Partial WinXP Pro installation hosed my CD drive

[Margaret Bartley]

I bought a surplus computer with no operating system, and decided to use the
Windows XP Pro SP 2 disk that came with an old computer I'm no longer using.
They are both Dells.

I booted up from the CD, but the Windows installation didn't finish. It
could not find a file it needed, but I didn't write down the error message.

Now, my CD drive doesn't work, which of course means I can't reinstall,
either.

I went into the BIOS and made some changes (I can't remember, and they were
semi-random, they just seemed like they might make sense) and it worked.

This time, it read the CD, but I got an error message saying that WindowsXP
could not be updated. Explorer recognized the d drive; I could read the
files on the CD. I canceled out of the Windows installation, but got
another error, it could not find a file again, and now, once again, the d
drive doesn't work.

I have not found any changes to make to the BIOS that make sense, so I left
it unchanged the second time.

So - I'm assuming I need to reformat the hard drive from a floppy disk? So
I can do a clean install of WinXP Pro? I have a Win95 system disk from an
old computer with the format.exe command on it, but I've never formatted the
c:drive before. Will I loose any system information necessary to boot up?

I know I still have to solve the problem of the d drive, but it seems like I
fixed it once, I might be able to fix it again.

 

[JS]

Is the XP CD an OEM/Dell version or Retail CD?

 

[LVTravel]

I bought a surplus computer with no operating system, and decided to use
the Windows XP Pro SP 2 disk that came with an old computer I'm no longer
using. They are both Dells.

I booted up from the CD, but the Windows installation didn't finish. It
could not find a file it needed, but I didn't write down the error
message.

Now, my CD drive doesn't work, which of course means I can't reinstall,
either.

I went into the BIOS and made some changes (I can't remember, and they
were semi-random, they just seemed like they might make sense) and it
worked.

This time, it read the CD, but I got an error message saying that
WindowsXP could not be updated. Explorer recognized the d drive; I could
read the files on the CD. I canceled out of the Windows installation, but
got another error, it could not find a file again, and now, once again,
the d drive doesn't work.

I have not found any changes to make to the BIOS that make sense, so I
left it unchanged the second time.

So - I'm assuming I need to reformat the hard drive from a floppy disk?
So I can do a clean install of WinXP Pro? I have a Win95 system disk from
an old computer with the format.exe command on it, but I've never
formatted the c:drive before. Will I loose any system information
necessary to boot up?

I know I still have to solve the problem of the d drive, but it seems like
I fixed it once, I might be able to fix it again.

Sounds like the CD drive may be failing. Partial reads of a CD could be a
damaged CD or the drive itself can't track across the disk appropriately.

I would go back into the bios and change the settings to the default (safe)
settings for all except the boot order which should be CD then HDD.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I bought a surplus computer with no operating system, and decided to use
the Windows XP Pro SP 2 disk that came with an old computer I'm no longer
using. They are both Dells.

I booted up from the CD, but the Windows installation didn't finish. It
could not find a file it needed, but I didn't write down the error
message.

Now, my CD drive doesn't work, which of course means I can't reinstall,
either.

I went into the BIOS and made some changes (I can't remember, and they
were semi-random, they just seemed like they might make sense) and it
worked.

This time, it read the CD, but I got an error message saying that
WindowsXP could not be updated. Explorer recognized the d drive; I could
read the files on the CD. I canceled out of the Windows installation, but
got another error, it could not find a file again, and now, once again,
the d drive doesn't work.

I have not found any changes to make to the BIOS that make sense, so I
left it unchanged the second time.

So - I'm assuming I need to reformat the hard drive from a floppy disk?
So I can do a clean install of WinXP Pro? I have a Win95 system disk from
an old computer with the format.exe command on it, but I've never
formatted the c:drive before. Will I loose any system information
necessary to boot up?

I know I still have to solve the problem of the d drive, but it seems like
I fixed it once, I might be able to fix it again.

Your surplus computer may be surplus because it has a marginal or defective
CD drive. Windows itself cannot "damage", "hose" or "destroy" a CD drive.

