Is it even possible for ME to install Windows XP?

[sulli389]

My SATA hard drive recently decided to burn out on me. After running to bestbuy, purchasing another one, and installing it (in exactly the same configuration as the previous one) I am faced with the problem of putting Windows XP Pro on it. It might be important to note here that on the package it says it is "not desighned to provide full version desktop windows licenses" it being an upgrade.

I've run FDISK, partitioned the (160 GB) drive and formatted it. My problem is everytime I attempt to load windows by putting in the CD it doesn't read. I tried using floppy boot disks created from the XP utility but upon startup the screen reads "Disk I/O Error". If I try to use the command prompt to read the CD it states that it isn't ready to read or something like that.

Is there something I can do, or would I be better off just leaving the job to a professional?

[GX1_Man]

Disk IO error usually referes to a hardware fault with the floppy drive. Has it worked correctly in the past? You could have knocked a cable off while playing in the case, and I suspect that is the issue. Try removing and reseating the floppy cable.

You should be able to boot witth the XP CD. The floppy approach is not needed or recommended. You WILL need the SATA drivers from the floppy that came with the drive. You have to press F6 to load the appropriate driver when you see the prompt onscreen. What make and model of drive?

you will need a previous qualifying version of windows to use the upgrade CD.  Insert that CD when requested.

[sulli389]

Wow! Thanks a lot for the quick reply . The thing that I'm finding puzzling about this is that the floppy drive does work, I used an old Windows ME boot disk to run FDISK and FORMAT for partitioning and formatting the drive. The only time the Disk I/O Error happens is when I attempt to boot using the Windows XP floppy (maybe its the program that created the 6 boot floppies??? hmmm...)

The drive itself is a Seagate 160 GB SATA HD with a 8MB cache (the same as the original harddrive). I realize that earlier I hadn't installed the drivers for the SATA, but the problem here is that the CD never initializes, however it does boot with the floppy showing something like the following:

Starting Caldera DR-DOS

VDISK R 1.3 Virtual Disk Drive
Virtual Disk Drive: C: (6000 kb, 512 bytes)

Bad or missing command interpreter Please enter a valid
filename (e.g. C:\Command.com) or just press enter to retry.

After reviewing the manual for the hard drive it looks like there should be a prompt for installation of the OS upon the installation of the HD drivers but I can't figure out how to get those suckers installed from the drive floppy or the drive CD. (I'm not sure if this matters or not, but I tried the installation both with and without the drive partitioned and formated as C:)

Any suggestions would be greatly apprectiated

THANX

[GX1_Man]

Why are you trying to boot from floppies rather than an XP CD? Is that a genuine Microsoft disc?

[sulli389]

I'm trying to boot with floppies because the computer just simply won't boot off of the Windows XP CD I have. I thought it was because maybe there was somehow something wrong with the CD drive drivers after putting in the new HD, but maybe the problem is that the CD itself isn't bootable, maybe it is only an upgrade that needs a version of windows already running on the PC??? If that's the case than the previous version of Windows I have is sitting on my burnt out HD and I only have the "Reinstallation CD" because Dell doesn't include any actual Microsoft OS CDs to back up their preinstalled versions of Windows. The product key is valid for sure, I used this CD to upgrade my OS from XP Home to XP Pro.

The CD itself is a Microsoft CD, but its not a full retail version. I purchased it through my University's software program whereby microsoft allows the University (in return for a substantial fee I'm sure) to sell its students deeply discounted software like Windows XP.

[soybean]

The CD itself is a Microsoft CD, but its not a full retail version. I purchased it through my University's software program whereby microsoft allows the University (in return for a substantial fee I'm sure) to sell its students deeply discounted software like Windows XP.

Are you absolutely sure that's NOT a full version CD?  Seems unlikely to me.  I have a nephew who attends Ohio State U.  He bought a Win XP Pro & MS Office 2003 package at student pricing.  The Win XP CD was full version.  After his first year, he bought a bigger hard hard, which I installed for him.  It was a normal, full Windows XP installation.

Did you have your BIOS set to boot from CD-ROM?

[sulli389]

On the back of the CD sleeve it states "the enclosed media contains software for use with a volume license upgrade on existing PCs that already have a full version operating system license. Microsoft Volue Licenses are not designed to provide full version desktop Windows licenses. A full version Windows licens is supplied at the time of C purchase by the PC manufacturer or may be purchased from a Microsoft retailer a a packaged product or with a non-peripheral computer component from a system builder." Now as to whether or not this means that this is or is not a complete version is a little hard for me to translate. I suppose it could be a full version, but if it is that means there is something wrong with my CD drive because it won't boot from that disk.

[GX1_Man]

Stick it in someone else's computer and see if it is bootable.  

[sulli389]

I stuck that Windows disk in a different computer and lo and behold the disk is bootable. I finally realized that I had exhausted all other options and the problem must be the DVD-ROMs I was putting the CD in. After popping open the case and plugging in a CD-RW ROM I had laying around the system FINALLY booted from the Windows CD and all is well!! Thanks for your suggestions

[GX1_Man]

Glad you are all fixed up and thanks for posting back.