Hello. Recently a friend brought me his IBM thinkpad with problems and said he wanted to format it[prev with windows 2000 i beleive] and install xp on it. Anyway, i put in the xp disc, changed the boot sequence to the cd-rom and went to the install XP option. From there, you can remove partitions etc. So i told it to remove the C: partition, then i told it to add a new partition, and then i told it to install XP on that newly created partition. Well, after i did those 3 things and then "set it in motion" ir said setup would not go through because of some reason which i now forget and did not write down. Anyway... here is what is happening now. Boott the CD-rom drive, Windows XP setup screen comes up and give me the following screen ============================= Windows XP Professional Setup this protion of the setup prograsm prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer. - To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER. - To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R. - To quit setup, without installing Windows XP, press F3. =========================== Anyway... choosing option 1 or 2 [ENTER or R] gives me the following screen. =========================== Windows XP Professional Setup Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program. Setup cannot continue. To quit the setup, press F3. ========================== Can someone give me some steps to fix this problem and install the OS. Thank you.
Use a program called Fdisk to boot up from and partion the drive again and make sure the C;\ partition is your primary and active partition. once u have done that then try again installing the Operating System.
How do i go about running fdisk? I currently have no way of getting to dos. Do i need to burn a startup disc program to CD, and use that?[the thinkpad has not floppy]
you need a WIN98SE boot disk to run fdisk, boot useing one found here, www.peteweb.com/oldos.php when it finishes boot up into dos, type "fdisk" you should be able to figure it out from there.
Ok, I burnt the win9sse to a bootable cd using nero. Anyway, when attempting to run fdisk i get "This program requires a fixed disk." What is this about?
You can download the files from this site and copy them to a floppy. http://www.bootdisk.com/ Good Luck..
Can I do it from CD without a floppy? I don't beleive he has a floppy drive, and if he does its back in toronto[far from here].
The only other way it can work is if u boot of a usb memory stick. Put the files onto a usb stick and then go into your bios settings and change thhe boot sequence for it too check the usb port first. Usually in bios its called "other". Good luck.
The format and partition section in XP setup is the final version of FDISK. What has happened, since the old version and new version have stated no "hard disk" present, means that drive is no longer accesible by any known means. Even in the BIOS you will may not see a hard disk listed. You'll need to know the manufacturer of the drive, download the diagnostic CD ISO, burn it to CD and run all the tests you can on the drive. Chances are, the drive will need to be replaced.
it could be a Serial ATA disk which means you might need drivers... unless i read prior posts incorrectly.
@rafer11 can bios see the hdd? just out of curiosity, why did you delete the existing partition? you only had to format the existing partition.
Ok, so now i got my hands on a usb mem stick, and am using that. Anyway, im currently in fdisk and am given the following screen and options ============================== FDISK R2.13 Fixed Disk Maintenace Utility STANDARD MODE Copyright blah blah blah Partitions on 1st hard disk (7552.6 MB, 1023 cylinders): No-Drive-Start-End----MB----Status-Type 1---------0----1023-38154.3---N-----HPFS/NTFS (OS/2 or NT); QNX; Advanced Unix Select Options: 1) create Partition 2) Delete partition 3) select bootable partition Enter Desired Option: ==================================== Anyway, if i try to create a partition i get 3 options 1) Create DOS primary partition 2) Create DOS extended partition 3) create FAT 32 primary partition Choosing option 3 will tell me there is not enough space to create another partition. However,initially choosing option 2) Delete Partition gives me the option to 1) delete primary partition, however, when i choose that and after i choose to delete the Number #1 partition[in the list], it tells me i cannot do this in STANDARD MODE. Whta's going on here? Also, the previous OS on this system was win 2000. What boot program rfom bootdisk.com should i be using. I've currently got the win98se oem.
EDIT last post... am not using the USB mem stick. I have it, but im currently running fdisk of a cd boot disk i made with win98se on it.
Go here: http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/winmebootcd.html Download and create the WinME boot CD, use that version of FDISK instead. You might be better off downloading and using the boot CD from the drive's manufacturer.
