Hard drive issue with XP

[auen1]

Dell laptop running XP.

When I go to computer management>disc management, the HD does not show up.
Disk management does see a flash drive and the DVD drive.

I did change out the RAM and defragged the drive.
The problem is that I want to install W7, but Windows can't find a partition to install the OS.

Can I solve this issue by right clicking the HD and hit "format"?

Is there something that I am missing here?


Thanks!

Edit: Ran DSKCHK and the drive shows there, but does not show in the device manager or disk management.

[auen1]

Darn, found another issue that is causing problems.
This computer won't shut down properly. It gets stuck at "Windows is shutting down".
I went to task manager and killed some processes that weren't critical.
And uninstalled all programs that were not needed.
Double checked and turned off most of the startup programs.
Issue is that I set a restore point before I started working on the computer. But you can't do a system restore without a proper reboot.

Also the computer won't boot from a flash drive.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[auen1]

Originally Posted by auen1 Darn, found another issue that is causing problems. This computer won't shut down properly. It gets stuck at "Windows is shutting down". I went to task manager and killed some processes that weren't critical. And uninstalled all programs that were not needed. Double checked and turned off most of the startup programs. Issue is that I set a restore point before I started working on the computer. But you can't do a system restore without a proper reboot. Thanks!

OK figured out how to get it to shut down, and after a few tries I got it to restore to the point that I created. I reset the BIOS setting to default.

The original issue of the HD not showing in the device mgr. still exists. The HD can be seen if you click "My Computer."

[glc]

Model of the laptop, please?

[auen1]

Dell Inspiron E1505
Service tag 40N5PB1
Model # PP20L
WINDOWS XP Media Center Edition 2005 sp3

Thanks!

Edit: Pre-boot system assessment message (F5)
Pre boot assessment complete.
No diagnostic utility partition identified. Please select
OK to reboot your system.

What does this mean?

And the shut down problem is happening again. I hit the "save and exit" button in the bios. Retried to set the bios defaults again, but no luck....

[glc]

It means that someone has wiped the hard drive in the past, Dells with MCE shipped with 4 partitions - diagnostic, main, media direct, and recovery. If there's no data that needs to be saved, I'd zero fill the drive and then try to install Win 7. There are a couple zero fill utilities on the Ultimate Boot CD.

Make sure you can get Win 7 drivers for the machine.

[auen1]

Originally Posted by glc I'd zero fill the drive and then try to install Win 7.

OK, thanks for the advice, that's what I'll do.

[auen1]

Ok, I was unable to zero fill the hd, I'm guessing because the hd doesn't appear in disk management. I think that part of the os is missing.

So I pulled the hd and hooked it up to another computer, via usb to ata adapter and I could now see it. I reformatted the hd, reinstalled in original computer, installed W7. Everything is good.

Except I have the folder "windows.old" I want to get rid of. Shows about 7 GB in this folder. I get a message, "Requires permission from SYSTEM"
I have:
1) checked and elevated other privileges,
2) installed a right click .reg app called "Get ownership"
3) installed unlocker.

No luck trying to delete this folder. I don't think I need the folder, seeing that I did a clean install.
The computer only has a 60 GB hd, so I want the 7 GB back.

Thanks for any suggestions!

EDIT: Unlocker does seem to slowly deleting windows.old.
I don't need this folder, right?

[SpywareDr]

No, you don't need it.

[auen1]

Thanks for the advice!

[SpywareDr]

You're welcome.