OS Won't Install

[lupi]

After being unsuccessful in restoring from a dell hidden partition I decided to just pull out my extra xp disc and do a fresh install.

Problem Is that when I put the disc in and select install it tells me no because there is a newer version installed. The comp has xp media version on it now.


/help.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: lupi
After being unsuccessful in restoring from a dell hidden partition I decided to just pull out my extra xp disc and do a fresh install.

Problem Is that when I put the disc in and select install it tells me no because there is a newer version installed. The comp has xp media version on it now.


/help.

To install from a down revsision version (e.g. xp sp0 intall on xp sp1) you'll have to format and do a fresh install, upgrades and over installs aren't allowed in that scenario.

 

[lupi]

Hmm, I was going to do that but while browsing my xp disc I didn't see the program and I wasn't able to get the comp to boot to the install disc like I remember doing before when going through an install.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: lupi
Hmm, I was going to do that but while browsing my xp disc I didn't see the program and I wasn't able to get the comp to boot to the install disc like I remember doing before when going through an install.

You probably need to set your bios to boot from cd first...

 

[lupi]

Yeah, did I mention yet this is a dell.


It has a bios like menu available by hitting F12 during load and I moved CD drive to be selected above the HD and was still a no go.

 

[MrChad]

Are you using a Dell XP CD or a burned disc? If it's burned are you certain its bootable?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: lupi
Yeah, did I mention yet this is a dell.


It has a bios like menu available by hitting F12 during load and I moved CD drive to be selected above the HD and was still a no go.

Generally even if the cd is first you need to hit a key during boot to launch from it. It should be saying 'press any key to boot from cd'... (and yes, even on a dell )

 

[lupi]

The is a regular from ms xp pro disc.


Now that I think about it, you're right about the boot from cd message but I don't recall ever seeing one when restarting. Just a glimpse from the video card bios report then the dell splash screen before the xp load screen starts.

Wonder if I can tap the spacebar or something while starting in case the splash screen is hiding that message.

 

[bsobel]

Yea, the splash screen could well be hiding it, I've certainl seen that before.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: lupi
After being unsuccessful in restoring from a dell hidden partition I decided to just pull out my extra xp disc and do a fresh install.

Problem Is that when I put the disc in and select install it tells me no because there is a newer version installed. The comp has xp media version on it now.


/help.

To install from a down revsision version (e.g. xp sp0 intall on xp sp1) you'll have to format and do a fresh install, upgrades and over installs aren't allowed in that scenario.

Are you certain? I could have sworn that I've done down-rev SP repair installs. Eg. XP with SP2 slipstreamed, initially installed, and then user upgrades to SP3, then doing a repair install with the SP2 media. Of course after the repair install, SP3 should be re-installed again.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: lupi
After being unsuccessful in restoring from a dell hidden partition I decided to just pull out my extra xp disc and do a fresh install.

Problem Is that when I put the disc in and select install it tells me no because there is a newer version installed. The comp has xp media version on it now.


/help.

To install from a down revsision version (e.g. xp sp0 intall on xp sp1) you'll have to format and do a fresh install, upgrades and over installs aren't allowed in that scenario.

Are you certain? I could have sworn that I've done down-rev SP repair installs. Eg. XP with SP2 slipstreamed, initially installed, and then user upgrades to SP3, then doing a repair install with the SP2 media. Of course after the repair install, SP3 should be re-installed again.

I know for sure you can't do it from within the gui installer, you might be able to do a boot mode setup repair if you apply the sp after. Honestly it's been awhile since I've done that. I believe thats not officially supported since you might wind up with mixed components due to this.

 

[lupi]

ok, finally got it to boot to CD; bit have another problem. When it gets to the part where it says hit a key to repair, or to install etc... it responds to no key presses. It seems from my first foray through goggle that it's a problem with this version of the XP disk not having the latest sata drivers and not working with bios sata set to AHCI. Some entries said if you put it to ATA mode it would then work.


So...anyone have experience with this?

 

[DrGreen2007]

XP bios mode for the sata should be IDE/compatable, not the AHCI, unless you want to provide drivers via F6 floppy during setup

 

[lupi]

ah now this is interesting. Changed that setting in bios, and after the restart I could connect to the internet again (one of the corrupt problems I had was other comps on lan could connect to this one but this couldn't connect to other comps or the net).

Think I'm still going to reformat as it's definitely got some problems going on.

 

[Modelworks]

Instead of formatting, which does not erase the data, I would right zeros to the first 1000 sectors or so of the drive.
That is what I do with any drive that has odd errors or boot problems and it works every time.

 

[lupi]

ya I know what you're talking about, have any handy links to a program that does that?

 

[VirtualLarry]

HD mfg's DOS-bootable (floppy/CD) tools should have a "write zeros" option, most can wipe just the first track or million sectors or whatnot.

 

[Modelworks]

If you can't find a program at the drive makers site, active boot disk has it as a util and a free 10 day trial. Download the trial and it can install itself to a usb stick.
http://www.ntfs.com/boot-disk.htm