Hi there all, I really need some help with a clean install of XP Pro onto my new hard drive. Here's what I have under the hood currently: -40gb WD ide hard drive w/Win ME os -scsi plextor cd burner w/scsi adapter -normal cd-rom and floppy disc I just purchased a brand new ide 120GB WD hard drive and am trying to install XP Pro on it and am not having luck. First off, I havent been able to get to the CMOS function in Win ME to change the boot order to cd-rom. The only way I could do it (I think) was make a Win ME boot disk (I had to download it because my StartDisk function didnt work!). So i made the boot disk and was able to get to where the system asks you if you would like to "Install with the Support of a CD-Rom." which is option #2. I chose that then rebooted the system. However when I rebooted with the Boot Disk in it it went into a WIN ME specific message regarding how the hard disc it is looking at is not formatted in the way it should be for Win ME. And it then just sends me to a A:/ prompt in DOS. Now please keep in mind at this point my 40GB hdd is not connected to my system, THE NEW 120GB one is (its unformatted/partitioned at this point)and hooked up as a Single drive(on the cable and Jumper). SO I cant get the system to recognize th 120Gb drive even though it is setup as a Single drive w/ the jumpers and the cable select. When I popped out the WinME boot disk and inserted the XP Pro install cd into the drive, I would repeatedly get the message similiar to "Reboot the system or reboot with the proper boot disk" I thought I could boot up with my XP Pro cd?? Now an interesting thing i noticed is that when my system normally boots up, my SCSI adapter seems to take the lead and boot up the SCSI cd-burner, then the IDE goes next, boots from the C:\drive and loads Win ME. Could this SCSI boot be messing me up in the boot process? Should I disconnect my SCSI card and burner for this new hard drive setup and XP install? Basically I just want to do a clean install of XP PRo to my new 120GB hdd. I was told I could boot up from my XP Pro cd but need to "CHANGE THE BOOT ORDER" in CMOS to Boot From the CD-Rom. I assume that is where I was when I got the message" Install w/the support of a CD-ROm?" Once I have my XP Pro on a 6GB or so partition on the 120GB drive, I was going to partition the rest of the disc from within XP. Once thats completed I was going to hook up my old hdd as a slave and copy files over to the new hdd. Unfortunately the only way my system can open my XP Pro cd is by loading it through Win ME! I appreciate any help I can get. I did TONS of preliminary homework here and on other sites and I cant believe this has backfired on me so bad. Please help someone..... Thanks, Raffman

Hi Well first off when your pc boots up in the normal mode from windows there should be a logo on the screen on how to get into the boot order or set up for the bios settings and secondly are u using a cable select ribon on the hard drvie,if not then set the jumper on the hard drive to master and use the first connector at the end of the ribbon so it will recognize that hard drive.On the xp pro disc should boot up and format your hard drive just fine,it will ask you how you want to partition the drive if you want to or just make the whole drive for xp.Let know what's up

ok your new hardisk is not ready for installation. go to Bootdisk.com and download a startup disk. set your new drive as a master and unplug your current HD then pug in your new drive. Boot with the floppy, once at A:> type FDISK answer Y to the questions choose "create a new Partition" and allow max allocation next reboot the system with the bootdisk and then type format c: you system will now format the HD. once the format is complete you can now boot with your XP cd and install the OS

Thanks for the replies. My hard drive's jumper that was in my system was set to CABLE SELECT and worked fine so of course I assumed that CABLE SELECT would be fine for the new drive. Is that not the case? The only logo screen that pops up when I start Windows in normal mose is the GOBACK softward logo. And its only option that looks like it would be for me is: BOOT FROM FLOPPY. Is this is? Also you mentioned going to BOOTDISK.com to get a startup disk. I did download a WIN ME startup disk from a website. Is this not the right one? Thanks again for your help! Raffman

Hi, There are several ways to install XP, first as mentioned earlier go to bootdisk.com( www.bootdisk.com/xpfiles/xpoot.exe) download this custom install boot disk, probebly the easiest way for you would be to UN-plug your other hard drives, plug your new hard drive into where the old one is for now, boot up to a:\, read the instructions on the screen ( type cd\what ever your cd drive letter is now, probbebly (R), type cd\i386, type winnt) and your set! Follow the instructions on formatting your hard drive and sit back for a wh_________________ile, this my take a few. when your done just plug everything back the way it was and use your bios to boot to which ever hard drive you like. Like i said before this is only one way so I hope it helps you, Todd