Oh Oh.....What have I done?

[Guest]

Tried to install Win XP Home on my "old" Presario notebook that was running ME.
Between running the XP disk and the three System restore disks that came
with the computer it seems I have managed to completely wipe out the hard
drive.

I can access BIOS(F10) and the clock looks like it reset to the time I
messed everything up.I set the BIOS to default settings but to no avail.No
matter what drive(cd,Floppy,Network,Hard) I choose to
boot from I get the same message......

"Remove disks or other media and press any key to restart"

Anyone have any suggestions as to ...

1)What have I done?
2)Where to start in trying to resolve the problem?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[Ron Badour]

In the BIOS, look for a listing that is boot sequence, boot device or
something along those lines. Make the CD drive the first boot device. Save
the setting, reboot with the ME restore CD in the drive and do a reinstall.
Before attempting to load XP, you need to find out if there are drivers for
your hardware. Since the laptop is old, chances are there are no XP drivers
or XP may not even be suitable for installing--depends on the amount of ram,
hard drive space and CPU speed.

 

[thecreator]

Hi Jack,

As long as you didn't reformat the Hard Drive, your My Documents folder
should still be there. However, unless you have downloaded and saved the
drivers for Windows XP on a CD-R or CD-RW, my best advice would be to
reinstall Windows ME. Compaq or HP may not have drivers for your Notebook
Computer for upgrading to Windows XP Home Edition.

To install Windows XP Home Edition, you need to format and install the
operating system. You can't upgrade a Notebook Computer to XP from ME,
because of the existing drivers installed for ME.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

Sorry...I didn't realise but the machine actually came with XP(not ME as I
had stated) but I'm still having no luck as the only device it will boot to
is the floppy and the only floppy startup disk I have is an old ME one.

Is there any way I can download XP startup files to another machine's floppy
and try using that?

When I try to load using all other boot devices (CD/Network/HardDrive) I
just get the

"Remove disks or other media and press any key to restart" message.

Thanks again.

 

[Guest]

Creator,

Thanks..I'll give that a try, but it may not work since I know I already
wiped out the hard drive in my previous moments of stupidity.

 

[Guest]

Hi again Creator,

Just a quick update...the XP upggrade disk has been accessed by following
yourinstructions.I have the blue screen with different files loading as I
type.I will report back with the outcome.

Thanks again

 

[Guest]

Update....

I'm at the install/delete partition space option now and know I've royally
screwed this up from my previous actions.I show 2000MB(1552 free) of
Partioned(FAT) space and 17077MB of unpartitioned space.

Anyone care to suggest my next move?

Thanks

 

[Ron Badour]

Partition and format the free space using the XP disk and install the system
to the new partition. The fat (2000 mb) partition probably contains Compaq
diagnostics or some such ilk.

 

[Guest]

Ron,

Thanks for responding...

The 2000MB FAT partition was my doing, earlier.I know...I don't have a
clue.I deleted that partition and tried formatting the whole 20GB but it now
tells me it's unable to format the partition as the disk may be damaged and I
must select a different partition for Windows XP.

If the hard drive is toast,then I could buy another and try formatting that
one..at least that way I'd learn something through process of elimination..I
think.

 

[Ron Badour]

Forget about the self blame <G> and just report what you are now doing. If
I understand you correctly, you created the 2000 mb partition for some
reason. Now you have deleted that partition and wiped the drive clean. But
when you try to create a partition now, it gives an error message. If I
have the scenario correct, what is the exact error message that you receive?
What kind of problems were you having that led you to try to reinstall XP?

You can check out the hard drive and see who makes it. Then go to the
maker's web site and download their diagnostic software which usually runs
from a floppy disk. That will give you a good idea if the drive is hosed.

 

[Guest]

Ron,

The computer was sitting on a shelf for 2 years and my son came to visit and
needed the use of one.When I tried to fire it up it just kept loading the
black "Compaq" screen and automatically re-booting itself to that same screen
over and over.That's when I messed around with both the XP upgrade disk and
the 3 system recovery disks that cam with it.

After following your instuctions to get it to load the XP disk..all looked
well...I deleted all partitions and it seemed it was loading all the drivers
required etc..the whole 100%.But when I try to format the partition(NTFS)
created I get the message.....

Unable to format..disk may be damaged....choose another partition to format.

I will check out the website later today...and I really appreciate your help
on this this .....Thank You

 

[thecreator]

Hi Jack,

Don't forget to check the memory out, after reinstalling, because I saw
it corrupt an Hard Drive of a friend. Didn't replace the Hard Drive, just
did a Quick Restore of the Hard Drive and then had all sorts of problems,
leading back to a Bad Memory Card. Just be aware of memory.


--
thecreator

Ron,

The computer was sitting on a shelf for 2 years and my son came to visit
and
needed the use of one.When I tried to fire it up it just kept loading the
black "Compaq" screen and automatically re-booting itself to that same
screen
over and over.That's when I messed around with both the XP upgrade disk
and
the 3 system recovery disks that cam with it.

After following your instuctions to get it to load the XP disk..all looked
well...I deleted all partitions and it seemed it was loading all the
drivers
required etc..the whole 100%.But when I try to format the partition(NTFS)
created I get the message.....

Unable to format..disk may be damaged....choose another partition to
format.

I will check out the website later today...and I really appreciate your
help
on this this .....Thank You

 

[Guest]

Thanks creator and Ron....

I'll have a replacemebt HD here in a coiple of days.I will make sure I post
an update after I install it