer starts press one of the functions on the keyboard (f1, f2...) i dont remember witch one you have to press.3- select to start your pc from the floopy that you created or from de cd-rom your created...4- if that works, great! the hard part is already over, just go fdisk and go follow the options in screen until there is an option to reformat yout hard drive....5- after reformating and fixing your master boot just poweroff and put your windows xp cd-rom on drive (if you have, if you dont have xp you''ll have to buy one or ... ) :P 6- Install windows xp.7- search for your hardware drivers if you dont have the drivers cds. try ''everest'' a program that says your drivers8- install your programs9- enjoyHope it work!!!!! :D if dont, send pm me for some part you didnt understand. :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well, if you formated your computer sometime before you wont have problems, the firts time i did it, i spend 5 hours reinstalling the windows, now i take up to half an hour and do this each 15 days, just to see my pc in max speed! :D:D:)

Other than it's completely useless to do it every 15 days... yeah the more often you do it the better you get.

1-create a floopy disk with windows 98 boot oy a cd-rom with windows 98 boot
2- when your computer starts press one of the functions on the keyboard (f1, f2...) i dont remember witch one you have to press.
3- select to start your pc from the floopy that you created or from de cd-rom your created...
4- if that works, great! the hard part is already over, just go fdisk and go follow the options in screen until there is an option to reformat yout hard drive....
5- after reformating and fixing your master boot just poweroff and put your windows xp cd-rom on drive (if you have, if you dont have xp you''ll have to buy one or ... ) :P
6- Install windows xp.
7- search for your hardware drivers if you dont have the drivers cds. try ''everest'' a program that says your drivers
8- install your programs
9- enjoy


I'll correct this a little:
1- make sure you have a bootable xp cd, every legal version should fulfil this criteria
2- go into the bios and make sure "boot from cd" is enabled, respectively that your cd drive is selected as a boot drive
3- turn off, insert cd, turn on, hit any key to boot from cd when it asks you to
4- follow instructions and install windows

You don't need to create a floppy disk nowadays, PCs can boot from the cd and you can format your drive during the installation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bad partition - this is easy. Options are

If the HDD had been partitioned with NTFS already - do this --->

1 - set BIOS to boot with the winxp CD, select to install windows, delete the partition, recreate it and continue on to format and install winxp

2 - OR set BIOS to start with win98 floppy, boot up and select CD Support, change to your winxp CD (drive), change to i386 - run winnt - go thru the winxp installation - deleting, recreating, formatting partitions, install windows

 

OR slave your hdd onto another winnt based machine and blow away the partion (never touch the small OEM on the hdd if this is an OEM machine)

 

If somehow it is FAT32 (highly unlikely as its OEM)

Just run fdisk and delete/recreate partions

 

Alternatively - OEM PCs come with Recovery CDs - you can try running this to reinstall winxp

 

Note - dont delete the OEM partion thats already on the Harddrive (small partition).

 

If you asked me - I had an OEM PC once - it had a winxp recovery CD - first thing I did - blow away the OEM partion - install winxp from my retail CD - get drivers and install other apps - all good. Last time I saw my recovery CD.

 

Let me know if you're still having problems - had worked for Microsoft Desktop for over 5 years this stuff is music to my ears. Theres more options than the above - post any messages you get and information like:

 

Brand of PC

Did it come with a recovery CD?

How big is the HDD

Win98 floppy ?

Errors yes errors important

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

it seem that the mbr of your hard drive was damged. you can got a dos or windows 98 boot disk and run this command fdisk /mbr, then re-install the OS you want to use. : ]hope this help .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.