HI I`m having an issue reformatting someone elses pc with Windows XP home. I do the usual steps of changing boot order, 1st boot device is CD, I then boot from cd. I go and delete the old partition, so there are no more partitions, all raw mb. Then i create a new partition and setup windows on that partition. It runs through the setup. Once the Pc reboots it reboots into the same loop and NOT into the Windows XP installation. Ive entered the bios and played around with the boot order, always leaving the cdrom as the first boot device, but i keep on coming back to the same issue, not getting into the Xp installation

After the cd copy the setup files to your pc and reboot, don't press any key when you see "press any key to boot from cd-rom...." because you want to boot from your hd at this time. Hello!

Make sure there are no external (USB, Firewire, etc) devices connected.

thanks for the responses There are no USB or firewire devices connected. I only have a keyboard and mouse connected via the normal connection they use. And of course i'm not pressing any keys after it reboots. Still stuck in the same loop.

In the bios after it completes the setup, should my hard drive be before the cdrom as a first boot device or should it still be cdrom as the first boot device?

"In the bios after it completes the setup, should my hard drive be before the cdrom as a first boot device or should it still be cdrom as the first boot device?" If you're seeing the message: "press any key to boot from cd-rom...." then it shouldn't matter. It's a good day when you learn something

No not getting any message about "press any key to boot from CD". During the boot process, after the initial setup, where it should boot into the Xp installation, it says booting from cd, then it goes back into the setup where you setup windows on the partition. I've played around with the boot sequence in the bios, tried all different combo's with no luck.