Unable to boot from win xp upgrade cd

[Don Ray]

Several years ago I upgraded from win 98 to win xp home on my dimension
t500. I have done a clean install several times since. Now when I try it,
I get the prompt "hit any key to boot from cd". However when I hit a key
(tried many times) it goes right to windows startup. I uninstalled sp2 and
get same result. I checked setup and the cd is at the top of the boot
order. I tried upgrading BIOS from dell downloads using floppy. Hung up
every time with a msg "invalid disk". (On previous reinstall, i set file
format to NTFS. Floppy is still FAT. Don't know if this is significant).
The cd drive appears to operate normally in all other respects. In fact, I
did a "non-boot" reinstall from the upgrade cd. But could not find a way
around ending up with duplicate window xp os on hardrive. Any help would be
greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Don

Why are you trying to do a clean install?


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Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Sharon F]

Several years ago I upgraded from win 98 to win xp home on my dimension
t500. I have done a clean install several times since. Now when I try it,
I get the prompt "hit any key to boot from cd". However when I hit a key
(tried many times) it goes right to windows startup. I uninstalled sp2 and
get same result. I checked setup and the cd is at the top of the boot
order. I tried upgrading BIOS from dell downloads using floppy. Hung up
every time with a msg "invalid disk". (On previous reinstall, i set file
format to NTFS. Floppy is still FAT. Don't know if this is significant).
The cd drive appears to operate normally in all other respects. In fact, I
did a "non-boot" reinstall from the upgrade cd. But could not find a way
around ending up with duplicate window xp os on hardrive. Any help would be
greatly appreciated.
Thanks

It is possible to do a clean install when starting setup from within
Windows. Just have to be careful answering the questions as you go and take
the option to format the target partition before moving along with the
actual setup.

However, that you cannot boot with the CD is troubling and could leave you
in a lurch even if you manage to workaround the limitation this time. Has
this drive ever succeeded in booting off of a bootable CD? Are you sure
that the CD you're using is a bootable? Is it damaged in anyway or dirty?
Is the cdrom drive in need of cleaning?

Alternatively, you could try the floppy disk startup set (6 disks) and use
them to run setup from the CD. (Floppy will always be FAT, specifically FAT
12, so don't worry about that.)

How to obtain Windows XP Setup boot disks
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310994