Problem Reformatting/Reinstalling WinXP.
 

Alright, so I'm trying to format my computer and reinstall Windows XP. After the initial reboot, the Windows installer says it can't find my cdrom drive. I've tried changing the boot orders and all and pretty much done what I think I can do. My computer doesn't have a floppy drive either to create a boot disk.

well I will assume it says it can't recognize your CD drive right since the sentence seems incomplete, well since I am not really sure of what's really going on I will start the most basic recommendation... since you don't have a floppy drive you should check if your copy of windows XP is actually a bootable CD(if you made the disc on any burning app make sure you finalized the CD so it can be bootable), after that is confirmed assuming your CD drive works perfectly it should work, can't really think of anything else to help.

Oops, I forgot to put "find" in that sentence. Anyway, my copy of XP is legit, it came with my computer, so it must be bootable.

Obvious solution first: did you check the cables connecting your CD-ROM drive to your motherboard? And I'm talking the cables that data is sent over.

My CD drive and DVD drives both work perfectly fine outside of the installation problem.

This is after the format and you've booted into the pre-Windows environment? Is this a full copy of Windows XP or is, like, an OEM version that comes with a PC? If it is the latter case, perhaps you do not have the necessary drivers installed, although I can't see how you'd be able to install CD-ROM drivers off of a CD-ROM if that were the case.

Yea, It seems your CD may be scratched, or un readable in some way. Is it just not reading it? or is it reading it and when you start installing it says cant find the CD, you may have a problem if its inside the windows Install, I would suggest getting another copy of windows and use your Legit CD key. :) See what Happens then, thats just another troubleshooting step.

I Know Windows isnt easy to get a hold of.. Cept for crappy version. see if a friend has it or something.

Lemme make sure I got this. You say after the initial reboot. Is that right after you formatted the computer or right after the first step where it copies all the files over to your hard drive and then reboots?

The latter part. My computer hasn't been formatted yet (Should I do this manually or will Windows do it for me, and if I should do it manually, how?).

I'm wondering if it would be possible to copy my cdrom drivers onto my 2nd hard drive (the one I'm not formatting) and then maybe it'd work.

That could work. Do you get a DOS command line after it fails to load CD-ROM drivers?

See, what I find weird is that it copies the files over (meaning it finds a driver) but then it can't when it reboots. I don't even see how that is possible.

I think you should format it yoursellf before you start the install. It could be the older copy messing it up. I had a problem once where one of my copies of Windows XP didn't format before installing, it just installed itself over everything, so all the old junk was still all there. Perhaps there's something weird going on there.

I'm already using XP, so there is no DOS command line. And the version of XP I'm installing is the same one the computer was shipped with.


It just occurred to me that since I recently switched my CD/DVD drives from the main IDE slot on the motherboard to an extra IDE card I bought (to make room for the 2nd hard drive I just bought), that could be a problem. Even though the drives work perfectly fine at all other times, the settings might be reverted or something during the XP installation process. I'll have to try putting them back onto the primary IDE slot temporarily.

yeah the installer doesnt install drivers for the ide add in card, so that very well could be it. Unhook your 2nd HD and attach your cdrom drive to that IDE slot and try it then. If it works, after everything is reinstalled, install the drivers for your addin card and hook everything back the way you had it.

What kind of computer? I know people with Dells and Gateways that have their hardware drivers come on a separate CD.....though once again that would still be complicated by the fact that your cd-drive isn't being detected.

If I recall correctly, didn't Dell recently change it so that you used a recovery partition instead of a boot disc to reinstall XP?

Well, I fixed the cd-rom problem, which of course was due to switching it to the IDE card. However, I'm not entirely sure how to format my computer. Do I just tell it to delete the C: "partition" during installation or what? I already accidentally reinstalled XP earlier without formatting first (leading to the very irritating activation system, which I now have to go through a 2nd time).

If you are using a CD, when you put the CD in, there should be a menu that asks if you want to wipe out a partition and then format the left over space for Windows.

Well, now I have another problem. My computer won't boot from the cdrom because the BIOS doesn't even recognize it now (and yet the cdrom still works, and Windows will install from it, but only if I start the installation process while my computer's running, rather than from a fresh boot). Problem with that is, my computer won't let me delete my C: Partition during installation because the god damn Windows installation program put files on it necessary for reinstallation. Every FAQ I've read about reformatting and reinstalling Windows has said to start it by booting right from the Windows CD, rather using the Windows Setup program that pops up when you put the CD in while Windows is already operating.

So how the hell am I supposed to format it now?

Is the CD-ROM jumpered correctly? If your hard drive (first) and CD-ROM are connected to separate IDE connectors on the motherboard, then jumper them both to master or cable-select as they're the only devices on their channels. If you had the CD-ROM jumpered to slave, the BIOS is looking for a master device to correspond with it (of which, naturally, there is none).

Also, try jumpering the CD-ROM drive to Master and disconnecting all your other drives to see if the problem persists. If so, try connecting it to a different IDE port on the motherboard. Try a different cable. If that fails, see if you can find a different CD-ROM to try.

If it's recognized from inside Windows, I'd think that the drive itself is perfectly fine, as are the cable and motherboard. It sounds to me like a configuration problem, most likely jumpers, that is interfering.

Oh, and remove your PCI IDE controller card altogether while you're working on this. You can reinstall it later on, but its best to remove as many "foreign" parts as possible.

Well, I can try removing the IDE controller card, but:

My motherboard only has one ATA/133 IDE port and 1 SATA IDE port and my CD-ROM/DVD are on the 133, and my hard drive is on the SATA/300. My CD-ROM is on the same cable as my DVD, of which my DVD is considered the master, I guess. However, my DVD drive has the exact same problem as the CD-ROM.