Booting the PC from the Windows CD

Mike G

Mike G

Joined
Jul 15, 2000
Messages
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I need to do a clean install on one of my PC's.

I have the WIN XP CD in the drive, and have attempted to restart using the disc, and have had no uck.

I have pressed F8 during restart, but the boot from CD option is not on the boot options list.

HELP!

Thanks!
 
put in a win 98 install floppy if you can, start it in dos mode... type C:, hit enter, then type fdisk. this will format your old hard drive. then you should be able to drop the windows xp cd in and run a nice fresh install


Dave

p.s. this will cause you to lose all data on that machines hard drive
 
Thanks, Dave.

I was going to do that, but there is a way to boot from the WIN XP CD, so I thought I'd try and learn how.

I 'm doing this to wipe the HDD clean, so I have offloaded the important stuff.

Thanks!
 
there must be something wrong with yours , i just tried two of mine the first one during startup gave the option to hit enter taking me to the options screen and from there i can select boot order
the second one i had to let start then from the task manager screen (cntrl+alt+del) restart and as soon as it started up again hit f8 and it went to the boot menu
those are both xp home but one was the full version and the other was an upgrade from me
the third machine that i am using now is different again it has the xp pro
 
I can get to the boot menu but the 'boot from CD ' option isn't there.

it is a machine with the OEM version of XP Home.

I'll try again tomorrow, and if I can't get it, I'll do like Dave suggested and use one of my old WIN98 startup floppys.
 
You have to get into the BIOS and change the boot option. At the moment your computer is checking C: drive or A: drive first looking for command.com. Go into the BIOS and change the boot order so D: (if your CD drive is D:) first. Then reboot your computer.

To get into the BIOS is different on some machines, but usually you tap the Delete key every few seconds. The instruction also comes up on the black Pre-Boot screen. Generally you see a statement of what your video card is, then the BIOS Option "Press Delete to enter Setup" or similar, then the screen shows your memory and fixed hard drives.

Tapping F8 puts you into Selective Startup Options, not boot order.
 
Thanks, Andrew.

I will do just that!

Do I need to change it back to whatever it was once I'm done, or can I just leave it?
 
yea that sounds funny
daves idea is probably the best
sometimes i have taken the drive out and hooked up to another machine and formatted it that way then putting it back in and installing windows it has always worked for me but i usually only do that when it wont startup at all
 
If you leave it that way then the machine will always try to boot from the cd drive first, then if it finds no cd in the drive it will try the next drive in the boot sequence. If it finds a cd you left in the drive it will try to boot from it and if that's not a bootable disk you'll get an error message.

My preference is to keep it set to boot from C: first to save time. The only disadvantage of that is if I ever want to boot from another drive while the C: drive is still bootable I have to go into the BIOS and change the boot order. That only takes a minute unless you've forgotten the whole concept -- then you go into a panic.... :D
 
Do I need to change it back to whatever it was once I'm done, or can I just leave it?
Click to expand...
There should be no problems if you leave it that way.

My preference is:
First Boot Device: Floppy drive
Second Boot Device: CD drive
Third Boot Device: hard drive

If it finds a cd you left in the drive it will try to boot from it and if that's not a bootable disk you'll get an error message.
Click to expand...
On my computer if I leave a non-bootable CD in the drive and reboot, the computer simply passes it over to the next device on the list. I do get an error message if there's a non-bootable floppy disk left in the drive.

-Bob
 
CODE 3 said:
Thanks, Andrew.

I will do just that!

Do I need to change it back to whatever it was once I'm done, or can I just leave it?
Click to expand...

What Cougar says. It saves a bit of time too, as the BIOS will be looking for something to talk to. If you set the BIOS to check the A: floppy drive first you get that horrid chattering sound as the mechanism tries to access a disk that isn't there. It only takes a minute to change the boot order and on a normal system C: drive should be first boot.
 
also if you haven't alread done the reinstall, you can sometimes hit a key (delete maybe?) and get it to give you options on how to start, if you start in dos mode you can do the Fdisk right there without having to load a win 98 startup disk.

Dave.

if you have any trouble pm me for my phone numer as I am only an hour away from you, Code 3
 
Thank you everyone for the advice.

I couldn't locate my win 98 startup disk, so I went into the BIOS, and changed the boot order.

Worked like a charm.

I did go back and change the boot order back to the way it was (HDD, floppy, CD) after I was done.

It took me all day to download SP 2, and all of the other updates, and to reload all of the software.

Good news is that it is running like brand new again, so I'm happy as a clam. Only problem is that my old lady didn't get her favorite list off of there before hand, so she lost it. Oh well, now she has something to do, other than shop online!

I have one more machine to do this to, so I'm anticipating that this upcoming weekend. :(
 
CODE 3 said:
Thank you everyone for the advice.


It took me all day to download SP 2, and all of the other updates, and to reload all of the software.

I have one more machine to do this to, so I'm anticipating that this upcoming weekend. :(
Click to expand...

get yourself an extra hard drive and when you have done the reinstall of all the programs you want copy your c drive to the new one then whenever you want you can swap and start over again without having to download and reinstall all over again
 
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