My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed. It
was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new win
xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I don't
know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it would
start installing automatically?
Thanks for any help I can be given.
Judy

"JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:979252DD-AFC9-4C0F-81D1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed.
> It
> was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new
> win
> xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I
> don't
> know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it
> would
> start installing automatically?
> Thanks for any help I can be given.
> Judy

You have to set the laptop to boot from the CD.
When it starts up, look at the bottom of the screen as it starts (before
windows starts), and it should show what F key to press. (Probably F12 or
something like that).

HTH

You're going to have to change the boot order in the BIOS so it starts from
your CD drive. Try pressing F2 key after switching on the laptop. That'll
get you to BIOS settings. Look for Boot Order or something like that. If you
post your laptop model, someone may be able to point you to Dell support
site for your laptop user guide.

"JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:979252DD-AFC9-4C0F-81D1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed.
> It
> was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new
> win
> xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I
> don't
> know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it
> would
> start installing automatically?
> Thanks for any help I can be given.
> Judy

In news:(E-Mail Removed),
John typed on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:53:28 -0700:
> You're going to have to change the boot order in the BIOS so it
> starts from your CD drive. Try pressing F2 key after switching on the
> laptop. That'll get you to BIOS settings. Look for Boot Order or
> something like that. If you post your laptop model, someone may be
> able to point you to Dell support site for your laptop user guide.

To add to John's and Gordon's replies, the install disc if you have it
set correctly to boot from the CD drive, you will see a message saying
press a key to boot from the CD. Few CDs actually asks you this and the
Windows disc is one of those. You only have a few seconds to press the
key, so if you miss it, the CD still won't boot.

--
Bill
Windows 2000 SP4 (5.00.2195)
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC

"John" wrote:

> You're going to have to change the boot order in the BIOS so it starts from
> your CD drive. Try pressing F2 key after switching on the laptop. That'll
> get you to BIOS settings. Look for Boot Order or something like that. If you
> post your laptop model, someone may be able to point you to Dell support
> site for your laptop user guide.
>
> "JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:979252DD-AFC9-4C0F-81D1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed.
> > It
> > was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new
> > win
> > xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I
> > don't
> > know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it
> > would
> > start installing automatically?
> > Thanks for any help I can be given.
> > Judy
>
>
OK, here is the info on laptop:
Dell Inspiron 6400 Intel Core Duo for xp

The boot sequence is:
1. Diskette Drive
2. Internal HDD
3. USB Storage Device
4. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
and Onboard NIC (which was not numbered)

I don't want to change anything until I know exactly what to do.

Thanks so much for the help!
Judy

In news:13C07F29-D09F-48C0-986F-(E-Mail Removed),
JUDYAONE typed on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:23:18 -0700:
> OK, here is the info on laptop:
> Dell Inspiron 6400 Intel Core Duo for xp
>
> The boot sequence is:
> 1. Diskette Drive
> 2. Internal HDD
> 3. USB Storage Device
> 4. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
> and Onboard NIC (which was not numbered)
>
> I don't want to change anything until I know exactly what to do.
>
> Thanks so much for the help!
> Judy

Place the CD/DVD above the Internal HDD.

--
Bill
Windows 2000 SP4 (5.00.2195)
Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC

"JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:13C07F29-D09F-48C0-986F-(E-Mail Removed)...
|
|
| "John" wrote:
|
| > You're going to have to change the boot order in the BIOS so it starts from
| > your CD drive. Try pressing F2 key after switching on the laptop. That'll
| > get you to BIOS settings. Look for Boot Order or something like that. If you
| > post your laptop model, someone may be able to point you to Dell support
| > site for your laptop user guide.
| >
| > "JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
| > news:979252DD-AFC9-4C0F-81D1-(E-Mail Removed)...
| > > My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed.
| > > It
| > > was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new
| > > win
| > > xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I
| > > don't
| > > know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it
| > > would
| > > start installing automatically?
| > > Thanks for any help I can be given.
| > > Judy
| >
| >
| OK, here is the info on laptop:
| Dell Inspiron 6400 Intel Core Duo for xp
|
| The boot sequence is:
| 1. Diskette Drive
| 2. Internal HDD
| 3. USB Storage Device
| 4. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
| and Onboard NIC (which was not numbered)
|
| I don't want to change anything until I know exactly what to do.
|
| Thanks so much for the help!
| Judy

Change the order (instruction on screen) so that the CD/DVD/CD-RW DRIVE is #1 or #2 in the list.
At least before the Internal HDD.

