[superstar]

I have a computer I've built out of some new and old parts. The main old piece in it is an Asus TUV4X motherboard that I think came out around 2002/2003. It supports changing the boot order to allow cds to boot first and stuff. But for some reason when I put in any Windows XP Home, Pro, and Win 98 discs it won't boot from them. I get a message that says:

Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM :
No Emulation

Press any key to boot from cd

The OS discs won't work!!! But funny thing is I have a Vista disc and it does work if you try to boot from it. I also have an Ubuntu Linux Live Dvd and it works fine. I need to install XP on the pc I built but have no idea how to do it if it won't allow me to load the discs. What do I do???


Thanks

[Advertisements]

What actually happens, when you press "some" key?

[Broni]

What actually happens, when you press "some" key?

[superstar]

Like I said it just won't load... The screen goes black.

[Neil Jones]

This is usually caused because there's either an issue with the hard drive or an issue with the structure of the drive - typically corrupt Master Boot Record, Master File Table or a problem with the partitions. It really doesn't take much to upset the XP CD.

Your best bet would be to boot off an other CD, either of those you mention will be fine, and rip out all of the paritions and what not. Your XP CD should then boot and you can set up a new partition from the XP CD.

[superstar]

Hey Neil your always so very helpful...

I did try booting off the Vista cd and deleting all partitions on the one and only single hdd I have in my system, and not formatting it. But still the XP discs and even the Win 98 cd won't work. This is so troublesome... I really need to install XP. I have three different XP cds and none work! I'm going nuts here. Why isn't it working?

It tries to load the discs and than the screen goes blank. I even got a new LG optical drive yesterday to see if it had to do with the other dvd drive I have. & that one doesn't allow it to work either. Is this a bios issue? I bought the Asus TUV4X motherboard on ebay because I like to recycle old computer parts instead of having them end up in a dump. Seriously if anyone can help please do.


Many thanks!

[Neil Jones]

If it were a BIOS issue the Vista disks wouldn't work.

Next thing to try:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

A bootdisk. These are primarily for floppy disks (whatever they are ) but any decent CD writing software such as Nero and friends can use them to make a bootable CD with if you have no floppy capabilities.

Use FDisk to departition the drive, then restart, repartition, restart again (DOS limitations), then use Format C: to wipe it.
You can always rip the partitions out again from your XP CD once you've got it to boot that far.

Edited by Neil Jones, 22 September 2009 - 08:42 AM.

[The Skeptic]

I have seen several cases, including my son's computer, where XP could not be installed until I formatted the disk on another computer. I have never seen the error message you mentioned but I would try to connect the HD as slave to another computer, format it there, move it back and try the installation again.

[superstar]

If it were a BIOS issue the Vista disks wouldn't work.

Next thing to try:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

A bootdisk. These are primarily for floppy disks (whatever they are ) but any decent CD writing software such as Nero and friends can use them to make a bootable CD with if you have no floppy capabilities.

Use FDisk to departition the drive, then restart, repartition, restart again (DOS limitations), then use Format C: to wipe it.
You can always rip the partitions out again from your XP CD once you've got it to boot that far.

Hey thanks Neil and The Skeptic... What should I use exactly from bootdisk.com? I assume anything with the FDISK utility.

I'll take the initiative to try that out right now anyways... I have a floppy drive somewhere I never used and I also think I have a win 98 floppy setup disk so I'll give that a go. I'll post back in a bit.

Thanx

[helpful]

Dust out your old floppy drive:

http://www.microsoft...;displaylang=en

[superstar]

I tried using the Windows XP SP2 floppy start up disc from Microsoft's website. But it didn't even load at all! & I had my Floppy drive set to boot first. I don't know what's wrong with my new built pc. I must admit I did set all of the Bios settings to they're default using the DEFAULT SETTINGS option in the Bios. I did it because the motherboard was used and I wanted to set everything as normal when the motherboard is new. Little did I not expect all the large features in this Asus Bios. So what am I to do now? Maybe I touched something in the Bios or need to turn it off.

You can read the manual to my motherboard which includes Bios pics, and default settings here:

http://support.asus....SLanguage=en-us
[Online/Downloadable PDF]

Maybe you guys can check to see if there's something I need to turn on or off.

Thanks

[superstar]

A friend told me to try clearing the CMOS. But isn't that the same as using "Restore All Settings To Default" in my Bios? From the little experience I have with Bios' and CMOS'. I thought that clearing it only wipes out passwords.

[Neil Jones]

The battery retains date, time and settings. Ripping the battery is as good as reset to default only with losing the current date and time.
There's nothing special about a board from 2003, if truth be told.
I presume you've replaced the hard drive, the CDs and maybe the power supply with no difference to the situation? If so, it can only be an obscure board issue. Hope you like Vista

With access to another computer, this might be of interest to you:
http://www.tech-reci...from-harddrive/

Edited by Neil Jones, 24 September 2009 - 08:53 AM.

[The Skeptic]

Clearing the CMOS is a very important procedure which I do very often. The purpose is not to clear the set parameters but to get rid of corruptions in BIOS operation, setting it back to it's original condition. This is not the same as setting the BIOS to default value. When the clearing is done your BIOS will be set to default values. Leave it at that. Just set time, date and boot priority.

[superstar]

Ok so heres a couple more things I've tried:

- I tried to take the cmos battery out which only refreshed the bios and didn't help.

- I noticed a pattern which is the fact that it won't load XP discs which are on cdroms, but will load Vista, and Ubuntu Linux Live which are on DVD discs.

- I tried taking all my pci cards off the board. Still no go...

- I also tried switching ram around, and even just leaving one stick in. Nothing...

Someone told me to try one optical drive and one stick of ram. Will try that now still looking for more help from anyone please help! I need to install Win XP on this!

Edited by superstar, 24 September 2009 - 09:45 PM.

[edge2022]

If you can boot from USB, then try that: http://www.liliputin...i-note-usb.html