problem i am having is i have an empty hd just put it in pc and when rebooting pc with disk in tray keep getting command prompts [DR-DOS]A:/> any suggestions
hi there, how are you trying to install windows? Are you booting from the xp CD? What do you mean when you say "rebooting pc with disk in tray?" The XP setup process allows you to create and format disk partitions, so once you get into setup you should be fine.
It sounds like your system isn't booting from the CD, and going straight to DOS. Go into your BIOS setup window (often by pressing delete at the first screen, sometimes it's another key. It'll be printed at the bottom of the screen as "enter setup". If you don't see that, just a big company logo, follow the instruction to "switch to POST" and then the instruction will appear) and go to one of the "CMOS features" menus, into "Boot sequence". Then make sure the name of your CD-ROM drive is at the TOP. Then exit the BIOS and save your settings, restarting if necessary. The PC should then pick up the CD and run the XP installation program.
If your pc is very old you won't be able to boot from CD, but it's not worth installing Windows XP on a very old computer anyway. If your computer is able to boot from CD and you follow sammorris's instructions (they may be slightly different depending on your BIOS) you will see this text when you boot: Press any key to boot from cd... at which point you do the obvious thing. Just thought i'd also mention that many pirate versions of Windows XP don't boot properly, a friend of mine was able to get round this by using the boot floppies available on the Micro$oft website.
I'd advise not to continue if you are using a pirate copy of XP though, they can get nasty when you start picking up viruses, because they're not in any way secure.
i went and took the steps u told me and i couldnt get past the screen at the start up. the version of xp i have is xp pro and made a back up copy of it, my original is disk has a crack in the disk . when turning pc on w/disk in rom it it begins to start but ends with dr-dos A:/ cant get past this point dunno why? thank you for the info
WEll...The backup copy won't help anything...Atleast i don't think it will...So i think you will need to buy Windows XP
Well backup copies of XP usually AREN'T bootable, so that will be why it isn't loading. Try this at the DOS prompt: D: (assuming D is the normal letter of your CD/DVD drive) setup If that doesn't work, you'll have to go legit I'm afraid.