You are also going to have to download all the drivers for your laptop from the DELL site.
Go to http://support.dell.com and when given the choice, enter the "express service code" found on a
small black label on the laptop. This will assure you that you have the correct choice of hardware
drivers.

You do know that you could have ordered a Windows CD from Dell and you would have gotten a Drivers
Disk with it.

"Richard in AZ" wrote:

>
> "JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:13C07F29-D09F-48C0-986F-(E-Mail Removed)...
> |
> |
> | "John" wrote:
> |
> | > You're going to have to change the boot order in the BIOS so it starts from
> | > your CD drive. Try pressing F2 key after switching on the laptop. That'll
> | > get you to BIOS settings. Look for Boot Order or something like that. If you
> | > post your laptop model, someone may be able to point you to Dell support
> | > site for your laptop user guide.
> | >
> | > "JUDYAONE" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> | > news:979252DD-AFC9-4C0F-81D1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> | > > My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed.
> | > > It
> | > > was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new
> | > > win
> | > > xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I
> | > > don't
> | > > know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it
> | > > would
> | > > start installing automatically?
> | > > Thanks for any help I can be given.
> | > > Judy
> | >
> | >
> | OK, here is the info on laptop:
> | Dell Inspiron 6400 Intel Core Duo for xp
> |
> | The boot sequence is:
> | 1. Diskette Drive
> | 2. Internal HDD
> | 3. USB Storage Device
> | 4. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
> | and Onboard NIC (which was not numbered)
> |
> | I don't want to change anything until I know exactly what to do.
> |
> | Thanks so much for the help!
> | Judy
>
> Change the order (instruction on screen) so that the CD/DVD/CD-RW DRIVE is #1 or #2 in the list.
> At least before the Internal HDD.
>
> You are also going to have to download all the drivers for your laptop from the DELL site.
> Go to http://support.dell.com and when given the choice, enter the "express service code" found on a
> small black label on the laptop. This will assure you that you have the correct choice of hardware
> drivers.
>
> You do know that you could have ordered a Windows CD from Dell and you would have gotten a Drivers
> Disk with it.
>
>

Big Sigh....no, I did not know she could have ordered win CD from Dell.

Anyway, I did change the set up to CD/DVD. Now it asks if I want to create
a separate partition or use the C: Partition (Fat 32) Should I create a
separate partition, is this a good idea?

You guys are great for helping me help my daughter, she will think I am
smart in my old age, lol.

Judy

>My daughters laptop had to be sent away to have new hard drive installed. It
>was sent back without the OS which had been xp home. So I bought a new win
>xp home sp3 but when I try to install it all I get is the c prompt. I don't
>know what to put in to make it run, I thought once I put the CD in it would
>start installing automatically?
>Thanks for any help I can be given.
>Judy

Insert the installation CD and then power on the computer. When you
see the screen that shows the Dell logo, press F12 and choose to boot
from the CD/DVD. That should get you going.

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

>Big Sigh....no, I did not know she could have ordered win CD from Dell.
>
>Anyway, I did change the set up to CD/DVD. Now it asks if I want to create
>a separate partition or use the C: Partition (Fat 32) Should I create a
>separate partition, is this a good idea?
>
>You guys are great for helping me help my daughter, she will think I am
>smart in my old age, lol.
>
>Judy

No partitions, use C:\ and format this NTFS (Quick) for the sake of
security and performance.

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]