Installing XP Fresh - but Im having problems...

Rob Varto · 01-12-2004, 08:23 PM

First let me state that Im in the process of installing the XP Pro upgrade OS into my cpu. I tried using the XP boot up disks and when it finally prompts me to insert my XP Pro disk into the CD drive, my drive lights up and my hard drive light up in 10 second intervals about every 40 seconds. I let it run for about 30 minutes and nothing was happening. So...

I decided to use my Win 98 boot up disk. I tried the FDISK command and I get the "cannot find hard disk" failure prompt. I know my A: drive works and my HD is found in the BIOS. Can anyone give me some advice. I've never had this kind of problem installing an OS.

Thomas J. Coyle III · 01-12-2004, 10:02 PM

Hi Rob

The hard drive problem you are having is due to the fact that Win98 and Win XP have different hard drive file management systems. I believe that Win98 uses FAT16/32 while Win XP uses NTFS. I have found that even though Win XP and XP Pro are supposed to be upgrades, they are actually bootable CDROMs. I installed my Win XP by changing my computers BIOS to boot on the CDROM. This works quite well. However, when Windows wants to restart the computer, use the Del key to get back to your BIOS during the restart to switch the bootup sequence to the hard drive. Hope this helps.
Regards,
TCIII

Rob Varto · 01-13-2004, 05:52 AM

Thomas, thanks for the response. I will try that...

the thing that concerns me is that in the past I have used my Win 98 boot disk and Win 98 Full version to start things off and then I loaded Win XP Pro over Win 98. It's just baffling to me that I can't use the FDISK command... I did think of something though - do I need to FORMAT my hard drive first? And if I do, do I just type FORMAT C:?

Bruce N · 01-13-2004, 11:10 AM

If you boot from the XP CD you'll be given the option of deleting the old partition and creating a new one. If you want to do a complete clean install this is the way to go. Just make sure you have backups of any data you want to save as this will completely erase your hard drive.

After you create a new partition you'll then be given the option to format the drive. Then the actual installation begins. If you're using an upgrade version of XP you'll be asked to insert the disk of your old operating system just to prove you have it. There is no need to install Win98 first.

Hope this helps,
Bruce

Rob Varto · 01-13-2004, 11:20 AM

Bruce,

that's where Im confused. Im starting from scratch - blank 80GB hard drive and have never had any other OS on it. Im assuming that I can do the following steps to get this to work:

1) direct BIOS to my DVD drive only
2) have my Win XP Pro Upgrade disk in the DVD drive
3) Begin the installation
4) When Win XP prompts me, insert my old Win 98 CD

I really think there is a problem with my hard drive. I've built computers before and used the Win 98 boot back in the day to FDISK the hard drive and start that way. I guess I'll check to see that pins aren't bent and that I have my cables correct. My BIOS sees my hard drive, but I can't seem to write to it. Like I said in my first post, the DVD light and hard drive light would come on concurrently in 10 second intervals about every 40 seconds... it just doesn't make sense.

Thanks for everyone's help!

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Glenn Overholt · 01-13-2004, 11:36 AM

I went through that mess myself just last weekend. The bootable XP disk works on CD drives, not DVD drives. The only way to get it on would be to use 'startup' from the 98 run menu.

Glenn

Rob Varto · 01-13-2004, 12:08 PM

Glenn,

Ok, this is starting to make sense. Can you explain where I find "startup"? Do I insert my Win 98 boot disk into my a: drive and type STARTUP?

Bruce N · 01-13-2004, 03:00 PM

That's a new one on me. I just built two computers with DVD drives recently and installed XP on both of them with no problems.

Rob, when you say "1) direct BIOS to my DVD drive only" do you mean to direct the BIOS to boot from the DVD drive first? I also agree that you should recheck all the basics including all the connections.

Bruce

Rob Gillespie · 01-13-2004, 03:34 PM

I would go back in the case and recheck all the cabling, slave/master settings etc.

XP CD should boot fine from a DVD drive - at least it does on my three boxes here.

Rob Varto · 01-14-2004, 06:31 AM

I did just what you said Rob. I double checked all the connections, created a Win XP set of boot disks and the next time I booted up, things went off without a hitch. So I am up and running! Thanks to everyone for their advice!!