setup could not read cd you inserted

[Guest]

well, i have tried almost everything i can think of to get my computer
to boot off my SATA drive. I have made a SATA drivers disk and hit F6 in
setup, i have fiddled with the BIOS about 1000 times, i have flashed the BIOS
to the newest version (1004, MB is ASUS K8V SE Deluxe) and now as it appeared
as though it would work it decided not to read the CD when im doing an
install. The HDD is a formatted NTFS 160GB Samsung SATA drive. it runs
through most of the install but when i select clean install and get passed
the screen saying windows can detect no prvious version, i get a screen show
up saying 'setup could not read cd you inserted, or the cd is not a valid
windows cd' . Now i know this CD works because i have installed xp with it on
an IDE drive before, but for some reason it just dosnt work now. If any one
could help i would greatly appreciate it.

thanks, Ben

 

[peter]

Sounds like you have an "upgrade" version of XP and it is looking for a previous
OS to qualify for the upgrade.
Have you tried installing the previous OS CD at that point??
peter

 

[Guest]

ahh yes i do have the upgrade version, if i put in the ms2000 pro disk will
it attamp to install that? or just verify that i have it?

 

[Guest]

Ok thanks pete, now the install problem is solved. I now only have 1 major
problem, i currently have two HDD's in there each with windows XPpro on them,
i have selected the SATA drive to be the bootable one in the bios and when
the IDE drive is still connected it all works fine, however when i unplug and
remover the IDE drive, the system fails to boot. It posts and finishes
loading USB devices and then freezes, or dosnt continue anyway. I think this
might have something to do with the Primary master being set to the IDE
drive. Do know how to change that? or if thatis in fact the problem.

 

[peter]

Glad to see the rest worked.
Did you set up a dual boot? with the IDE drive having XP on it and then
installed onto the SATA because then all the MBR info is on the IDE drive and
the system will not boot without it.......Repair installation will fix this
I run a SATA drive as well as an IDE drive...but I disconnected the IDE when I
installed XP.
The Boot order in the bios should show the SATA as first boot device in my case
scsi (depends on the MOBO)
and if that doesn't do it try unplugging the IDE and run a "repair"
installation
XP REPAIR
.............................................................................

Boot from the CD or you can insert the CD while at the windows desktop but
when the setup screen appears, exit setup and reboot. If your system is set
to be able to boot from the CD, it should detect the disk and give a brief
message, during the boot up, if you wish to boot from the CD press any key.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

good luck peter

 

[Guest]

I attempted to do that however with the IDE unplugged the computer does not
go past 'detecting USB devices' is there a point in doing a repair with the
IDE still plugged in?

(confirming that its much to dangerous to unplug IDE drive after startup?)

 

[peter]

leaving the IDE unplugged try this
Try booting up using the XP CD-ROM and choose to repair. Then choose the
Recovery Console Option...
Choose the number corresponding to your XP version and enter your
Administrator Password (then press enter).

After that you'll see a command prompt...enter the following command:

bootcfg /rebuild" command to fix boot.ini.
FIXBOOT will fix the boot sector on the boot drive,
FIXMBR will fix the master boot record if the NT loader
complains of a missing HAL or unmountable boot volume.
I would try the "fix boot" command first

After the process is completed enter the command EXIT to quit (and the
system should auto reboot OK from that point onwards...
peter

 

[Guest]

Sorry i musnt have worded it properly before, on the opening screen where it
gives u th option of going into the BIOS and the computer i initialising
everything, that is where it freezes, right after initialsing USB devices. so
i cannot boot from CD-ROM

 

[Guest]

Well i took a small gamble and unplugged the IDE HDD during setup and now
THE PROBLEM IS FIXED , thank you SOOOO much man, your a legend. wish i
cuold repay you

 

[peter]

It sounds like it was searching for which HD to boot from......
I know you pulled the plug while it was booting...not a good thing to do but if
it worked who am I to say!!
glad it worked out
peter