Reinstalling xp

[mb40sr]

I have a dell computer that is several years old. I'm trying to use the cd
with the operating system on it to reinstall. I get a message that says that
the version I'm installing is older than the version on the the computer and
that i need to restart computer and try to do it from cd rom. I get a few
steps into the process and it tells me that there is no hard drive and cannot
be done. What am i doing wrong?

 

[LVTravel]

I have a dell computer that is several years old. I'm trying to use the cd
with the operating system on it to reinstall. I get a message that says
that
the version I'm installing is older than the version on the the computer
and
that i need to restart computer and try to do it from cd rom. I get a few
steps into the process and it tells me that there is no hard drive and
cannot
be done. What am i doing wrong?

If you try to reinstall by using the setup while in Windows or try to do a
repair install by booting with a CD that doesn't have at least the same
service pack as that installed on the computer you will get that error
message.

To totally reinstall the operating system, you must boot from the CD. If
you are getting a no hard drive error message when you are booting and
installing from the CD, do you have an SATA hard drive in the computer? If
so, you need to have a floppy disk with the SATA drivers on it and press F6
when the installation program requests other drivers.

Let us know if this is your situation. Model of Dell may also help us help
you.

 

[mb40sr]

It is a Dell xps 400, 2.8 ghz
1 gb ram
Media Center Edition Version 2002

When I go into system setup it show it has an SATA hard drive present, IDE
is not present. It does not request other drivers either it installs driver
and then tells me that there are no hard drives installed on this computer
press F3 to restart.

 

[LVTravel]

It is a Dell xps 400, 2.8 ghz
1 gb ram
Media Center Edition Version 2002

When I go into system setup it show it has an SATA hard drive present, IDE
is not present. It does not request other drivers either it installs
driver
and then tells me that there are no hard drives installed on this computer
press F3 to restart.

The driver for SATA drives is installed during the installation process
relatively early on in the installation. If you boot to the Windows XP CD
(you may have to change the bios boot order to do so) it will say at the
bottom of the screen when to press F6 to install drivers (exact wording I
can not remember since I haven't installed XP in a long time.) You need to
press F6 at that time to have it read the SATA drivers from the floppy
drive. XP does not have SATA drivers on the install CD. You must provide
them from Dell's web site or the original installation disks that were
shipped with the computer. The driver can also be downloaded from here:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...NSION+400/9150&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

Long URL, begins with http: and ends with TabIndex=

 

[Daave]

I have a dell computer that is several years old. I'm trying to use the
cd
with the operating system on it to reinstall. I get a message that
says that
the version I'm installing is older than the version on the the
computer and
that i need to restart computer and try to do it from cd rom. I get a
few
steps into the process and it tells me that there is no hard drive and
cannot
be done. What am i doing wrong?

See "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer"
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/nohdd/indexfullpage.htm

Do you have a floppy drive?

 

[mb40sr]

No I do not have a floppy drive. I do have a DVD & CD ROM drive though, would
that work?

 

[Daave]

The DVD/CDROM drive would work only if you create a new installation
disk, slipstreaming the proper drivers into it.

Alternately, you may obtain an external floppy drive.

Or tweak your BIOS settings. Instructions are here:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19245194.aspx

Specifically, this post by shesagordie:

<quote>

As you don't have a floppy driver, try the following:

If you are not using RAID, enter the system setup, scroll down to
drives, press Enter or + to expand the drive menu then down to "SATA
Operation", press Enter.

Change the SATA operation mode to "RAID Auto/ATA" press ESC to save and
exit the BIOS.

Then windows should install without a problem.

</quote>

 

[mb40sr]

Do I download all of them or just a couple?

The driver for SATA drives is installed during the installation process
relatively early on in the installation. If you boot to the Windows XP CD
(you may have to change the bios boot order to do so) it will say at the
bottom of the screen when to press F6 to install drivers (exact wording I
can not remember since I haven't installed XP in a long time.) You need to
press F6 at that time to have it read the SATA drivers from the floppy
drive. XP does not have SATA drivers on the install CD. You must provide
them from Dell's web site or the original installation disks that were
shipped with the computer. The driver can also be downloaded from here:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...NSION+400/9150&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

Long URL, begins with http: and ends with TabIndex=

 

[LVTravel]

You need at least the SATA driver. Three things are listed there for SATA,
without going back into the site and without knowing your system
configuration, I can't tell you which driver (one is an application) to
download.

 

[LVTravel]

Do I download all of them or just a couple?

Also the link that Daave posted looks like it may have a solution for the
floppy drive for your XPS 400. Read all the responses.