[Lehmo]

hey guys..

so, i got a few old parts from a seasoned computer veteran and assembled them. Im not really sure of the specs though apart from its like 128mb videocard, 256mb ram, 40GB hardrive. When i put it together it had ubuntu linux on it which i didnt really like so i decided to get xp. So i put in the disc, formatted the drive and then it tries to copy windows but it says cannot copy, check hardrive, it may be damaged etc. Seeing as though this was my first sort of computer build (its meant to be practice for when i buy my $$$ pc) im thinking i didnt connect the hardrive or cd drive correctly. I believe i noticed a problem earlier where i could not see files on a cd when i inserted it into the drive. I thought it must have been the incompatability between linux and windows files but maybe the cd drive is not corrected properly? Is the cd drive meant to be connected directly to the hardrive by a cable or something?

thanks for any help you can provide!

Lehmo

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Lehmo,

Is it possible that the Ubuntu Linux partition is still on the drive? This may be preventing Windows XP from installing as I might not recognize a drive with enough space to install.

When you run the XP install from scratch - it should allow you to automatically or manually partition the hard drive(s) it detects. Is this the case? Give me a bit more information as to where the XP install is failing and I can probably help you get it going.

- John Hook

[John Hook]

Lehmo,

Is it possible that the Ubuntu Linux partition is still on the drive? This may be preventing Windows XP from installing as I might not recognize a drive with enough space to install.

When you run the XP install from scratch - it should allow you to automatically or manually partition the hard drive(s) it detects. Is this the case? Give me a bit more information as to where the XP install is failing and I can probably help you get it going.

- John Hook

[Lehmo]

thanks john hook,

im pretty certain that i deleted the ubuntu when i partitioned the drive. When it first came up, there were two partitions, a large one and a smaller one, i just converged both into one. Then i pressed enter to install xp on that partition and it started to format. After formating (NTFS) it then went to the setup page where it copys xp ontot the hardrive. It immediately says "cannot copy folder /windows, drive may be corrupt or not connected properly" Any other info you need?

Thanks heaps

Lehmo

[John Hook]

Lehmo,

Generally when the XP install cannot copy files to a partition on a hard drive - it usually means that it's having problems reliably formatting or copying files to this filesystem. Try booting into the Windows XP Recover Console and running a:

CHKDSK C: /R

This will verify ALL of the sectors on the drive and attempt to repair / de-allocate the bad sectors.

Question - how old is the drive where you're trying to install XP?

The other issue might be some strange hardware specific drivers that XP may require in order to install/support your hard disk controller / drive. Is your controller / drive standard IDE or EIDE? If so, does your PC's BIOS support and recognize the drive's size/geometry when you go into the PC's BIOS setup? I ask all of this as these are possible factors as to WHY XP might be having issues installing on your PCs hard drive.

There are DOZENS of possible explanations for this problems you're having - so a little more feedback from you might better assist me in helping you solve this problem.

- John Hook

[Lehmo]

thanks john hook, running that line seems to have fixed the problem. During the check, it discovered at least 1 error and fixed it. Next time i tried to install, it worked perfectly.

Thanks - Lehmo