dell dimension 2400 won't boot from xp cd

deadimension

New Member
Dell dimension 2400 won't boot from xp reinstallation cd.
I have went into bios and set cdrom first in boot priority,hard drive second.
Pressing Control and F11 when i see dell logo does not work.
There are also 2 cd/dvd roms and have tried both.
I installed xp when operating system is running and got a message that the system already on computer is newer than on the cd.
And now I get message when I start computer to choose from two xp home editions and only one of them starts windows,which is really annoying.
Please help.
 
Did the OS you installed get installed on a new partition? Because then you could just delete that partition.
Verify that the DVD drive has the jumpers set properly. Also, try disconnecting one of the DVD drives while trying to boot from the disc (have only 1 DVD drive connected as the the first drive (first connection on the cable)).
Hope this helps. Are you getting any error messages while booting up?
 
won't boot from cd

When I click my computer I only see C drive,is that what you are asking?
What should I have the jumper on cdrom set to?
When I try to boot I see the light on cd/dvd drive lit.
I ran diagnostics on cd/dvd drive it is fine.
 
Is this a genuine install cd or was it copied? If you have it, you should be using the dell reinstallation cd.
 
weird...i blasted the dell dimension 2400 we had with xp pro sp3 and it worked fine...if your not using the reinstallation media dell provided, make sure your properly formatting the drive via the installation manager in the xp cd
 
can't boot from cd

I am using a cd from another dell computer,when I activate I just use numbers off COA sticker on side off computer.
I have no problem activating windows.
properly formatting the drive via the installation manager in the xp cd.
did I miss something?? like deleting a partition
 
You must boot to the cd in order to do a fresh install and you must delete the existing partitions, then repartition then format it and install windows.

If you can't boot to the install cd then either you have a bad cd, bad cdrom drive or wrong setting somewhere that isn't allowing you to boot to it. Try another bootable cd and see if it works.
 
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