Hard Drive Re-format

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)

RDU

You will need to access the BIOS setup.. you can then set the boot order
such that the CD drive is the primary boot device..

As luck would have it, an MVP colleague has a website that gives excellent
clues on how to access a variety of BIOS types, and information and
instruction on how to reload the machine..

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

For the reload info, its all in the menu at the top of the page..
 
I have a new system.

I would like to re-format the hard drive on the old PC to give it to a
relative as a gift. It will not boot from the XP CD. What are my other
options?
 
Mike--

I use BIOS setup to set the boot order for the CD to be the primary, however
when rebooting, I get an error message asking me to retry.

--Randy
 
RDU said:
I have a new system.

I would like to re-format the hard drive on the old PC to give it to a
relative as a gift. It will not boot from the XP CD. What are my other
options?
Click to expand...


The order in which it the system tries the various possible boot devices is
set in the BIOS. Presumably you are set to try the hard drive before the CD,
so it's not even getting to the CD drive

Go into the BIOS setup program and change the boot order.
 
RDU after much thought,came up with this jewel:
top posting fixed<


Mike--

I use BIOS setup to set the boot order for the CD to be the primary,
however when rebooting, I get an error message asking me to retry.

--Randy
Click to expand...



Please post the exact error message
-max

--
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RDU said:
I have a new system.

I would like to re-format the hard drive on the old PC to give it to a
relative as a gift. It will not boot from the XP CD. What are my other
options?
Click to expand...

If you know the make of drive visit the makers site to see if they have
tools to do this. They frequently boot/run from floppy.
 
Within BIOS Setup, I disabled both the floppy & hard drive boot from Boot
Sequence. Once saving changes & rebooting, I get the following error message:

"strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility"

I kept an eye on the CD Drive and it wasn't polled, i.e., no light
indicating access activity.
 
I've done that as well, placing the CD drive as #1. The PC boots from the
hard drive.

I found a bootable floppy on the Maxtor site. I'll see if that works.
 
Well, the light finally went off in the old brain, and I thought how about
inserting the CD in the other drive and rebooting. BINGO! Oh well, lessons
learned...

Thanks to you & the others for the helpful suggestions.
 
Well, I typed too soon!

Formatting was a breeze. The snag popped up when prompted for the activation
code. This was an old Dell with ME originally installed, then upgraded to XP
Home by me. The CD sleeve does not contain the code. So I guess I'm up the
proverbial creek, huh?
 
I found the booklet with the Product Key buried in a drawer. The old machine
is up & running.

Thanks again.
 
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