New HD installed, Win2k won't install on it

[Shutterbug]

I hope someone here can help me.

I just installed a new Maxtor 250GB HD in my Compaq computer from 2001. It has a PIII 550 processor. For some reason I can't get Win2k to install on the HD. I've checked the BIOS and tried every different combination of installation.

When I tried to boot the computer from the Win2k boot diskettes I got the following error message:
"Disk I/O error".  When I try to run the first executable program from the a prompt, it just freezes up.
Yet the floppy drive will run the Maxtor PowerMax HD testing software from a diskette. So it's not the floppy drive.

I also tried to run the MaxBlast install program from both a floppy and a CD and both get to the point of beginning the installation and then it freezes up.

When I try to boot with the Win2k CD it gives me the following error message:
"Operating system not found"

If anyone can help me figure out what could be causing all this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

[Fed]

You should set your bios for the cdrom to boot first then try & boot it with the w2k disk in the drive.

[Shutterbug]

Thanks for the advice.

I tried changing the boot order to CD first and Floppy first. Neither helped.

[Shutterbug]

Thanks for the advice.  I tried that and I get the error, "Operating system not found".

I tried changing the boot order to floppy first too, no luck.

[Fed]

Huh? Now you've really confused me  
Start again...
You set your bios to make the cdrom as the 1st boot?
You exiting & saved your changes? (Sometimes tricky)
You booted your computer with the w2k disk in the cdrom?

[Shutterbug]

Yes to all of that.
When I boot with the floppy drive first, it says "disk i/o error".

When i changed the bios to boot the cd drive first and save and reboot with the win2k cd in, it says "operating system not found"

[Fed]

Are you sure all the hardware is connected up properly?

[Fed]

When i changed the bios to boot the cd drive first and save and reboot with the win2k cd in, it says "operating system not found"

Sort of looks like your computer isn't finding the cdrom.

[Shutterbug]

All of the software works fine on another computer. My floppy drive and CD drive work to run the MaxBlast software, up until the point of installing the HD software. So it's hard for me to think that there's an issue with the floppy drive or the CD-rom drive. Any other suggestions?

[Raptor]

1. Does the BIOS correctly detect the new Hard Disk Drive?
2. Are jumpers correctly set?

[Shutterbug]

Thank you everyone for your help and advice. After trying numerous things, something finally worked today. Everything is set. I was just a little disappointed to find out that my 250GB HD is only 233GB due to using Windows. Oh well, I'm just happy it works!

[Fed]

Are you going to tell us what you did to fix it?

[Shutterbug]

I got an original win2k disk and installed it. For some reason it only saw part of the new HD, but I was able to run the MaxBlast Installation cd once I had windows installed, and it created a partition with the remaining part of the HD.

Thanks again!