I need some help with new desktop

rick10

New Member
Hello , Im new to this forum and I was hoping for some much needed help

Recently i bought a desktop from a friend at work for a really good price ( almost a gift). However he deleted windows XP from this desktop and now I cant install my own windows xp

He bought the original windows xp from the store , unfortunately i only own a copy of windows xp. When i boot up the pc , it is showing me a message

"DISK BOOT FAILURE , INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" , I can not get out from that screen .

I've tried searching online but I havent found someone with the same problem , yes I found some people getting that message but apparently they are able to get out from that screen and play with the BIOS.

I own a laptop and another cpu , and like I said i pretty much got this pc for free ( 20$) , it was build by my friend. But i m just trying to get it fix and give it to my younger brother.

Can someone here give me some input? , I m just not sure if the harddrive is bad , or maybe it will only take an original windows XP cd ( which it had before) or if i m doing something wrong . I just dont want to start buying things that I wont need.
 
Have you tried booting from the CD? Insert the CD then boot the computer. If that doesn't work, look for an option when you turn the computer on to boot from another device (may be called "Boot Options"). Could be F5, F6, F8, F9, ESC, or DEL

You could access the BIOS to set CD as first boot device. Usually it's ESC or DEL to get in. You will see the message when you first start your computer.
 
Here is the pic of the pc. I m not sure if this can somehow help

Photo-0411.jpg




Photo-0410.jpg



thanks!
 
Hi Rick

Welcome to CF

You say you can't install your own version of XP.

What method did you use to try to install?

Did you change the bios boot sequence etc?
 
Have you tried booting from the CD? Insert the CD then boot the computer. If that doesn't work, look for an option when you turn the computer on to boot from another device (may be called "Boot Options"). Could be F5, F6, F8, F9, ESC, or DEL

You could access the BIOS to set CD as first boot device. Usually it's ESC or DEL to get in. You will see the message when you first start your computer.

I ve tried pressing everykey on my keyboard, I m only able to get something when i press enter, which is the same message over and over again.
 
Hi Rick

Welcome to CF

You say you can't install your own version of XP.

What method did you use to try to install?

Did you change the bios boot sequence etc?

unfortunately , as soon as i start the pc the only message i get is

"DISK BOOT FAILURE , INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"

I ve tried pressing everykey on the keyboard with or without the cd and i ve also try putting the cd in each of the 3 cd roms that this pc has and it didnt make a difference. TThe only key that my pc is accepting is ENTER which gives me the same message "DISK BOOT FAILURE , INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" over and over again

I was also able to get a copy of windows vista too and it is still giving me the same message

All i know is that my friend had the original xp running before and that he erased everything in the pc . So i m not sure if this harddrive will only load with the original , or if the hardrive is gone bad.
 
On boot up look for the message "Press Del to enter setup" Del is only an example as it may be F2 or another function key.

The message may be briefly shown so keep a sharp lookout.

Once you see what key is needed to get into the bios look for the section called Boot, it may also come under the Advanced section.

Once in the boot section change the boot order to cdrom first, put the XP disk in and then save the changes by pressing F10.

The screen will go dark and then you should see the message "Press any key to boot from cd".

You will see this message again on subsequent reboots, PRESS NOTHING but simply let it install.
 
On boot up look for the message "Press Del to enter setup" Del is only an example as it may be F2 or another function key.

The message may be briefly shown so keep a sharp lookout.

Once you see what key is needed to get into the bios look for the section called Boot, it may also come under the Advanced section.

Once in the boot section change the boot order to cdrom first, put the XP disk in and then save the changes by pressing F10.

The screen will go dark and then you should see the message "Press any key to boot from cd".

You will see this message again on subsequent reboots, PRESS NOTHING but simply let it install.


thanks man !

I was able to load the cd , now its downloading , fingers cross everything goes well

Again , thanks for your help !! and everyones input.
 
Once XP is loaded you will need to install all drivers that are needed.

Now I can't really tell from your picture but is this a branded machine?
 
The parts really don't matter much but he should still have the motherboard disk that contains the main drivers such as chipset, graphics and sound etc.

You need to get that off him.
 
If he doesn't have the CD, post here what model of motherboard, graphics card, and sound, and we can help you find the right ones.
 
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