reinstall disaster

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gloria
  • Start date Start date
G

Gloria

had many problems with my xp pro install after about 2
months, decided to reinstall. install as upgrade was
recommended, so i did that. install hangs just as it is
ready to load windows "for the first time". then i tried
full new install, i get a stop screen. i believe the stop
screen is cause by the most minute scratches i've ever
seen on a cd. i cannot back out of the install, it just
restarts and begins windows setup again. hard drive is
fine in another pc, but can not boot from it. drive is
only 2 months old. was ready to reformat entire drive,
but it won't let me do that either. windows support sucks
because it wants my product id, which i can't get unless i
can actually get into windows, which i cannot do.

any suggestions greatly appreciated
gloria
 
Are you sitting comfortably, its going to be a long one !

You will require to FDISK your hard drive first to ensure
that raw file system ie FAT32 is working to start with, if
this does not work then hard drive is u/s.

If you can FDISK then FORMAT c: then things are looking
good.

From Bios set boot order to CDROM first, you will need
FULL install CD not upgrade, this will sort your problem.
Ensure CD is in pc before booting.

Following on screen instructions and format to NTFS,
continue to follow instructions, good luck !

I hope that the CD you have has got the install key on the
cover ?
 
have been at this for more than 24 hrs straight!! doug, thanks for replying. i can fdisk and format, but i don't have a full install xp pro, it is an upgrade. i try to install xp (using my 98 cd as verification for the upgrade) and it copies all files except anything having to do with java/vm, and then when it says it's going to load windows, it instead goes to stop screen saying SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED, the usual blah blah blah, and STOP: 0x0000006F (0xc0000020, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000). i get this same stop screen whether i use xp setup floppies or cd. any more ideas please???

Gloria
 
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