I bought new win xp sp3 CD for dell laptop

[JUDYAONE]

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

 

[Gordon]

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

 

[John]

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.

 

[BillW50]

In 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.

 

[JUDYAONE]

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.

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

 

[BillW50]

In 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.

 

[Richard in AZ]

|
|
| "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.
| >
| > | > > 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.

 

[JUDYAONE]

|
|
| "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.
| >
| > | > > 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

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]]

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]

 

[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]

 

[John]

You're on the right track Judy. Sounds like you don't need a user guide

Who fixed the laptop? Is it Dell? If so, that partition may contain Dell
diagnostics software.

If you're sure there's nothing important in the FAT32 partition, delete it.
Recreate a new partition. Then format it as NTFS. Follow setup wizard after
format completes.

Tell us how it goes.

 

[JUDYAONE]

You're on the right track Judy. Sounds like you don't need a user guide

Who fixed the laptop? Is it Dell? If so, that partition may contain Dell
diagnostics software.

If you're sure there's nothing important in the FAT32 partition, delete it.
Recreate a new partition. Then format it as NTFS. Follow setup wizard after
format completes.

Tell us how it goes.

I would not know or know how to find out what would be important on the fat
32 partition. It does give me the choice to do the NTFS though.

 

[Daave]

In JUDYAONE typed on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:23:18 -0700:

Place the CD/DVD above the Internal HDD.

That's cruel.

 

[JUDYAONE]

You're on the right track Judy. Sounds like you don't need a user guide

Who fixed the laptop? Is it Dell? If so, that partition may contain Dell
diagnostics software.

If you're sure there's nothing important in the FAT32 partition, delete it.
Recreate a new partition. Then format it as NTFS. Follow setup wizard after
format completes.

Tell us how it goes.

I have it installing now, will take approx. 30 min to finish. Then I will
go to Dell as suggested for the drivers. My daughter bought a warranty from
'Square Trade' when she bought the laptop, so no, it was not Dell you worked
on it.

I thank you all for your wonderful help and if you hear from me in 30
minutes, it means I need more help, lol.

Judy

 

[BillW50]

In Daave typed on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:30:57 -0400:

That's cruel.

What are you talking about Daave? Place the CD/DVD above the Internal
HDD in the BIOS boot list is indeed correct. My last 7 computers I have
bought I can bypass this list and hit the ESC at POST and I get a boot
menu which allows you to pick which device will boot for this time only.

 

[John]

Then I'd say it's ok to delete the partition and recreate it. Come back
anyway to tell us how it goes.

 

[Daave]

In Daave typed on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:30:57 -0400:

What are you talking about Daave? Place the CD/DVD above the Internal
HDD in the BIOS boot list is indeed correct. My last 7 computers I
have bought I can bypass this list and hit the ESC at POST and I get
a boot menu which allows you to pick which device will boot for this
time only.

My bad. I thought you instructed her place the actual CD inside the hard
drive!

You are, of course, correct.

To OP: Another method is to press F12 right after you turn on the
computer (this method works with most Dells). Then you can choose right
then and there to boot off the CD. This way you need not alter the BIOS
settings. Note that this is similar to what BillW50 said about his PCs
and the ESC key.

 

[Gordon]

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.

Well you're going to have to if you want to install XP.
Make the CD/DVD drive no 1 in the boot sequence.

 

[Jim]

When the install of XP from the CD completes, you will need to install the
Dell drivers from the CD. The CD will determine which Dell drivers that
you need, and you must install all of them. That menu is not easily
understood...
Jim

 

[Don Phillipson]

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.

For most everyday purposes, users prefer:
1. Diskette Drive
2. CD drive
3. USB device
4. Internal HDD

The rationale of this is that an everyday reboot will
quickly find no diskette, no CD, no attached USB
and thus boot from the hard drive. For special
purposes we just put in a disk (or connect some
USB gadget) and at reboot the laptop will attempt
to boot from it. But most days we do not need these
(yet do not need to reset boot device order again.)