Still can't get the o/s to install or installation cd to run. I went to the store where I bought the hd and the tech guy said the hd and wd installation cd were ok so he concluded that the dvd burner must be bad. I bought a new dvd burner and installed it, but it made no difference. I also installed new ide or ied whatever they're called cables and a new little dvd burner cable, but these made no difference either. I tried the dvd burner set as the master and hd set as the slave and at the neutral setting but this did not help either. I also tried the installations with the dvd burner and hd connected to separate ied cables. I will check all the connections again. The dvd drive is detected by the bios, and I am booting from the dvd burner. What else should I check? xxxxxxxxxx

Was there an original post where you were "Trying" to install XP? Is this post a follow-up to this one? http://www.computing.net/answers/ha... Or this one? http://www.computing.net/answers/se... If not, what did you try originally? Are you booting to an XP CD? You really need to provide more information. "So won’t you give this man his wings What a shame To have to beg you to see We’re not all the same What a shame" - Shinedown

If you only have two IDE devices (HDD & DVD drive) it would be best to set them both as master & put them on separate cables. The HDD would be the primary master & the DVD drive would be the 2ndary master. After doing that, boot up & go directly into the BIOS to make sure both are being correctly recognized. While you're in the BIOS, check the boot order to make sure the DVD drive is listed before the HDD. Once you've done that, reboot with the XP CD in the drive & run thru the setup process...here's the instructions: Microsoft's Windows XP SP2 Home Install step by step on a new hard drive "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

You should remain in your last Posting here --- http://www.computing.net/answers/wi... and not create new Postings. The CD that came with the new HDD is NOT an Installation CD for installing XP Home Ed. You should make sure that the 'XP Home OEM CD' is usable for new HDDs, and not just a Recovery CD from Compaq. My Model 5320 came with a Recovery CD, and needed to purchase 3 more CDs for use on new HDDs.