Help - Help!!!!

[Moreno5]

Hi guys,

Great Forum by the way, have learnt so much already!!!! :)

Just a few questions.....I recently was given my Dell system from work to take home as they have upgraded all PC's at work. I had a couple of hard drives at home, and some more RAM, dvd-rw etc that I wanted to add to it as they are bigger than its original.

I basically connected it all together, two hard drives from my old pc which have not yet been formatted with CD-rw and dvd-rw drives. Everytime I put the dell system cd in (Got it to boot from CD) to format the hard drive and install XP on it, it begins to format and then tells me files are missing on the disk. The disk is fine as I have used it prior to this. I thought it may be as these hard drives were out of my old pc and were not formatted, so I put the old dell hard drive back in which basically has Win 2000 on it and again wanted to format and install xp, but again the same message comes up.

Can anyone help at all????

Thanks in advance guys!!!!

[Sylvander]

"it begins to format and then tells me files are missing on the disk"
I suspect "Autorun" is automatically running the Windows installation program and it is detecting that you already have a Windows installation on the HDD.
Perhaps it then "thinks" you want to "repair" the installation, but the files needed to do that don't exist on the CD [because it's for a different OS].
If you are certain you want to begin afresh you should really zero-fill the HDD's.
Connect them only one-at-a-time and use "Killdisk" [for free from www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm] to zero-fill each.
The free version can only deal with a single HDD.
The company who gave you the PC really should have zero-filled the HDD before they gave it away, but since they didn't, you should do that to respect their privacy.
This will also eliminate the business of the new installation program detecting an existing Windows installation.

Before you do the above though, it would be wise to set up the PC as it was when you got it [with the old HDD in place with its Operating System] and run Windows XP Upgrade Advisor (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/advisor.mspx) to check out the hardware [and Applications?] for compatibility.

[Moreno5]

Ok, but with this kill disk, I will obviously need to run the pc like it was earlier, log in and then run this program. The two other hard drives, will I need to connect these while in the original win 2000?

[Sylvander]

" Ok, but with this kill disk, I will obviously need to run the pc like it was earlier, log in and then run this program"
Not so; you could actually run the PC without a HDD connected, and boot from the "Killdisk" bootable floppy.
But then there would be no HDD connected to zero-fill.
So you need the HDD connected, but you don't boot from it.
You must have the BIOS configured [in the BIOS Setup] to boot from the FDD before the HDD.
Then the "Killdisk" program will load and run, detect and display the details of the connected HDD, also show the various partitions on the drive, and allow you to choose to either zero-fill any number of chosen partitions, or zero-fill the whole HDD.
None of this takes place within the Windows environment [Windows isn't booted].
Only one HDD should be connected at a time.
1. Connect the first HDD, boot from the "Killdisk" and zero-fill the HDD, shut down and disconnect it.
2. Connect the second HDD, boot from the "Killdisk" and zero-fill the HDD, shut down and disconnect it.
3. Repeat as necessary for each HDD until all are done.
It may be that each drive must be jumpered as Master while this is being done, not sure. I think the program only deals with the HDD identified by the BIOS as HD0. Keep a look out for that.

[Moreno5]

Quality.....I can imagine I will be on asking for advice, I will give it a try tonight.

thanks again for your help

[Moreno5]

Sorry, so you think after these have all been formatted I will be able to load the OS on?

Firstly do I need to download the boot disk, boot the pc off of this and then run the kill disk software

[Sylvander]

"so you think after these have all been formatted I will be able to load the OS on?"
I'm hoping that the problems you are experiencing will no longer happen because there will be no existing OS on the HDD.
"Killdisk" doesn't format the HDD, it writes zeros to it, which wipes out all trace of the previous contents [including the existing partitioning and formatting (if you zero-fill the whole HDD)].
You could [if you wished] zero-fill the existing partitions, then re-format those.
It's probably best to zero-fill the whole HDD, then re-partition and re-format to your new requirements.
You can either use the bootable WinXP CD to do the partitioning & formatting as well as the installation, or else you can use other programs to do it before you attempt to install.
Here's the link again http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm I notice it was incorrect.
It's a good idea to do the following:
A) Make 2 to 5 partitions.
B) Hold only Windows and Programs and configuration files on the system partition [c:]. Make this only as big as it needs to be [10 GB?]
C) Move all data files off c: into their dedicated partitions according to data type. [You decide what you'd like to put where.]
D) Make a dedicated partition [FAT32 in this case] for holding backups and installation file sets.
E) Copy the Windows installation files to this partition, run the installation from there, and leave the files there permanently. When Windows needs a file it will fetch it from there in an instant without asking for the CD.
Use these:
1. How to make a free “Smart Boot Manager” floppy
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41498
This makes it easier to boot a chosen drive [particularly the one holding the EBCD].

2. How to make a free EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
This has a number of useful utilities included including "Image" [for DOS, by Terabyte] & "File Manager".
Post #4 here shows how I did (E) above for Win98.
I thought it was surprisingly powerful, easy and quick, but then I'd worked up to that over a period of time.

Here's my partition arrangement:
G: is the partition/drive I use for holding image backup files and installation file sets for Win98se and Office97.

[Sylvander]

"do I need to download the boot disk, boot the pc off of this and then run the kill disk software"
1. Download at the website by clicking on the link as shown in the image below.
2. Give the ok to save the "killdiskfloppysetup.exe" file to your HDD somewhere convenient.
3. Run that file to make the bootable floppy.
4. To use the "Killdisk", boot the target PC with the floppy disk in its FDD. Provided that PC has its BIOS set to boot first from the FDD, the program will load and run and display the HDD details etc.

[Sylvander]

Here's an image of the files that are on my copy of the floppy so made:

[Moreno5]

HI,

Right gave it all ago, did the killdisk app and it went smoothly. Once all finished I booted from the XP cd and it formatted and then began to install. Half way through it stops and says that a file is missing, would I like to stop and quit or skip the file. I skip the file and it eventually crashes, well a blue screen appears with all sorts of writing on.....any ideas????

[Sylvander]

Did you check the hardware for compatibility as I recommended above?
No? Oops!

Might this apply?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330181/en-us

[jmkeuning]

What components do you have in the PC? I would take out everything that is not necessary, especially the second drive. Try to get Windows loaded with the minmum of hardware and once it is dialed in, then attach the slave. Also, take out all but one stick of RAM, again, just enough to get going.
When was the last time you used the CD? It is possible that it has a bad sector and is not being read? Also, does it tell you what file is missing? What file is it? If you put the CD in a working computer can you confirm that the file is on the CD and readable?
What does the "blue screen...with all sorts of writing" say?

[Moreno5]

Thank you guys, all up and running now and successfully introduced all components to the PC. So....Thanks Sylvander for the killdisk advice and great help, and then thanku jmkeuning for the idea of stripping the PC down, it def worked. I still don't get how that makes a difference.

Thanks again and have a good CHristmas holidays!!!!