I recommend you follow the standard procedure to install Windows. Forget
about Win98 boot diskettes etc. - you don't need them.
1. Instruct your BIOS to use the CD drive as the primary boot device.
2. Boot the machine with your WinXP CD.
3. When prompted, allow the disk to be partitioned and formatted.
4. Let the automatic installation process continue.

If this does not work then you have a defective CD or CD drive. Ask a friend
to copy the CD for you on a CD burner, then try again. If it still does not
work then you need to replace your CD drive. They cost surprisingly little!

 

[olfart]

Your surplus computer may be surplus because it has a marginal or
defective CD drive. Windows itself cannot "damage", "hose" or "destroy" a
CD drive.

I recommend you follow the standard procedure to install Windows. Forget
about Win98 boot diskettes etc. - you don't need them.
1. Instruct your BIOS to use the CD drive as the primary boot device.
2. Boot the machine with your WinXP CD.
3. When prompted, allow the disk to be partitioned and formatted.
4. Let the automatic installation process continue.

If this does not work then you have a defective CD or CD drive. Ask a
friend to copy the CD for you on a CD burner, then try again. If it still
does not work then you need to replace your CD drive. They cost
surprisingly little!

Take the CD drive out of your other computer and try it in the surplus one.
Very easy to do

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I bought a surplus computer with no operating system, and decided to use the
Windows XP Pro SP 2 disk that came with an old computer I'm no longer using.
They are both Dells.

I booted up from the CD, but the Windows installation didn't finish. It
could not find a file it needed, but I didn't write down the error message.

Now, my CD drive doesn't work, which of course means I can't reinstall,
either.

I went into the BIOS and made some changes (I can't remember, and they were
semi-random, they just seemed like they might make sense) and it worked.

This time, it read the CD, but I got an error message saying that WindowsXP
could not be updated. Explorer recognized the d drive; I could read the
files on the CD. I canceled out of the Windows installation, but got
another error, it could not find a file again, and now, once again, the d
drive doesn't work.

I have not found any changes to make to the BIOS that make sense, so I left
it unchanged the second time.

So - I'm assuming I need to reformat the hard drive from a floppy disk? So
I can do a clean install of WinXP Pro? I have a Win95 system disk from an
old computer with the format.exe command on it, but I've never formatted the
c:drive before. Will I loose any system information necessary to boot up?

I know I still have to solve the problem of the d drive, but it seems like I
fixed it once, I might be able to fix it again.

Problems copying files or corrupted files during installation (even
a Repair installation) are most often caused by defective, incompatible,
or sub-standard hardware; in order of likelihood, either RAM, the hard
drive, or the motherboard. On rare occasions the CD drive or
installation CD is the problem.

Start with testing the RAM. You might try MemTest86:
http://www.memtest86.com/ It's free. Then you can download and use the
hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility to test the hard drive. If
both RAM and hard drive test out clean, check with the motherboard
manufacturer for any diagnostic utilities.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


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

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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

 

[Twayne]

I bought a surplus computer with no operating system, and decided to
use the Windows XP Pro SP 2 disk that came with an old computer I'm
no longer using. They are both Dells.

I booted up from the CD, but the Windows installation didn't finish.
It could not find a file it needed, but I didn't write down the error
message.
Now, my CD drive doesn't work, which of course means I can't
reinstall, either.

I went into the BIOS and made some changes (I can't remember, and
they were semi-random, they just seemed like they might make sense)
and it worked.
This time, it read the CD, but I got an error message saying that
WindowsXP could not be updated. Explorer recognized the d drive; I
could read the files on the CD. I canceled out of the Windows
installation, but got another error, it could not find a file again,
and now, once again, the d drive doesn't work.

I have not found any changes to make to the BIOS that make sense, so
I left it unchanged the second time.

So - I'm assuming I need to reformat the hard drive from a floppy
disk? So I can do a clean install of WinXP Pro? I have a Win95
system disk from an old computer with the format.exe command on it,
but I've never formatted the c:drive before. Will I loose any system
information necessary to boot up?
I know I still have to solve the problem of the d drive, but it seems
like I fixed it once, I might be able to fix it again.

Go to the Dell site, have you Tag Number ready from the labels on the
machine, and look for the programs you need and the instructions.
It's working well for a Dell MCE I'm reinstalling at the moment.

Twayne