In news:4f89d993$(E-Mail Removed),
Hot-Text wrote:
> "Paul" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:jmba2l$onl$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Sonnich Jensen wrote:
>>> On Apr 13, 11:48 pm, "Don Phillipson" <e...@SPAMBLOCK.ncf.ca> wrote:
>>>> "Sonnich Jensen" <sonnichjen...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>>
>>>> news:c7cd9360-9aa9-4502-83b7-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>
>>>>> I got a HP/Compaq nc6220 second hand, with the old HD deleted -
>>>>> almost - it boots but fails. Anyway I wanted to install XP on it,
>>>>> and took my previous XP CD,from which it loads (but does not
>>>>> offer to format the HD). At some point it crashes.
>>>>> The nc6220 has a sata HD, I think that is the problem.
>>>>> I also tried some old Win95 and 98 disks - similar result.
>>>>> Any ideas what I can do?
>>>>> When booting from a dos disk, there is no HD to be seen.... sata?
>>>>
>>>> Look first at what BIOS reports: if BIOS finds no HD, that
>>>> component is defective. Booting via DOS makes FAT-formatted HD
>>>> visible but cannot see NTFS-formatted drives. (I don't see why DOS
>>>> should fail to see a SATA HD unless partitioned too large.)
>>>
>>> The bios is vry simple but there is a HD test, last 30 mins, and the
>>> HD is ok
>>>
>>> There is not much to set up in the bios...
>>>
>>> Sonnich
>>
>> Have you tried testing with a Linux LiveCD ? You're not limited
>> to Windows for testing.
>
> Paul he say:
> bios Live setup test..
>
> Is not a Linux or a Windows for test..

Sure he did, at least later. Paul also claims that if the BIOS can't see
it then the drive is defective too. That isn't true either. As I have
drives that my BIOS can't see and there are nothing wrong with them. It
is just the BIOS isn't smart enough to know any better.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

Sonnich Jensen wrote:
> On Apr 14, 10:47 am, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
>> Sonnich Jensen wrote:
>>> On Apr 13, 11:48 pm, "Don Phillipson" <e...@SPAMBLOCK.ncf.ca> wrote:
>>>> "Sonnich Jensen" <sonnichjen...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:c7cd9360-9aa9-4502-83b7-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>> I got a HP/Compaq nc6220 second hand, with the old HD deleted - almost
>>>>> - it boots but fails. Anyway I wanted to install XP on it, and took my
>>>>> previous XP CD,from which it loads (but does not offer to format the
>>>>> HD). At some point it crashes.
>>>>> The nc6220 has a sata HD, I think that is the problem.
>>>>> I also tried some old Win95 and 98 disks - similar result.
>>>>> Any ideas what I can do?
>>>>> When booting from a dos disk, there is no HD to be seen.... sata?
>>>> Look first at what BIOS reports: if BIOS finds no HD, that component
>>>> is defective. Booting via DOS makes FAT-formatted HDs visible
>>>> but cannot see NTFS-formatted drives. (I don't see why DOS should
>>>> fail to see a SATA HD unless partitioned too large.)
>>> The bios is vry simple but there is a HD test, last 30 mins, and the
>>> HD is ok
>>> There is not much to set up in the bios...
>>> Sonnich
>> Have you tried testing with a Linux LiveCD ? You're not limited
>> to Windows for testing.
>
> Somehow I am - I dont have a linux cd
>

If you're on dialup, then don't bother with this approach.

If you have broadband Internet (cable TV modem or ADSL modem), then
download a CD from here.

(Take "10.04LTS" version, for the easy to understand user interface.
The 32 bit version will run on more hardware, if you choose it.
Many of these downloads, will be in the 700MB size region.)

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

There are 500 different Linux distributions, and that is just one
of them. When 10.04LTS is no longer supported, I will no longer
be promoting that site.

I use things like that, mainly for testing, or for special (hacking)
projects. My regular desktop is not Linux.

Your laptop, is potentially a "business laptop" and has a TPM chip.
A previous owner may have installed some kind of security software,
and TPM can be used to enforce the need for a password, or for
preventing anything but the original OS from loading.

There are many more "failure" scenarios for used business laptops, than for
other laptops. For example, the BIOS of the laptop, could
do MBR substitution during the boot process, to support more
than four primary partitions. Only an "IT guy" can keep track
of stuff like this (fixing business laptops every day).

Paul