I have problems reinstalling my windows xp

[george10]

Hi
I hope I can get some help. I had problems ( i guess with a virus)
and
my laptop wouldn't almost even open. A friend came over with some
floppy discs and he cleaned the hard drive( I guess I am missing
drivers now but I am not sure). He installed a genuine windows XP
home
edition. I am trying to install the XP home edition that came with
the
laptop but I can't. What can I do? Any help is deeply appreciated.
Thank you

 

[Andrew E.]

Why fool with youre friends xp cd,why not work with youre xp cd....
Either way,how are you trying to install xp,simply install xp cd,set pc to
boot
to xp cd (sometimes the BIOS must be set for this,set cd as 1st boot device,
set hd as 2nd),boot to cd,at xp cd menu,select install xp,new copy,delete the
partition,create one,then xp formats & installs auto...Drivers & floppys have
nothing to do with it....

 

[george10]

  Why fool with youre friends xp cd,why not work with youre xp cd....
 Either way,how are you trying to install xp,simply install xp cd,set pc to
boot
 to xp cd (sometimes the BIOS must be set for this,set cd as 1st boot device,
 set hd as 2nd),boot to cd,at xp cd menu,select install xp,new copy,delete the
 partition,create one,then xp formats & installs auto...Drivers & floppys have
 nothing to do with it....





- Show quoted text -

Well...........I let him do his thing because he supposedly knows more
than me. In any case he used 6 floppys to clean-install the hard drive
(before this the hard drive would barely open)and then he loaded the
XP. Now what I do is I put the first of the 6 recovery CD's of my XP
but the CD ROM doesn't read it at all. That's why I thought I am
missing drivers. His XP is in but because he has installed it in
another computer microsoft won't let me validate it. I can go online
but that's not enough. Any other suggestions?
Thank you very much

 

[Daave]

Well...........I let him do his thing because he supposedly knows more
than me. In any case he used 6 floppys to clean-install the hard drive
(before this the hard drive would barely open)and then he loaded the
XP. Now what I do is I put the first of the 6 recovery CD's of my XP
but the CD ROM doesn't read it at all. That's why I thought I am
missing drivers. His XP is in but because he has installed it in
another computer microsoft won't let me validate it. I can go online
but that's not enough. Any other suggestions?
Thank you very much

The solution depends on which type of XP you are licensed to run.

What is the make and model of your PC? (Among other things, that will
tell us how you are to enter the BIOS.) Does it have a Certificate of
Authenticity sticker on it? If so, without telling us the actual Product
Key, what does it say on it?

Also, determine which version of XP your friend installed:

Start | Run

Type "winver" (without the quotes). Home or Pro? Service Pack level?

Please describe in detail these six CDs you have.

 

[Daave]

The solution depends on which type of XP you are licensed to run.

What is the make and model of your PC? (Among other things, that will
tell us how you are to enter the BIOS.) Does it have a Certificate of
Authenticity sticker on it? If so, without telling us the actual
Product Key, what does it say on it?

Also, determine which version of XP your friend installed:

Start | Run

Type "winver" (without the quotes). Home or Pro? Service Pack level?

Please describe in detail these six CDs you have.

One more thing:

Right-click My Computer and select Properties. In the "Registered to:"
section, you will find the Product ID (which is not the same as the
Product Key). What are the first eight characters?

 

[Richard in AZ]

Why fool with youre friends xp cd,why not work with youre xp cd....
Either way,how are you trying to install xp,simply install xp cd,set pc to
boot
to xp cd (sometimes the BIOS must be set for this,set cd as 1st boot device,
set hd as 2nd),boot to cd,at xp cd menu,select install xp,new copy,delete the
partition,create one,then xp formats & installs auto...Drivers & floppys have
nothing to do with it....





