I can't format my hard drive

[hernan]

I tried to format my hard drive to reinstall Window XP, so I used the Windows CD to reinstall it, but, for some reason it failed. As far as I know, the installation program copied all files to my hard drive and tried to reboot. But something happened and ended the installation process.

After that, when I started my computer, windows asked me wich operative system I wanted to use. And gave me two choises "Windows XP...." or "Install Windows XP.....".

I first tried with the second option, but it failed, the I pressed F8 and selected from the menu the option of starting with the last known working configuration (or something like that) and my computer worked exactly like it used to.

But that wasn't what I wanted, I wanted to format my hard drive, so I turn my computer off, and tried again with the Windows XP CD. Finally, from something that loked like a DOS program (with a blue background) I chose to install Windows XP.

1 second after the formatting process began, my computer restarted.  :-?

I get mad so I used the bootable diskette I had with the "format.exe" application and tried to use it. A message appeared saying that the "format.exe" doesn't work in DOS.

I tried with a very old Norton DOS, only to find out that (according to Norton) I can't format my hard drive.



The problem is that I want to know why my computer seems to sabotage every attempt of reinstalling Windows.

I really need help, I just wanted to do a clean installation of Windows XP, and now I cant even start my computer without a boot disk.



I don't know what to do. Please help me.

[Backdated]

Download and extract this archive to a folder. Run the resultant bootdisk.exe with a blank diskette in the floppy drive. This will create a useable bootdisk.
Use the floppy to boot the faulty XP machine, run Delpart and delete all partitions.
Reboot from the XP CD and follow the prompts.

[hernan]

Thanks, bootdisk worked very well, and so did delpart; but when the Windows installer was formating my hard drive; something happend that restarted my computer. This time, the progress was 20%.

I tried again, but the Windows program now says that there is a problem with the file "/i386/ntkrnlmp.exe" and that the error code is "7".

I don't know what it means, and every time I try to start again the Windows installation, the same message appears.

 :-/

[dl65]

Hernan...... Is your win xp disk a original or a copy ?  Is it clean ?
Did or does your hard drive have any partitions on it ?
Does your Win XP cd have SP1 (SP2 ) on it ?
Did you try simply putting the win XP disk in the cd rom and rebooting with it in.
It is bootable and should have formatted the drive and installed win xp on it .


dl65  

[hernan]

Guru....   My Windows disc is a copy of a friend's original CD and it is SP2; I eliminate the partitions on my hard drive (it had 2).

I did exactly that, but the problem is that after it starts to load the files, a error message appears. The error is in the file "/i386/ntkrnlmp.exe" and it also says that the error code is 7.

Maybe there is something wrong with my Windows XP CD.


I don't know. I just wanted to know if the message that my CD delivers is normal and if it is a problem of my CD or my hard drive (the two times my computer rebooted without any previous warning was when it was triying to format my HD)

[dl65]

 Hernan .......  How far into the install does it get before the problem ?

When you were trying to do it using the bootdisk in the floppy drive ....... were you able to successfully format your C: drive or did that fail as well ?

dl65  

[Backdated]

It sounds very much as though you have a failing hard drive. Run the vendors diagnostic tools if possible.
Is this the only hard drive in the system?
Is the copied CD certified malware/virus free?

[hernan]

Guru:  the installation didn't even started, it failed in the formatting process. But I think that the problem must to be in the CD; because now when my computer is suposed to boot from the CD a message appears informing that there were problems to do that.

And I'm 100% sure that the CD worked, because I used it before, when I installed Window XP in my two computers (mine and my dad's).

I guess I will have to ask my friend for his original CD and try that. but I'm quite worried because of backdated's suggestion that my hard drive may be failing.


I have only one question: in case my hard drive is failing, what do I do? do I have to throw it? is there any way of using a damaged hard drive?

[Backdated]

There are other factors to take into consideration first. Get yourself a known good, malware/virus free XP CD and try again. I suggested drive failure because of your formatting problem and the fact that an XP setup starts with a filecopy from CD to hard drive. The actual installation is run largely from the hard drive.
If a CD is corrupted, any messages usually reflect that so the finger is pointing firmly at the hard drive or what it contains. If your CD is infected, then it's likely at some point that the drive will become infected. This may well be your problem.

If a drive is failing, dump it. It cannot be trusted and that's the bottom line.
Who is the drive manufacturer? There will pobably be diagnostic tools available at the vendors support site.

[GX1_Man]

In case your Google button is broken:

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1122425778

Using someone else's CD is not entirely legal. How are you activating it?

[hernan]

Thanks, everyone. I will try with another copy of Windows XP, probably my friends original Windows CD. But I wont be able to see him for a couple of days, so I'll probably wait and try then with a different CD.


I really don't know how legal (or illegal) is using a friend's Windows XP CD. But I use it because a new copy is very expensive and my video card (a GeForce 4) didn't work properly with Linux (actually, Linux had several problems and it was very hard to start my computer after installin my video card).

I don't know if it is illegal because I didn't buy any illegal copy, I just used my friend's.

I also don't know what do you (GX1_Man) mean with how did I activated the copy. When Windows asked me for a serial number I used my friend's.

[Backdated]

Using a copied CD as such isn't illegal, but using what is essentially a stolen serial key is. Both you and your friend will face prosecution if caught.
Run the hard drive diagnostic tests while you're waiting. You may yet need to buy a new hard drive.

[GX1_Man]

I don't know if it is illegal because I didn't buy any illegal copy, I just used my friend's.

I also don't know what do you (GX1_Man) mean with how did I activated the copy. When Windows asked me for a serial number I used my friend's.

In 30 days you will understand.

[Backdated]

In 30 days you will understand.

Not if it's a copy of a corporate edition.

[Backdated]

Epasho, I think you need to remove your above post forthwith. Your time would be better spent learning how to properly burn CDs raher than distributing stolen software.