Hi I have just put a new hard drive in to my tower system after the last one went belly up.The problem i am having is when i try to install xp there is a prompt saying press a key to install from CD.The problem is the keyboard wont seem to work when i press it so i cant continue.Yet the keyboard works in bios up,down enter etc.Is there an easy way to get round this as i am no computer wizard and i really need to get this PC up and running as its my sons and cos its not working he wants to be on mine all the time. Any help would be very much appreciated ODIN
PS/2 or USB keyboard? If USB, try a PS/2 keyboard. Also it says press any key, but it should read "press any key EXCEPT Enter".
Thx for the reply Dailun,i have tried both usb and ps/2 and no joy from either...I did once install the drive in a nother pc and i cant remember if i put anything on it or not..would this make a diference?.would i need to reformat the HD?...and if so whats the best utility to use? and after that could i perhaps install a driver so i could use a keyboard? Told you i am a bit of a numpty wen it comes to PC's lol Many thanks in advance ODIN
OK, let's look at this from another angle: When you get the prompt "press any key to boot from CD, and you press a key, does the message go away, or does the PC appear to ignore the key press and go on to try to load from the HDD. This has nothing to do with the HDD at this point as you can repartition/format the drive once Windows install starts from the CD. Have you verified that the CD is indeed bootable by trying it in another PC?
Hi Again When i press the key absolutely nothing happens at all it just stays the same.i have tried the disc on another pc and it comes up wit the options to install xp..so i gather it is bootable ODIN
If the PS/2 keyboard won't work, then i am running out of ideas. Last thing I can think of. . . With the PS/2 keyboard, when you power the computer on, do the "lock" lights flash once? After that occurs, will the caps/num/scroll lock key toggle the lights? Also, you can try this: Power up the computer and go into BIOS. There you will find a setting to allow USB Keyboard Support. You can then power back off and plug in your USB keyboard. (If it is an old computer it may not have the option and you may be stuck buying a PS/2 keyboard.) After that, I'm not sure where to go except create an unattended installation CD such as here: http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/
Hi Since i put the new drive in i cant get into bios since the keyboards wont work so i am baffled as what to do next,i am so stuck on this one Thx Again ODIN PS will the unattended thing help?
Hi Thanks for the help,i enabled the usb legacy thing in bios and got the keyboard working,i am well chuffed only promblem is that after i installed windows pro i have no sound watsoever,the pc has a onboard sound card and i cant work out why its not working Is there a utility or application or any software that i can download to get some sound ? Thx In Advance ODIN
You need to load the drivers specific to your motherboard's sound card. Why did you expect XP to provide the sound drivers? You need to provide a driver for anything that has a yellow question mark in the Device Manager window. Is this your first time installing Windows?
Hi Yeah it is the first time i have installed from scratch,as i said in a previous post i am a bit of a dummy when it comes to computersbut i will do what you suggest and many thanks for the help Dailun ODIN
OK, sorry to be so harsh. Windows supplies drivers for many generic type devices but can only be as current as what is available when the build is released. This typically means that they can be months or years behind. On any fresh installation of windows I always try to ensure that at a MINIMUM I have the Ethernet driver available on hand (CD or USB stick) in order that I can establish Internet connectivity, then I can D/L the other drivers from the manufacture's website. It is highly recommended that you have the motherboard model number and the manufacturer's website URL handy before you start. Good Luck.
hi dailun Thx very much for all your help,i went to the giga-byte site and downloaded all the drivers that were missing and the pc works great,there was actually about 5 drivers that i needed for sound and other things.but thanks to you i got it sorted Many thxs again ODIN
