Hi everyone!

I performed a clean install in Windows XP Home on my work PC. Everything seems to be going well at the beginning. I set up a new installation using NTFS, created a new partition of 10.1 gb within the unpartitioned space of 19 gb. I did not use the NTFS quick format, but rather the "slow" format, and after waiting about 30 min for the files to copy, the computer says that installation was successful and asks to remove the floppy from A because the system will reboot in 10 secs, right? But after rebooting, the computer seems to freeze and doesn't go anywhere!! What's going on here? Is my disc corrupt? Or did I do something wrong along the way? Can someone help me..!

We need some specs on the computer. Type of comp (Dell, HP, etc) Type of HD. Is it a SATA?
Remove floppy? Do you mean the CD?

Hi 123runner,

Thanks for your response. I was waiting until I got to work to get the computer specs. Unfortunately, it's so old, I had to call Compaq to get the specs. Plus, I can't even turn on the computer (black screen) because of this install issue. Anyway, this is the info that Compaq/hp sent me. I don't know what these numbers mean, maybe you can make sense of it??

251339-001 ASSY, FLOPPY DRV, STD 3.5- CBN 1
257490-001 D3v/P16/20/k/128c US 1
140133-001 DIMM, SDRAM,16MX64,133,CL3 1
209444-001 DRV, GNRC, 20G, 5400, SB 1
176135-E30 DRV,CD,48X,AM,S2,CBN,MEDTEK,LO 1
263851-001 P/S, MILAGRO 250W NON PFC 1
238955-001 PCA, GRPHS,VANTA 16,AGP,ATX 1
263850-001 PCA, MILAGRO MB 1

can you help me??

hey was it a xp install disc? floppy ive never heard of installing an os from floppy- and was it XP home or Pro

yes, xp install disc. xp home.

are you able to put the cd back in and start your pc? if so redo the install all over again and go thru the whole process as before format etc etc. when it comes to reboot time just let it go it will ask you to press any key to boot from cd but dont touch it just let it work. i cant see the processor speed but you got lots of memory 20 gig hard drive give it time i'd say 10 minutes is long enough to determine if we got a problem or not. ok?

Hey there,

I did try to reinstall windows multiple times. Same result. After the reboot prompt (second one), I don't hit any key, and all I get is a black screen with some red stripes running down vertically. I can try it again, but I won't be able to try it again until tomorrow night!

Regarding the "floppy" issue, I don't use a floppy, but that's what the command prompt is telling me.."remove floppy from A drive". Of course I'm using the D drive with the XP CD so I just leave it in. I also tried taking it out when it asks to remove it as well. Same result. Weird. I've tried reinstalling this so many times. In the whole unpartitioned space of 20gb as well as trying to create a partition of 10gb, nothing seems to work...

Hi 3hp12...

Are you using an integrated video card (on motherboard) or a card in a PCI/AGP slot?

wannabe1

Normally I would suggest using the HD manufacturers disk tools, but I can't determine manufacturer.
Lets try FDISK. If you have a 98 boot disk, you will find it there, otherwise you can get it at BOOTDISK.
Wipe the partions and redo and format, then try the XP cd. FDISK instructions are found HERE

wannabe1: integrated

123runner: thanks! i will try your suggestions tonight...

intergrated video you say? theres red lines as well?

I think it's integrated. It was a computer sent to us a few years ago direct from the factory and no other additions were made to the computer. Does that help? How do I know for sure?

intergrated you'll plug your monitor pretty close into the ports around the keyboard,mouse, printer, in that area.

That Compaq has only has 64MB of memory. I think you will find that even if you can get XP to install it will just barely run. I would use a Win98 or ME boot disk to FDISK and format the hard drive as FAT32 using the full 19GB of the drive. Once this is done try reinstalling WinXP. You may also find it difficult to find drivers for the motherboard, video and etc. that will function correctly with XP. That old Compaq may be better of with some flavor of Linux on it.

This post has been edited by Whiskeyman: Jun 5 2007, 12:13 PM

I don't think its integrated based on the specs he gave.