I have an old computer I am trying to put XP on when it gets to the point of rebooting during installation (using USB bootable device), it gives me a disk read error.
Not sure what you mean USB bootable device - USB pen, USB CD/DVD Drive? If it's a CD burn a new copy on decent media at a slow speed. And for the record, you'd be better off installing one with SP2 or SP3 built in.
I would stick to installing XP from CD. There is a programme called Easy2boot. This is the only tool I have ever got XP to install from USB. It is a complicated, long winded setup procedure but does work. Stick with CD
what if nothing happens when i try to boot from CD (dvd rewritable). I seem to remember trying this first. The result was that the dvd with the OS wouldnt boot even when i changed boot order to optical drive.
Burn it to a CD-R. The old computer may not have a DVD Writer or recognise all DVD media. Also burn at slow speed for most readable.
Could you give us the make and model of this old PC. Are you trying to have a CD ROM play a DVD-RW ? Surely not. As Threat says...Burn the XP image to a CD-r. Are you using a nice clean .iso image ? Is this machine a shop bought or home made...i.e Is it a Dell ? You may want to make an OEM image.
the machine is shop bought. I cant tell by what company because the decal is missing or something. I think I was trying to make a cd rom play a dvd rw.
Being shop bought is good. It would be best to learn how to make a XP OEM image then you can have a fully activated machine. I have some nice threads saved, I will go through them and put links up here so you can read through them. XP is rather passed it's sell by date now. Is this just a project for messing about with. Or getting an old PC up and running to use. Maybe better to update the hardware if so. LGA 1155 bits can be picked up quite cheap and even though these bits are becoming old they would be better to get Windows 7 up and running. Just a thought. Will link some threads up later. Getting a house full round in a bit for a knees up.
ha thank you. how do i make an XP OEM image? btw ive had windows 7 running on the computer. I just cant find the drivers for ethernet
What exactly is an OEM image and do i need it if i want to get XP running with internet? thanks, DM123
I dunno why they would suggest an OEM image, as you would need to activate it unless you had one for your specific brand - which is unlikely. I also think it's unlikely you only have a CD-ROM, give you get the setup running. I suspect your issue is bad ISO or bad burn(media) CD-R will work better. Use unmodified SP2 VL
The OP was wanting to install XP. I always advise folk to make their own OEM image. At first we did not know the only trouble was Win 7 had no LAN drivers. Thats why I suggested the Aida64 app to get the mobo info and the exact ethernet adapter so the correct drivers could be identified and downloaded. Agree OEM would not help this driver problem but I did not know about this problem but It would help with installing XP
A good ISO burn on VL would be as readable as a good ISO burn of OEM. Just with VL you have no activation issues to bother with.
Im burning an ISO on a CD-R this time. Also, thanks to TNX I will be using aida64 to identify the rest of the drivers I need (starting with LAN). Thanks a bunch DM123