bad xp install. need help formatting

S

spazz31585

New Member
ok, i have a spare hard drive that i keep laying around for testing purposes.
well, the last time i went to install xp pro on it, my power cut out and it messed up the install.
now, i can't seem to get it to let me start the whole installation over again

i know i need like a boot disk or something to debug it. but is there any certain boot disk i would need or anything?
where can i get one?

and does anyone know where a debug script is that i can use?

i would appreciate any and all help you could give me
 
You should be able to set the CD as the boot drive then
boot to the XP Pro CD and restart the installation process
by either redoing the partition or starting the reinstall.
 
ramdge said:
You should be able to set the CD as the boot drive then
boot to the XP Pro CD and restart the installation process
by either redoing the partition or starting the reinstall.
Click to expand...

If im correct even with the BIOS set right windows wont boot from CD, could be wrong but if Im not then you will need to attatch the drive to an existing computer with windows on it, boot up with the bad install drive attatched as slave by setting the jumpers and then reformat the drive from in "my computer" and then start your re-install over again.
 
ramdge said:
You should be able to set the CD as the boot drive then
boot to the XP Pro CD and restart the installation process
by either redoing the partition or starting the reinstall.
Click to expand...

that should work
 
monkeysims said:
that should work
Click to expand...

In most cases it should work but I had it before when windows install has started but not complere and even with the BIOS set to boot from disk windows seems to ingore this and try and boot from hard drive with the bad install and then either keeps restarting or gives some error message, this ment in my case I had to wipe the windows files of the disk by plugging it into a working computer and then starting a fresh.
 
just note you can also use a standard win98 boot disk

when command says A:\ enter the cd rom path enter then I386 or somthing like that, then winnt.exe

then it will tkae you to the windows xp setup
 
thanks all, but i finally got it
see, i tried downloading a bootdisk for a floppy but my floppy disks weren't working.
see, when it started booting, it would try to restart the installation, but it gave error's about not finding files

i looked through one of my pcworl mags and found a program i could use though.
just for your information, the program is called Darik's Boot And Nuke and can be found at dban.sourceforge.net

worked great. booted to the cd i made and it gave me the option to wipe my entire drive

so, if anyone has a problem like this, that's definatley a program i would advise trying. and, best of all, it's free
 
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