Thank you that works well.Been trying to figure this boot crap out,but I get an awful lot of options displayed none of which mean squat to me,very nervous about playing around in there.
Hopefully if HMonk thinks my suggestion is worth a try, he can run you through the procedure. Although I thought the website I gave you was good, I don't want you trying something you aren't sure of. At least you should now have your serial number. That's a good start.
Thank you,both,I am just as confused as all get out,so time to hold off for a spell and look at this with a clearer head and options on another day.
BIOS setup Did not catch the most recent post. The BIOS setup includes an option to configure the boot order/sequence. Exactly what it is called and where it is located depends on the whose BIOS and what version. You could see something resembling is a device list that IDs the devices Floppy, HHD 0, HDD 1, CD, etc. Or you may see an option labeled configure boot sequence/options or words to that effect. In my BIOS, I have a Boot Order option. I click on Boot Order and a window opens where I can order each device as first, second, third, etc. As I mentioned in my previous post, your XP install disc may or may not be bootable. That's another issue. So, if you decide to attempt a repair, once you order a "boot from CD first" before you do anything else, obviously try to boot from your install disc. Monk
Thanks Monk, nice to meet you. I'm a technician, but I find it's often hard to put advice into a forum post. You do that very well.
Advice Hi Tassie, good to meet you too. Don't know what you mean by hard to post advice but what I do is simply say whatever I think is necessary to cover the topic. I don't dumb down to folks although I have to remind myself that MyDigital is an international forum and not everyone has a perfect understanding of English. I presume that if my posts are not clear, folks will post back. I also try to educate people and may go a bit overboard with posts that are verbose - but I figure readers will pick and choose what they want. Good to have a technician on board. Monk
OK now that I am in the bios,it says boot device priority,and there are these choices. floppy or pm-hl-dt st dvd-ram or wdc wd2500js-60. Which one is the right one please.
Priority Your boot devices are 1. Floppy drive 2. wd2500js-60: Western Digital HDD 3. pm-hl-dt st dvd-ram (RAM = ROM which I assume is a typo): LG DVD ROM Set your first boot device as the DVD ROM, second as floppy, third as HDD. Why? More often than not, when you do not want to boot to the HDD, you will be booting to a CD/DVD disc. Second in line is the floppy because IF you get a CD/DVD disc that will not boot or if you need to install generic CD/DVD ROM drivers in case of a HDD crash, then the floppy is what you need next in line (for example, assuming a HDD crash - if the HDD was first or second in priority you would stall at the HDD. Finally the HDD is last. One other thing, some older BIOSes required that one hit "any key" or space bar or something like that to initiate a CD/DVD ROM boot. You would see - on the BIOS boot screen, probably in the lower left corner - something like "boot from CD, press "whatever." My BIOS simply boots from a CD/DVD if it finds a bootable disc in the drive. Monk
Thank you. Made the 1st choice[ pm hl etc.],but do not know how to change it to the #1 spot,go figure.Also my original CD does not have sp3 on it,do I have to delete this from my PC before going ahead with this repair?
OK! Managed to get the xprepair working,but when I hit R it went thru a series loading thins,then looped back to boot from CD again,and do not know what really is going here as there are no other choices available in this page but to hit R for repair again or exit. BOY OH BOY!! Tried F2-recovery console, it asked for a floppy??
Well I toasted it, now it just keeps going back to wxp screen,then says restarting set up please insert your cd after set up installing devices closes down
I thought i would try and give a more accurate description of what is taking place here. OK I was able to get the pc to start over again with this repair program. Set up copying files copied 100% Sreen 9 saving configuration works,I removed cd, Instead of screen 10 after it reboots it asks me to reinsert cd Then a screen saying set up will complete in 39 mjns,says installing devices goes from 39 down to 34 mins and closes . Pc restarts then says please insert cd into d and click ok. The page that is displayed is the same 39 min one. Am I screwed here people?
Thanks HMonk,but I am done with it!!I want to try reformat,but have not got the product key,and although my xp is legit I cannot find this anywhere. I tried finding it on my cd,but the one I found in a place I was sent 1386 folder says not valid.Any ideas as I want a legal version back.
Thanks HMonk,you have been an unfailing source of help . Went to the dealer and he gave me the PK,and I opted to let someone with the know how take it from here!! Nevertheless would love to recieve any info on reformating you care to provide.
Don't blame you OK, first off: 1. What is the capacity of your HDD? 2. I take it you only have one HDD; any plans in the near future of getting a second HDD? 3. Apart from your OS, any large progs, e.g., like Office? 4. How many progs do you have installed? What I am looking for in nos. 3/4 is how much disk space does your OS/installed software occupy. If you've never monitored this sort of thing, it's hard to estimate. For example, your Windows directory could contain 3>8GB depending on what else is installed, what SP, whether you kept or deleted Windows uninstall/rollback files etc. One can estimate (wild guess) by noting the approximate number and types of progs installed. It is my belief, expressed several places in MyDigital, that a HDD, on which the OS is installed, should have at least two primary partitions. I put the OS/installed software on one of those partitions (makes other tasks remarkably easier). So, IF you are interested in doing something like that post back and we can discuss it. At this point I am only anticipating how large the partitions would have to be to accommodate your needs - the OS partition being roughly twice the amount of space required by XP/installed software, with storage for everything else on the second partition. Remember, if you eventually decide to create image backups (or any backups), in the least, these should not be stored on your OS partition because it is the OS partition that is most subject to failure (conflicts, bugs, malware). 5. Is there any data now on your HDD that you want to keep/retrieve? Just a few things I would consider - but you ain't I and I ain't you. Monk
#1= ? #2 Never gave it any thought,why do people do that? #3 No #4 Not sure,but I did a full computer back up with acronis that is 25 gigs I think?? Perhaps when I get my pc back I can answer these better with your help,assuming it is not to late. A second hd sounds good,but I no nothing about the reasons I might do this for. Thanks HMonk,cannot imagine how hard it must be for you trying to relate to my knowledge level