Just built my computer .. trouble installing OS

[thirtythree]

I can't get my computer to boot to a Windows XP SP1 CD. Is it possible to make a floppy disk that will just bring up a DOS prompt? Or do I have to create the 6 boot disks for XP?

This is not General Hardware related.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[CurtCold]

What system do you have, and I always use the win98 boot disk to get to DOS for formatting, and partitioning. Stupid question, but do you have the bios set to boot to the CD rom?

 

[thirtythree]

Yes, I have the correct boot order. Can I download the 98 boot disk somewhere because I have 2k installed. My computer is:

ASUS A7N266-VM AA
AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Retail
Kingston 256MB DDR PC2100
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM
GeForce4 Ti4200
Evercase + 300W PS
Generic 16x DVD-ROM
CenDyne 40x12x48 CD-RW
MS Internet Keyboard
MS Optical Mouse
Sony Floppy Drive

It recognizes all the hardware.

 

[thirtythree]

nm, I found where to download the 98 boot disk. I will try that out and report back.

 

[squirrel dog]

Works best when pc is NOT overclocked.Install os first then o/c.

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
Works best when pc is NOT overclocked.Install os first then o/c.

Thanks, I'm not overclocked.

 

[CurtCold]

Nice setup, I just built a Puter with that exact same board. Another stupid question, but did you try both roms? I had that problem with XP.

Here is one link I found about making a boot disk, I haven't personally used it, I'm looking for the actual 98 boot for DOS. Boot

Here is another... 95-98se BOOT

 

[thirtythree]

No I haven't tried both drives but I tried to boot to the CD on this computer too and it doesn't work. Is there a way I can run setup.exe on the CD from the DOS prompt? How do I assign the DVD a drive letter?

 

[CurtCold]

It should autodetect the CD when it boots to the ROM, and start installation. I would unhook everything but the HD, ROM, MOBO, CPU, until you can get it going, then hook up the rest later. Have you formatted to HD, or are you going to let it format from Windows install? If you look in the BIOS you should see what order your drives are installed, and that will tell you what letter they are assigned to.

 

[optimistic]

Just download the 6 WinXP boot disks. That's what I use.

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: optimistic
Just download the 6 WinXP boot disks. That's what I use.

I decided to create the XP boot disks. It turns out I have exactly 6 floppy disks lying around

 

[LuNoTiCK]

I think they have a bootdisk for WinXP that only requires 1 cd at bootdisk.com, it worked for my friend, not sure if it will work for you.

 

[Slogun]

Well this may be another "stupid" question, but that Windows XP SP1 CD you are trying to boot from, is that a full WindowsXP CD or just the SP1 update?

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: LuNoTiCK
I think they have a bootdisk for WinXP that only requires 1 cd at bootdisk.com, it worked for my friend, not sure if it will work for you.

Eh, too late. Hard drive is formatting right now .. .. .. how does a 30GB system partition and a 50GB file storage partition sound?

 

[thirtythree]

Well my partition finished formatting then setup says something like line 0 in SP1.CAB is corrupt and setup stops .. I guess that might explain why I couldn't boot to the CD. Now every time I turn the computer on it says 'NTLDR missing. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.' Any ideas? Could it just be that my CD is scratched up?

 

[optimistic]

Originally posted by: Deslocke
Well my partition finished formatting then setup says something like line 0 in SP1.CAB is corrupt and setup stops .. I guess that might explain why I couldn't boot to the CD. Now every time I turn the computer on it says 'NTLDR missing. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.' Any ideas? Could it just be that my CD is scratched up?

Sucks dude. Maybe you can borrow a friend's CD, but use your activation code of course.

 

[thirtythree]

Got everything running smoothly. Now to try out 3DMark2001 and some games ..