Hey Reef.... PC Question

OK Doll,
If you want to use the new HD, with the computer off, put the new one in. When you turn the computer on, let the screen turn on then hit the F2 key. If that one doesnt work, restart and try using the delete key. Go into bios and change the first boot drive to CD rom, then use the "auto detect HD" function to make sure that the bios is recognizing the HD. Save to Cmos and reboot with the Win XP disk in the CD drive. If this all works and the disk is loading, do a full format on the disk when it asks you to. You can format it in NTFS which is a little bit more stable than FAT.
 
Danger, remember that the cd for the other computer is going to come with drivers for that other PC. You'll have to go hunting online to find drivers for your sound card, video card, mobo etc. so they'll work right.


Hopefully XP will already have the drivers for your ethernet card so you can get online to find the other drivers.
 
yep, I have that.... not really sure why the OS cd isn't with it.... but that's a whole other thread......

anyhoo.... Reef, I got into bios by pushing the delete key. I changed the order of options, making the CD as the first to boot. Saved it to cmos and shut down. Replaced the HD for the new one and started the PC up, put the OS cd in..... to my surprise, it gave me the same error as I had in the first place. The one about the A:drive and placing a diskette in...... how could this happen if it shouldn't have even been pointing there first?
 
Go back into your bios and check to make sure that the change took place. Do this with the new HD in there. Remember that you should always change hardware with the machine off. Also remember to use the HD auto detect to make sure your drive is registering in the bios. Are the jumpers on the drive set to Master? Try this with both drives so that we know that it is not a hardware issue. I have gotten Maxtor drives in the past that are in raw form that I had to run the diagnostics disk on to clean up before they would work. You can also try booting up your other computer with the disk to make sure your disk is OK and bootable.
 
ok, I went back a few times.... probably closer to a hundred and it was still set at CD ROM...... yep, I know you need to shut the PC down when replacing hardware, I'm petrified of electrocuting myself or anything that might come close to it so way ahead of ya there ;)..... when I put the old HD in, I wound up going back into bios and setting them back to factory defaults because it was still prompting for the diskette even with the old HD. I will check the drive set when I get home, I'm assuming this is on the HD itself, right? I know the CD for the OS on the other PC works because I just reformatted that PC not too long ago..... how do I use the HD auto detect in BIOS? Is there something I should be going to? I couldn't see anything obvious when I saw it yesterday.....

*sigh* boy oh boy, I feel like I'm in way over my head..... I appreciate all your help big guy! ;)
 
It depends on which bios set up you have as to where you will find the auto detect. Its kinda funky that it keeps going to the A: drive for a diskette. What time do you get home from work?
 
I just thought of something else. That is a Dell and they have that stupid Dell screen that comes up when you are booting the PC up. If I remember, there is a place that you can click on that screen that will allow to see the boot sequence. If it is there, use it. Usually when you have a system boot to CD, durring the boot sequence, you need to "OK" to boot to CD. The system will wait about 30 seconds for you to do this then automaticly boot to another drive.
 
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