can't install xp home

[jjryms]

Help! I'm having a tough time installing XP Home on a Compaq Presario 7000 (belongs to a friend of mine). His harddrive crashed so I replaced it and I am upgrading his OS (used to be Win ME) on the new drive. XP boots from the CD and copies the setup files to the C: drive then I get the common message that the system needs to restart to complete the installation. The problem is when it restarts, it starts the process from the beginning. I can't see what I'm missing. The installation just keeps cycling, copies setup files the reboots and does it again. Any advise?

[bailey]

the new hard drive is missing the bios set up files that are in the hidden partition on the old drive.
I think

[jjryms]

When I enter BIOS I must choose the language. English doesn't have any info in it. If I choose spanish I get the full menu but it's in spanish??? What can I do?

[andyms18a]

the Compaq Presario 7000 wood come with a recovery disk set you have to run that to instal the me operating system and all the programs that came with the computer as some of the bios files are on the hard drive and must be replaced if you dont have the disk call compaq /hp tec support
note you nead the QuickRestore CDs as the basic recovery cd takes its data from a hiden partition on the hard drive but as you have replaced the drive the info is gone when its up and runing you can then update to xp

[Alfie]

Usually with Compaq's computers(when the bios is on the hard drive),you can download the bios files from Compaq.
The bios files are put on a floppy,the secret to transferring them to a new drive is to install them prior to formatting the disk,the bios program will format the space it needs and will install on the drive,creating the non dos partition,after this is done,you can format the disk and the format program will leave the non dos partition alone.
If you have already formatted the drive,download the hard drive's manufacturers diagnostic software and write zeros to the drive,then install Compaq's bios and proceed with formatting drive and installing OS.

[andyms18a]

Alfie's way works but make shore you get the correct bios as it can stop your computer from booting if its wrong if your not 110% shore get the quick restore cds from compaq

[jjryms]

The system recovery CD are corrupt which is why he wanted to upgrade to XP. He had already attempted a couple of installations before I came into the picture. Th resent problem with re-installing ME is the the harddrive has been formatted with NTFS and the DOS based OS doesn't see the harddrive. I'll give it a go with reformatting and getting the BIOS from Compaq. Any ideas why the english version of BIOS is unavailable?

[bailey]

I fail to understand how a cd can get corrupt,
scratched
damaged (broken) yes.

but corrupt, next to impossible, there must be some other type of problem with it.

[jjryms]

Maybe corrupt isn't the right word but running the recovery disk immediately generates a fatal error and quits.

[Miz]

Having encountered that exact problem with a Compaq...the fatal error using the Recovery disk, that is...I'm betting he got the wrong CD with his computer. Nothing you can do but call Compaq, try to understand whoever you get on the phone (good luck) and talk them into sending you the correct CDs.

In my opinion, following Alfie's advice will be a lot easier than trying to deal with Compaq's "tech support."

Oh, yeah...if the computer is no longer under warranty, it'll cost you $40 to talk to Compaq's tech support and they'll want you to pay for the replacement CDs.

I never did get them to send the correct CDs. Fortunately, the computer I was working on was new enough that the owner took it back to Office Depot where she'd bought it and they found the right CDs for it.

[andyms18a]

just an idea when the install asks you to restart remove the
xp CD and then restart see if it starts from the hard drive
as for the bios give me the exact model no ie 7000e or ex and i Will find it for you

[jjryms]

I'vd tried to eject the CD but then I get "no operating system found". As for the model #, a sticker on the side reads 7PL 7000Z series. Also, I tried to reformat the harddrive with the utility from Western digital but it's 1.74Mb, too much for a floppy and the CD copy wouldn't run. would the Compaq BIOS run on a fromatted drive?

[andyms18a]

do you have a win98 boot disk if you do boot with it and at the comand prompt type fdisk and see if you have a non dos partition set up on the drive ?

this may help with the bios http://h20015.www2.hp.com/hub_search...es311395&cc=us

[jjryms]

I already tried that. Fdisk won't run because tha drive had been formatted in NTFS. I tried to delete the partition but it still is recognized as an NTFS drive. Someone mentioned Partition Magic. What do you think? I hate having to spend money just to help out, on the other hand, if it's a useful tool to have around it might be worth buying.