[RLA655]

My friend brought his PC over to reload windows. Every time I put the Xp cd in the drive the PC reboots and keeps rebooting until I remove the CD. If I unhook one of the drives (rom or burner), it won't boot, just sets there until, I hook the other up. Any suggestions on formatting & reloading the hard drive??
Thanks
Rick

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Is your BIOS configured correctly? Restart your computer again, this time holding or repeatedly pressing F12. Sometimes hotkeys are different unfortunately, but this will probably bring up the boot device menu. Choose your CD-ROM drive if you can get in.

If that doesn't work, restart and try holding or repeatedly pressing F1 or F2 on startup, to get into the BIOS setup. Move over to the right in tabs until you see the boot priority devices. Make sure the CD is set to be the first priority boot device. On the right it will usually tell how to rearrange them.. most of the time F5 and F6 I believe.

If I unhook one of the drives (rom or burner), it won't boot, just sets there until, I hook the other up.

WARNING!!

Never unplug or touch parts inside your computer while it is running or plugged into an outlet. You risk electrical shock, or in the least, damage to your components (especially the harddrive!) from electrostatic discharge. Always ground yourself before touching parts within the computer; a simple way to do this is to keep a hand in contact with the metal part of the case.

[OpenOutcome]

Is your BIOS configured correctly? Restart your computer again, this time holding or repeatedly pressing F12. Sometimes hotkeys are different unfortunately, but this will probably bring up the boot device menu. Choose your CD-ROM drive if you can get in.

If that doesn't work, restart and try holding or repeatedly pressing F1 or F2 on startup, to get into the BIOS setup. Move over to the right in tabs until you see the boot priority devices. Make sure the CD is set to be the first priority boot device. On the right it will usually tell how to rearrange them.. most of the time F5 and F6 I believe.

If I unhook one of the drives (rom or burner), it won't boot, just sets there until, I hook the other up.

WARNING!!

Never unplug or touch parts inside your computer while it is running or plugged into an outlet. You risk electrical shock, or in the least, damage to your components (especially the harddrive!) from electrostatic discharge. Always ground yourself before touching parts within the computer; a simple way to do this is to keep a hand in contact with the metal part of the case.

[RLA655]

I have the CD to boot first and I also cleared the Cmos last night, running out of options....

[OpenOutcome]

Perhaps your disk is corrupted.. you could try this one with just the basic stuff:

You will need a blank CD-r, from any local department store. Maybe you have one already.
Download Windows Recovery Console here.
Download, and install Imgburn from my sig.
Install Imgburn onto your computer. You can choose No when it asks to check for a new version, the older one will work fine.
Using Imgburn, Choose "Write Image file to disk". Choose the folder Icon with a magnifying glass to choose your windows recovery console ISO. When ready, burn the ISO to the disk, choosing the large "Iso file to cd" button on the bottom.
When complete, close Imgburn and all other applications. Restart your computer.
Boot to the CD...let it finish loading.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

Perhaps that will work?

Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

-Jason

[rshaffer61]

What kind of XP disk is it?
Home or Pro
OEM or Retail
Upgrade or Full version
Is this what was originally installed on his system?
What make and model system?

[RLA655]

I have 2 disc and they both do the same, wouldn't think both would be corrupted, but could be....

Home
OEM
Full Version
Don't know, it's what's on there now, might of started with 98, not for sure...
Custom PC with a P4, Intel Motherboard..

[rshaffer61]

What was originally loaded on friends system?
Did friend buy a XP to load?
Is this a name brand system and is there a sticker on it with a COA and version of windows originally installed?

[RLA655]

Not for sure, might of been 98 or Me...
No, another place loaded it.
It's a Custom Built PC, No there's no COA sticker or anything with a version #...

[rshaffer61]

So if I understand this correctly your friend does not own XP?

[RLA655]

I don't know, will have to ask... His wife brought it over. I ask about Xp being on there and she said another place loaded it and that was all she knew... So If it had 98 or Me at one time, will I have to boot from a 98 boot disk??

[rshaffer61]

If your friend does not have a XP owned by him then legally it cannot be put on his system.
He would have to own a OEM or Retail version or at the very least a license for it to be installed.
I will ask for clarification from a Moderator or Admin to make sure.

[RLA655]

He will need to buy a license to run Xp, if they don't have one...But that shouldn't keep me from loading it and the CD's to act the way they are....

[rshaffer61]

I agree it should not make a difference.
Let's see if this will work.

Download Windows Recovery Console HERE
Download, and install free Imgburn
Using Imgburn, burn rc.iso to a CD.
Boot to the CD...let it finish loading.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

This will test the drive to see if it will boot to a bootable disk not related to your cd's.

[RLA655]

I'll download it and see what happens..

[RLA655]

I burned the WRC cd and it didn't make any difference, still reboots as long as thwe cd is in...