[AdamL]

I am trying to wipe clean and reinstall Windows XP on my dell due to a pesky virus- arora / nail which kept attaching itself to other registries- I can no longer get to windows updates & I deleted a symantec reg file .nail attached to, so I killed my virus protection. I have no real data to lose, so I want to reinstall XP & start fresh.

I have read the posts and thank the admin and all members in advance for their time and insight.

I have tried to boot from the Dell XP CD, and have changed my boot order so the CD boots first.

I then get to the blue screen were it states click r for repair, enter to install etc.-
When I hit either "r" or "enter", it starts reading and compiling the drivers off the CD, but then it states it cannot find the hard drive, and then asks me to exit.

? If I pull the CD out of the drive and reboot 5 seconds later, windows XP boots up and my hard drive is still accessable and I can get into my windows fine. Is this a slave / master issue? Please help...

Thank you all- love the emoticons-

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do you only have one drive in the system?

[dsenette]

do you only have one drive in the system?

[AdamL]

Yes, there currently is only one hard drive.

[dsenette]

what is the exact message that comes up

[AdamL]

The computer is at my Parents house currently, and I am away from it, I am sorry I currently don't have the exact message- I tried to do a print screen but that didn't work.

I will get the exact error message and stop wasting your time. It was midnight or so when we stoped wrestling with it.




I believe it stated it could not find the hard drive or possibly the destination drive, but something just occured to me:

I placed the boot order as 1) CD drive, then 2) the a: drive, then
3) the c: drive, and I had no floppy disc in the a: drive (I thought it would just look past the a: drive)

This could be the root of my problem. Do you know if it is imperative the boot order is the Cd drive, then the C: drive and then everything else?

[dsenette]

that may cause an issue......theoretically the issue would have been caused before the cd booted...but try changing that and see (and you're not wasting our time by not having the full information....you never know what you'll need untill it's needed)

[AdamL]

I went home last night and got back on this project.

I changed the boot order of the drives to be CD drive first, then the hard drive, and then the a:\ drive.


I again tried to reload my windows XP on my Dell with the Dell XP disc that came with the computer.


I got to the blue screen and was given the option to reinstall XP or repair it.

I chose to reinstall it, it stated it was loading up the drivers on the bottom of the blue screen and scrolled off about 3 minutes of said driver titles.


I then get the error message "[COLOR=red]Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct.

This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue, to quit setup, press F3"


Upon restarting and removing the CD, windows boots back up and everything works fine, except I still have this nail / arora virus, I cannot access any windows updates by any means....

Any ideas? Is this a virus in my bios? Or am I doing something wrong....