Post back exactly what it says there. That can help us determine if the drive is recognized, partitioned, set active and formatted.

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Current Fixed Disk Drive: 1 Parition Status Type Volume Label C:1 A Pri DOS 2 EXT DOS Mbytes System Usage 4356 FAT32 76% 1373 24% Total disk space is 5729 Mbytes The Extended DOS Partion contains Logical DOS Drives. Do you want to display logical drive information (Y/N)

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Everything looks OK there. Boot with the bootdisk again and at the a:\> prompt type: sys c: and enter. Remove the bootdisk and restart the computer. Does it boot to windows now? If it only boots to a c:\> prompt type: dir/p and enter. Is there a directory there named Windows?

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There is a directory named windows, but I was wondering if there is a way I can reformat the computer from DOS and be able to install windows xp?

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You may want to make sure your computer will run OK with XP first. But assuming it is, just boot with the bootdisk and at the a:\> prompt type: format c: and enter. That will delete everything on the drive. When it's done, install XP in the normal manner.

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How can I know if it will run ok? And if I reformat the drive do I just put in the windows cd and it will install itself? Sorry if my questions sound dumb but i'm pretty computer illiterate.

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I'm not sure what the minimum requirements for XP are. I think it's around a 266 mhz cpu and probably at least 64 RAM. I haven't installed XP but assuming the computer has the option to boot from the cdrom then I guess the easiest way would be to do it that way. I'll see if I can locate the minimum XP requirements.

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From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx PC with 300 megahertz or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233 MHz minimum required (single or dual processor system);* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended • 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features) • 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk space* • Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution video adapter and monitor • CD-ROM or DVD drive • Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device This was for XP professional. I assume any other versions have the same requirements.

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Cool man. I think I'm just gonna reformat it and see if I can get a copy of windows 2000 for it. Thanks for all your help, I truly appreciate it.

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You're welcome. Post back if you have further problems.

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DAVEINCAPS, I am having a similar problem. I have a laptop with Windows ME. Things were working fine, however, when I tried to defrag, an error message popped up saying there may be errors and that I should run scandisk first. Scandisk ran for a while and then the computer locked. I performed a hardboot and now I get the message "Disk I/O error, Replace the disk. I can start up with a bootdisk and when I run fdisk it shows my harddrive information. I can even go to c: and run "dir". However the computer locks at the bottom of running the directory. I can't seem to do anything with the c: drive. I tried copying the system files (sys c:) but that won't work either. Any ideas on what I should to next. It would really suck to lose all my files. I'd really appreciate the help, Rod

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Since it's also locking up when you boot to dos with a bootdisk the problem can't be windows or the system files on the hard drive. Make sure it's identified properly in cmos and the connections are tight. Possibly it could be bad RAM, an overheated or defective CPU or some other hardware problem, but it sounds like the HD may be failing. If none of the above suggestions help, you may want to look into getting another hard drive and see if you can copy your files to the new one.

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Thanks for getting back so quick, How do I check if it is detected in CMOS? Is that the same as the BIOS setup? When I check the, "PheonixBIOS Setup Utility" it doesn't give me many options. Just three tabs on the top (Main, Boot and Exit). I remember much more detail on my old desktop. Am I in the right area or is there another CMOS setup? Thanks again, it is really appreciated. I'm freaking out with the thought of losing all my files, emails, etc. Rod

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That sounds like the right place. Usually the hard drive setting will be AUTO. You'll just have to check through the cmos pages to see how it's identified. Occasionally if a drive is incorrectly identified you'll get that message because the bios can't locate the boot sector on the drive.

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i have a similar problem, my laptop does recognise the drive at startup ( i cant seem to get into the bios) then throws up an error, the hdd deffo works, i've had it in anther computer this afternoon and it was fine.

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If the HD works Ok in one computer but not another it's either because it's identified differently in cmos/bios setup or the hardware in the two computers is different and it's asking for drivers for the new hardware it's finding. I guess it depends on the error messages you're getting.

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the disk i/o error one, i'm having massive difficulty getting into the bios! , i've tried f10 and delete, an just abou every other key. am using a compaq lte 4/75 and a 4/50

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I've never known a compaq that wasn't F10 to get into the bios setup, although I have worked with some stubborn ones. Older compaqs had the setup information stored on a non-dos partition on the hard drive. If that partition wasn't there, pressing F10 would do nothing. In that case you need to use the setup/diagnostic disks available on their website. Start at www.compaq.com and you'll be linked to the correct HP page. Then choose 'support and drivers' and browse to the page for your particular model.

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ok, sorry to be dim, i've tried the bios updater , and i've looked at the diagnostics, but haven't learn too much.

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I guess you went here: LTE 4/75 The second and third items under Software-System Management should help. There's some manual downloads here: LTE manuals

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Current Fixed Disk Drive: 1 Parition Status Type Volume Label C:1 A Pri DOS 2 EXT DOS ___________________________ borrowed from above, mine only has the a pri dos part, does this comfirm your non existant bios theory ?

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If there was a partition containing the setup files it would show up there as a non-dos partition. The fact that it's not there may indicate it's missing or it may indicate it's not needed. I've never been able to find out for sure how to determine which compaq models have a ROM-based (normal) bios and which have the files on the hard drive. But I'm certain that one of the system management downloads will give you access to the bios. Most likely running the file will create a bootable disk that you can use to boot the laptop and automatically enter bios setup. Did you download any of the manuals to see if any instructions were there?

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