- Show quoted text -

Well...........I let him do his thing because he supposedly knows more
than me. In any case he used 6 floppys to clean-install the hard drive
(before this the hard drive would barely open)and then he loaded the
XP. Now what I do is I put the first of the 6 recovery CD's of my XP
but the CD ROM doesn't read it at all. That's why I thought I am
missing drivers. His XP is in but because he has installed it in
another computer microsoft won't let me validate it. I can go online
but that's not enough. Any other suggestions?
Thank you very much
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It sounds like you do not have the BIOS setting to read from the CD before it reads from the hard
drive.
Have your "friend" set your BIOS boot order (If he/she knows so much about computers).
Then put in your recovery CD's and follow the on-screen instructions.
This will put your laptop back to the way it came from the store.
You will have lost all your data and any personal settings.
When it is running, get an antivirus and antispyware program installed before even trying to get on
the Internet.
As the first thing you do on the Internet is update these programs.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi
I hope I can get some help. I had problems ( i guess with a virus)
and
my laptop wouldn't almost even open. A friend came over with some
floppy discs and he cleaned the hard drive( I guess I am missing
drivers now but I am not sure). He installed a genuine windows XP
home
edition. I am trying to install the XP home edition that came with
the
laptop but I can't. What can I do? Any help is deeply appreciated.
Thank you

What happens when you try? What specific error messages do you get?
What specific troubleshooting steps have you already taken, and what
were the results of each?

I'm afraid that no one can help if you don't provide at least a
modicum of pertinent information.

Help us help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375


In general, though:

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

If you had an OEM installation (pre-installed at the factory) on the
laptop, simply follow the manufacturer's recovery instructions in the
manuals that came with the computer (or consult the manufacturers' web
site). The OEM is contractually obligated to have provided you with
some means of restoring the computer to its original, ex-factory state.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[george10]

The solution depends on which type of XP you are licensed to run.

What is the make and model of your PC? (Among other things, that will
tell us how you are to enter the BIOS.) Does it have a Certificate of
Authenticity sticker on it? If so, without telling us the actual Product
Key, what does it say on it?

Also, determine which version of XP your friend installed:

Start | Run

Type "winver" (without the quotes). Home or Pro? Service Pack level?

Please describe in detail these six CDs you have.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It is a SONY VAIO laptop. Home XP service pack one. The 6 CD's
contain the operating system for this laptop. My friend installed
another XP home edition.

 

[Daave]

The solution depends on which type of XP you are licensed to run.

What is the make and model of your PC? (Among other things, that will
tell us how you are to enter the BIOS.) Does it have a Certificate of
Authenticity sticker on it? If so, without telling us the actual
Product
Key, what does it say on it?

Also, determine which version of XP your friend installed:

Start | Run

Type "winver" (without the quotes). Home or Pro? Service Pack level?

Please describe in detail these six CDs you have.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It is a SONY VAIO laptop. Home XP service pack one. The 6 CD's
contain the operating system for this laptop. My friend installed
another XP home edition.

That's a start, but you didn't answer all my questions!

Does your Sony Vaio have a COA sticker on the bottom? And if it does,
without telling us the actual Product Key, what does it say on it? If
your friend installed a generic OEM version of Windows XP Home, you may
be able to change the product key (which may be found on your COA
sticker). From my other post:

Right-click My Computer and select Properties. In the "Registered to:"
section, you will find the Product ID (which is not the same as the
Product Key). What are the first eight characters?

If he installed the wrong version of XP Home, then you will need to use
your six CDs and start from scratch (You probably won't need to use all
of them. Is one of these disks a Windows XP installation CD?). You
should have documentation that tells you how to do this. Perhaps your
documentation is in the form of a .pdf file on your hard drive. If you
go to Sony's laptop support section of their Web site and enter your
model, you should be able to get more information as to how to
reinstall. You should be able to download all the relevant drivers for
your hardware from there as well.

If you still run into problems, it is important that you describe them
in as much detail as possible.

Since you never fully described these CDs, no one will be able to fully
help you. As I asked above, is one of these a Windows XP installation
CD? And does one of the other CDs contain drivers? If so, just perform a
clean install, using this page as a guide:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

If Sony doesn't use the Dell method, you will need to enter your Product
Key. Hopefully you still have your COA sticker on the bottom of your
laptop.