Computer had been loaded with a OEM edition of XP Media Edition with no disks supplied.
Problems started when primary drive kept changing from DMA to OCP, this was followed by windows delay rewrite cutting in for numerous files (temp / prefetch etc).Further loading of windows gave different missing files until everything ground to a halt.
Decided to get drastic and do a complete reload of standard Windows XP. This disk had been purchased and used on a previous machine, as I understand it the legal side is I can reuse this XP Disk if the previous computer and XP download has been destroyed.
THE PROBLEM – Inserted disk and started the down load, Deleted the old part ions and ended up with one 160 GB part ions. Windows then requested to format the disk and I chose the full format. After 4 hours windows then stated it was unable to format the hard drive - tried a quick format and got the same result
I have always wondered if the hard drive was “suspect” due to the occasional clunking noises and now wonder if I have to get a new hard drive.
All and any help appreciated
Rgds rusty