[Curious D]

Another quick update: I realized that the BIOS was set to RAID configuration and now the XP installation recognizes the drive. I'm going to install XP onto the spare hard drive to see if it boots correctly. If so, then I'll try to repair the original drive to see if it works. If yes to the first, but no to the second, then I'll format the original drive. I'll update when this is complete.

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Success! Removing the RAID configuration (I don't know why it was on in the first place since the computer had only one hard drive) was the key. While it didn't correct the MUP.sys problem (fixmbr did not help either), it allowed me to see the drive when repairing XP (step after the recovery option). It still doesn't explain why I wasn't able to install XP from the on board optical drives. When I tested the optical drives, they can apparently read my discs fine now. It leaves me wondering if there is still something wrong, but for now, it's good enough to give back to my brother-in-law. Thanks to rshaffer61 and 123 runner for your help.

[Curious D]

Success! Removing the RAID configuration (I don't know why it was on in the first place since the computer had only one hard drive) was the key. While it didn't correct the MUP.sys problem (fixmbr did not help either), it allowed me to see the drive when repairing XP (step after the recovery option). It still doesn't explain why I wasn't able to install XP from the on board optical drives. When I tested the optical drives, they can apparently read my discs fine now. It leaves me wondering if there is still something wrong, but for now, it's good enough to give back to my brother-in-law. Thanks to rshaffer61 and 123 runner for your help.

[rshaffer61]

Congratulations. for a successful resolution for your issue. I am happy everything has been worked out for you. With that being said I am happy to say:


You are very welcome. I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed us to assist you with your issue and for your patience. Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help.
This issue now appears to be resolved.


If other members are reading this and have a similar problem please begin a New Topic and someone will assist you as soon as possible

[BOBBY SIX]

google is your friend

I just fixed a similar problem on my aunts dimension 8400.

this whole thing occurred when my aunts cmos batt went dead, when i replaced it, the settings were changed. after looking through the bios menu i returned it to default and still nothing, incredibly default dell bios settings make the pc inoperable.

it was driving me nuts, first i thought it had a virus, or a hdd failure. so i tried to re-install win xp but the hdd was not recognised in xp setup despite being seen by the bios. i took the hdd out and put it on a working pc as a second drive. in windows i used avast to scan for malware and it found 2 minor worms, but the drive was readable. in ubuntu linux (live cd) i was also able to read from and to the hdd while it was resident in the original problem pc. so i copied the contents of the whole drive onto a usb external drive.
conclusion, the hdd is fine

i threw in my ubuntu 8 live cd and did some google searching and all kind of info that lead to 20 diff solutions (the pc ran quicker on the live cd then on the resident os, crazy right) but this made the most sense, an incorrect setting in bios.

Dell Dimension SATA Drive Windows Installation
Last week I had to rebuild a Dell Dimension 9150 with an SATA hard drive and when I tried to install Windows XP I received an error saying txtsetup.oem not found when


1) Reboot and hit F2 on the Dell screen (bios menu)
2) Go to the SATA Operation section
3) Change to Combination SATA/PATA mode.
4) Reboot and re-attempt windows install

there are 3 settings that seem to indicate SATA only operation, first three but the 4th is the one you want "combination sata/pata"

if you havent already reformatted your original HDD then you should be able to start up normally. it will send you to the F8, safe mode screen but it will actually complete the boot process and go to the xp logon.

if you formatted your original drive it will allow you to re-install your os.