[phillpower2]

It might also be worth noting that when the PC goes to a black screen before the blue screen it gives me two selections of Windows Media Edition XP. If I select the top one it goes to the start windows in safe mode selection screen but if I select the bottom one it brings me to a screen which says

This suggests that there is two operating systems installed on the HDD.

Did you try Last Known Good Configuration on both options.

Can I ask what type of XP disk it is that you have as in a full retail type, an OEM Dell etc type, a system restore disk that you have created yourself or a burned copy.

As an asides can I ask that if you have something to add while waiting for a reply that you use the edit tab – bottom right of the dialog input box, this will ensure that nothing gets overlooked (this can happen if your previous reply was on a different page)

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Hi Phil

I can only select last know configuration on the top Windows XP selection because if I select the bottom one it only brings me to the screen with

''Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys'

on it and does not give me any options to select that.

The XP disc I have is the original one that came with the PC

[Ddunne012]

Hi Phil

I can only select last know configuration on the top Windows XP selection because if I select the bottom one it only brings me to the screen with

''Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys'

on it and does not give me any options to select that.

The XP disc I have is the original one that came with the PC

[phillpower2]

Hi Ddunne012

Is the disk the same as one in the attachment below;

[Ddunne012]

yes that's right it's the orange one

[phillpower2]

Thanks

Please refer to the Repair Installation tutorial provided courtesy of admin @ http://www.geekstogo...air-windows-xp/

Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions.

[Ddunne012]

I tried this and it still brings me to the blue screen.

[phillpower2]

Couple of questions;
Is there data on the HDD that you would like to try and secure.
Does the HDDs activity LED flicker or not, if not what does it do as in stay unlit or permanently lit.
Have you changed the boot sequence as detailed below;

To change the Boot Sequence in the BIOS;

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the appropriate button that allows you to access the BIOS (Esc - Del – F2 etc)
This will enter you into the BIOS/CMOS
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to DVD/ CD drive first.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit.
Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

While you are in the BIOS check that the time and date are correct in case the CMOS battery is dead.

[Ddunne012]

If your referring to the LED light on the inside of the PC on the motherboard then that light stays permenantly lit when I turn on the PC without flickering.
Or is it the Light on the outside where I put in the CD. If its that light it remains permenantly on while I am in the windows setup screen and then goes off when it has finished loading.
There is also no data which I would like to secure.

I had previously tampered with the boot sequence but I think it is in the right order now. It lists as follows;
1. Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive
2. Onboard SATA Hard Drive (not present)
3. ST3160812AS
4. Onboard or USB Floppy Drive (not present)

Is this the correct order? I also see an option in here to restore to factory default settings. Would that be any help?

The date and time are correct.

Edited by Ddunne012, 09 May 2013 - 02:20 PM.

[phillpower2]

The HDD busy LED is on the outside of the case, on the front and is amber in color when lit up, it should flicker when it is busy and if it is frozen it suggests a problem.

You should set the boot sequence as;
1. Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive
2. ST3160812AS

This allows the data to be read from the XP disk in the optical drive first and then written to the HDD second.

I also see an option in here to restore to factory default settings. Would that be any help?

I was going to come to this shortly but as you have mentioned it here I suggest that you do this now before you set the boot sequence to what it needs to be, the reason for restoring the defaults first is because it will clear any possible bad MB settings that could cause you problems + the default settings would set the HDD as the first boot device which is not what we want.

[Ddunne012]

No Amber light appears on the outside of my PC just the Cd-Rom light which is green and the four port lights which are green. These lights remain off when I enter the windows setup screen but do come on and off when I start the PC and try to start windows normally.


I reset the factory default settings when I do this the list goes;

1. USB Floppy Drive
2. SATA Hard Drive
3. ST3160812AS
4. USB CD-ROM Drive

The result from this is that the blue screen still appears.

Now I am trying the way you suggested with CD-ROM Drive first and ST3160812AS second. The blue screen still appears after the setup CD loads

Edited by Ddunne012, 09 May 2013 - 03:10 PM.

[phillpower2]

The blue screen still appears after the setup CD loads

Please explain what you mean by this because if the disk had loaded you would be presented with the same images as in the tutorial provided by admin http://www.geekstogo...air-windows-xp/
Please double check that the boot sequence is still CD/DVD drive first and ST3160812AS second.

Can you also try the XP CD in another computer to make sure the disk is not damaged, just check what is on the disk and not running it.

Please see the attachment below for the HDD activity LED that should be flickering, if it is not it suggests an issue with the HDD or the LED itself, can you hear any noise from the HDD at all.

The user guide for the Dell ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_dimension_desktops/dimension-e520_service%20manual_en-us.pdf

[Ddunne012]

With regards to the setup CD, when I get to the setup screen which gives me the options to repair 'r' or setup new windows version 'Enter' whenb I press enter the CD-ROM begins reading the CD which takes a few seconds then after that the original blue error screen appears. If I look at the tutorial after I press enter I should be brought to the Windows Licencing Agreement page which does not happen.

The boot sequence is definitely set that way too and the Operating CD is definitely good too.


With regards to the LED no amber light ever lights up in this position. There is a green cylindrical shape that lights up rapidly and then disappears.

There doesn't really seem to be any significant noise coming from the HDD either

[phillpower2]

With regards to the setup CD, when I get to the setup screen which gives me the options to repair 'r' or setup new windows version 'Enter' whenb I press enter the CD-ROM begins reading the CD which takes a few seconds then after that the original blue error screen appears. If I look at the tutorial after I press enter I should be brought to the Windows Licencing Agreement page which does not happen.

The optical drive not being able to read the disk is a possibility then.

With regards to the LED no amber light ever lights up in this position. There is a green cylindrical shape that lights up rapidly and then disappears.

Your computer must have a green HDD activity LED then as the cylindrical shape denotes the HDD.

Can you check for a recovery partition by restarting the computer and continuously tapping the Ctrl + F11 key.
Let us know if there is one.

[Ddunne012]

Hi phil

No nothing happens when I press ctrl + f11

[Wolfeymole]

Have you ever given the machine a good blow out with a can of compressed air especially around the CPU heatsink and heatsink fan to get shut of any dust?