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reformating

T

TwoBills

Senior member
I'm trying to reformat my daughter's xp pro system. In the bios I don't have a "boot from cd" option. When I insert the disc and access it manually I'm told the existing system is newer than the one I'm trying to install and won't allow me to go any further. I'm guessing this is because the disc only has sp1 w/sp2 downloaded. I'd like to start over w/this disc (the same one that was originally installed), but I can't get it to start.
Anybody know how to get the reformatting started?
 
There has to be a way for your system to boot from the disk. That's the only way you're going to be able to reformat and reinstall. Is it a "brand name" machine like a Dell or a "home built" machine? If you could tell us the model(if brand) or motherboard model we could tell you how to set the machine to boot from CD.
 
When booting up, keep a sharp eye out for any message at the bottom left of the screen for boot options. Often these are F1 or F2 or F12 to bring up the boot options screen/menu (usually only shows for a couple seconds).

However, there will be a boot options selection area in your BIOS. You need to just carefully be able to locate it & read the provided directions for creating the needed changes. Note: Often these options can be located in sub menus and the instructions can be quite cryptic.

If needed, you should be able to delete or at least mark the primary/boot partition as inactive via WINXP's Computer Management Services.
 
It's a home built using a Biostar (cheapo) mb. I've already been in the bios and I don't have an option to boot from cd, that's why I was looking for another path.
 
In the BIOS, set the boot order to the cd drive before the hdd. You won't find a big button saying "boot from CD" but, you will find a boot order/sequence field that looks something like C, D,G ... By accessing the field, you can change the boot order to whichever drive corresponds to your cd drive first before it looks for the C drive. Usually this is the default or, should be.
 
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Like I said, the only thing listed under the boot sequence tab, in the bios, is the harddrive. No other options. Thus the problem. Do you think clearing the cmos will do anything for me?
 
TwoBills said:
Like I said, the only thing listed under the boot sequence tab, in the bios, is the harddrive. No other options. Thus the problem. Do you think clearing the cmos will do anything for me?
Click to expand...

It wouldn't hurt to try. I'm curious how the CD drive works without it showing in the BIOS. What does it say about the drive in device manager?
 
TwoBills, OK it's a Biostar board. Do you know the model of the board? I might be able to look at the motherboard manual and find out how to set the machine to boot from a CD. Like I said, there *has* to be a way to do this.
 
TwoBills, I downloaded the manual for your board. In your BIOS go to the Boot menu. Under Boot Device Priority set your CDROM to be first followed by Hard Drive. If you have more than 1 CDROM go to CD/DVD Drives bellow Boot Device Priority and set the drive you want to use to boot from the install CD as first on the list.

When you reboot with the XP install CD you may see a message for a few seconds that says Press Any Key to Boot From CD. Do that.
 
OK, I've located part of the problem. I reset my bios to default. This brought back my boot sequence. I've now got the cd as first boot, but it's still not booting. Still trying.
 
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