OEM version of xp from 98se

[Becky]

I have an oem version of xp to install. I'm going to
reformat the hard drive. I currently have 98se. My
computer has been freezing up, and over the last two days
when I reboot, it doesn't load all the way.

I'm in the middle of an online course so have put off
installing xp.

Now, I'm wondering if it is 98se os giving me the problem
or the hard drive? It took about 7 tries to load 98se
completely so I could post this question.

If it freezes again and doesn't load all the way, how do I
still reformt the hard drive and install xp? I've saved
all my contacts, and important documents so am ready to go
with this.

Thank you in advance for your response. Becky

 

[Steve C. Ray]

Are you getting any error messages? At what point in the boot is the
computer freezing?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Becky,

Rule out the hard drive. Download a drive diagnostic from the maker of the
hard drive and test it. These are usually small free programs that run from
a bootable floppy. Use it to check the state of the drive. If all is ok,
then boot the WinXP CD, start a new installation. You can format as part of
setup.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

While it's usually best to try to find the source of such issues before
moving on, sometimes that's not possible. Formatting is done as a part of
XP setup as describe below. NOTE: if you are having hard drive problems or
it is failing, it might stop XP setup but you did say your data was backed
up but I wanted to alert you to this possibility:

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, boot with the XP
CD in the drive. If it isn't or you are not sure, you need to enter the
system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter setup press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

A few screens into the boot process, if you see the message on the boot
screen to "Press any key in order to boot from the CD," do so.

After loading drivers and files, you should be taken to a screen with
the following:

To Setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R.
To Quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

In your case, press ENTER.

Agree to the License agreement by pressing F8.

You will then be taken to a screen with two options.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation press R.
To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing,
press ESC.

This will bring you to a partition map where you
can delete, create and format partitions.
Select the drive you wish to format, delete the partition, then create a new
partition, format as desired and continue with XP installation.

 

[Becky]

I get no error messages and it's never at the same point.
It usually gets the the background pic and then freezes
there, or loads the tool bar, then freezes, or loads part
of the 98 music and some icons and then freezes.

 

[Becky]

My only question now is, if I go to reboot (which I assume
I must do to go to BIOS?) and hit delete until I get to
setup to change boot on floppy to boot on cd, will I run
the risk of it freezing before it can install? This
sounds so much easier! I thought I had to go to msdos,
fdisk, reboot and have cd in. I'm glad I didn't try it -
thank you so much for responding. I'll await your answer
to my final question. You've been a tremendous help.

 

[Becky]

Thanks so much - I'm going to install in a little while.

 

[Becky]

I don't know how to partition. I looked it up and read
some - but not sure on fat16 or 32. I have 40 gb hard
drive, 512 sd ram

 

[Donald McDaniel]

I don't know how to partition. I looked it up and read
some - but not sure on fat16 or 32. I have 40 gb hard
drive, 512 sd ram

Do not use FAT16. This will only allow you to make partitions <= 2gib. The
best format to use for XP is NTFS. It will allow you to use your entire HD
as one partition.



--
Donald L McDaniel
Post all replies to the Newsgroup,
so that all may be informed.
Remove the obvious to reply by email.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[Becky]

I began the install and received a message that I needed
to correct an error before I could continue. The error
reads:

Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal

It said also to uninstall hardware / software that was
new. I'm not sure what to uninstall. I went into device
manager and uninstalled a joystick that had a ? beside
it. Other than that all looks good. Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance. Becky

 

[Donald McDaniel]

I began the install and received a message that I needed
to correct an error before I could continue. The error
reads:

Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal

It said also to uninstall hardware / software that was
new. I'm not sure what to uninstall. I went into device
manager and uninstalled a joystick that had a ? beside
it. Other than that all looks good. Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance. Becky

Becky, you will have better luck if you boot from the XP CD and do a "clean"
install.

1) Unplug all devices except video card. This means unplug printers,
scanners, webcams, etc from the computer. If your keyboard or mouse are
USB, unplug them and plug in PS/2 keyboard and mouse.
2) Go into the System BIOS and set the machine to boot from the CD first.
Make sure you save this change. Make no other changes in the BIOS.
3) Put the XP CD in the CD drive and turn the machine off, then back on.
4) Immediately after the POST (Memory test, HD/Floppy check), a message will
appear at the bottom of the screen to the effect "To boot from ATAPI CD
press any key". You MUST press a key IMMEDIATELY. A wait of more than a
few seconds at this point will only cause Windows 98 to boot. You want to
AVOID Windows 98 booting. You do NOT want to start the XP install from
within Windows 98.
5) Tell XP install that you want to do a CLEAN install.
6) After this, you will be given the choice of deleting or creating new
partitions. Read all text on the screen carefully, and follow the
directions for deleting all partitions, and creating a new NTFS partition
which takes up the entire HD.
6) Tell the install program you want to install XP on the partition you just
created.
7) Next, format the partition as NTFS. Do a FULL format, not a Quick one.
8) Tell the install program to install XP on the new partition you just
created and formatted.
--
Donald L McDaniel
Post all replies to the Newsgroup,
so that all may be informed.
Remove the obvious to reply by email.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Becky, if you can get back to your previous setup, do so. then at the
Windows desktop, place the XP CD in the drive, when the setup screen
appears, select "Check System Compatibility." This may point to issues that
might stop setup as well as cause problems down the road if they are not
first corrected.

 

[Richie Rich]

Also check your memory.
Remove it and reseat in the motherboard. The connections, sometimes, go
flakey.
Definitely check the compatibility before installing XP.
If your system is older, you may have many driver issues. ( I just had to
put a newer modem on the shelf because they do not offer a XP driver)

Rich