"Error loading operation system"?

Question

Okay, so my hard drive died and I just plugged in my new one. It's an Maxtor Diamondmax 20 80GB PATA

I turned the computer on, all is well. I put in the Windows XP CD and it started setup ok - and then I realized it was seeing my USB stick as the C - drive. I panicked (being a computer zero) and exited the Setup process when the prompt came up. I got a message saying the computer would re-boot in a few seconds, and during that time I unplugged the data stick.

Sure enough, the computer rebooted alright and now I get this message "Error loading operation system". (It doesn't matter whether I have the disk in or not) How do I get myself out of this?

Thanks.

Thanks you guys, but I think I've got it straightened out. I changed the boot order so that the CD drive, and not the harddrive boots first. I then got the oppurtunity to boot from the disk and it's formatting now.

I can just change it back to the order it was in once I've got it all installed, right?

The order was:

Floppy
HD
CD
Network

And now it's

CD
Floppy
HD
Network

I didn't mean to seem worked up before... I can assure you, I'm thoroughly 'chilled out'. ;)
Computers just aren't my field of expertise. :)

Answer 1

the order should be floppy then cd then hd then just disable network boot

Answer 2

When you re-boot again,go into the bios(press the escape key when the logo is onscreen)Make sure your boot sequence is set to boot from the cd-rom ,1st.Then look through the bios & See if there's an option to enable installing a new OS. Mine has an option to either turn this feature on or off. If you do, then turn that option to 'on'. put the Windows cd in the cd drive, & reboot.See if this helps.Good Luck!

Answer 3

CHILL OUT LADY
THE PROBLEM IS NOT WITH YOUR HARDDISK BUT WITH YOUR BIOS TRUST ME.
GO INTO THE BIOS UTILITY AND THEN SEE IF YOUR MAXTOR HARDDISK HAS BEEN DETECTED OTHER THAN YOUR CD-DRIVE AND FLOPPY DRIVE.IF YES THEN SELECT THE MAXTOR HARDDISK AS THE FIRST BOOT DEVICE FROM THE BIOS OPTION.