I have two(2) PC's, a Dell Dimension & EMachine (W2247) with the identical problem and error message. Both PC's need to have XP reinstalled. I have XP CD's, both Home edition and Pro, but not the owners original installation CD's. When I get to the point where I want to begin reinstallation, after the agreement of the license and clicking F8, I get an error message stating "there was a problem with Windows etc." and I cannot continue. Is the reason for this error that the original install CD is needed? Further, I tried clicking R, for the repair and only got "insert the repair CD etc." I need instruction/suggestions, please advise.

This may help. ReInstalling WindowsXP http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm If you need to reinstall WindowsXP and want to keep all your current installed applications and settings: 1. Start WindowsXP 2. Go to the location of your source files 3. Run WINNT32 /unattend For example, D:\I386\winnt32 /unattend ( copy & paste this command into the RUN box, then press ENTER ) Your computer will do the rest. Or, Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. Copy & paste > D:\I386\winnt32 /unattend Press Enter. If you have i386 on your drive, you can replace D: ( if D: is your cd drive ) with the location of it. I've often need to do this to repair something that had gotten corrupted and didn't want to do a clean install.

I have XP CD's, both Home edition and Pro, but not the owners original installation CD's If you had a genuine XP CD you won't be having this issue. Are you using counterfeit CD? i_XpUser

XpUser, no they are "My original CD's" from my personal machines. I was wondering if that could be the reason I couldn't reinstall XP on "their" machines. JohnW, thanks for the help/suggestions, however, these PC's will not load the O/S, I cannot get to the start, run etc.

Have you tried, changing the bios to boot from CD, then with the CD in the drive, reboot.

Yes, I have worked on many PC's and that was one of the first things I checked.

Use WIPE OUT http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html Freeware. WIPE OUT: as the name implies, this utility will absolutely WIPE your hard drive. For those times when an industrial strength cleaner is needed to remove any pesky files Fdisk may have left behind. A readme file is included in the zip file. WARNING...WIPE OUT will remove ALL data from the Hard Drive. DIRECTIONS 1- Unzip file 2- Copy WIPEOUT to a Win9x boot disk 3- Boot with Win9x disk 4- At the A:\> type "wipeout c: /nq /np" (no quotes) /nq = no queries - you will not be asked if you are sure. /np = no partitions - this will overwrite the MBR Press Enter. Now run fdisk to set up partitions. When done, reboot & format. Or, use your XP cd.