[Schubie]

okay, so what happend was i didnt realize the cd key i had was a Media center edition key, and i started an xp repair with an xp pro disk, now it doesnt like the key im using, and i need to restart the instal using a MC disk so that my key will work, but i can not get it to boot from disk anymore.

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Hi Schubie, welcome to G2G.

What do you mean you can't get it to boot from disk any more? To do a Repair install, you boot the CD, not the hard drive.

[Ztruker]

Hi Schubie, welcome to G2G.

What do you mean you can't get it to boot from disk any more? To do a Repair install, you boot the CD, not the hard drive.

[Schubie]

okay, sorry if my last post didnt make sense, so what happend was i started a xp repair, and i got to the part where it said enter cd key, and the cd key i have is only valid for MCE and i was using a pro/home disk. so i need to cancel that instal, boot from a MCE disk and restart the repair.
the problem is, i cant get it to boot from the disk anymore, it is the primary boot device, but if i go to boot manager its only listing the xp partition that is being setup and not the optical drive. i cant seem to get it to cancel, nor can i finish it without a key.

[happyrock]

by boot manager do you mean the bios boot manager...

[Schubie]

no, its a sony laptop, and at the post screen you can press f2 for setup (bios) and f8 for the boot selector, to select if i boot from optical drive, hdd, flash drive and so fourth.

[happyrock]

try this...
Boot with Windows XP CD.
Choose R) Recovery option
In DOS prompt type in fixmbr and press enter
no joy...try ...
type in fixboot and press enter

[Ztruker]

Happyrck, that's the problem. He can't get it to boot from CD any more.

Try going into BIOS Setup. Are there settings for boot priority? If so, make the CD the first one then see if you can get the CD to boot.

[Schubie]

its already the first one, then flash drive, then hdd, but it wont boot from either of those and goes right into the xp setup:(

[Ztruker]

That makes absolutely no sense. Boot selection is a BIOS function and has nothing to do with what is installed on the hard drive. I don't see any way a previous aborted XP install can prevent you from booting from CD.

I know this may sound dumb, but are you sure the CD you are trying to use is bootable? Can you try it in another computer just to test?

[Schubie]

yep, tried it in two other computers, both read it fine

[Ztruker]

I wonder if you can boot any CD?

Give Puppy Linux - puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso a try. It's small and downloads quickly. Create a bootable CD from the iso file.

There is a good freeware burner called DeepBurner which will do this. Another called ISO Recorder is also very easy to use.

See if it will boot.

Also, go into BIOS Setup one more time and load the defaults, save and exit and see if that changes it.

[Schubie]

thanks, ill give it a try

[happyrock]

That makes absolutely no sense. Boot selection is a BIOS function and has nothing to do with what is installed on the hard drive. I don't see any way a previous aborted XP install can prevent you from booting from CD.

I have...wouldn't let me do anything until I completed the install AFTER partitiong the drive and doing a Parallel install