Trying to slightly upgrade old comp, to make it nice game machine for kids! for some reason, it will not accept windows..wonder if initially when it was wiped, it was not wiped clean?.anyone have any advice?
2007-09-22 00:13:05 · 9 answers · asked by linda501910 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
hi linda,its great to see people upgrading old machines for the kids instead of dumping them,well done
anyway,if you trying to install xp then theres a few reasons why it wont accept windows
1.you may not have the required memory that that version of windows requires,for example windows xp requires a minimum of 64mb(128mb recommended)to run correctly and a 233mhz processor,for window 98 its 32mb and windows 95 its 16mb
2. as the p.c,s old the cd rom may be dirty and the lens may need cleaning,run a cd lens cleaner through it,this should shift any dirt thats on the lens
3)the copy of windows you are trying to install may be damaged or corrupt,try to get hold of another copy of windows and try that,or using a soft dry cloth clean the current disk,do not use any solvents,a glasses cloth is a good cloth to use
4)the hard drive may be damged,there may be bad sectors or it may of just failed,you can buy a new ata hard drive for less than £30 for a 80gb model
try formatting the hard drive with a windows 98 start up disk,you can download one from http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm,this file will create a start up disk and you need to boot this from floppy(you should change the boot order in bios,to do this press delete at start up and then go to "advanced bios features" and change the boot order to floppy first,cd rom second and hdd1 third,then remember to save and exit set up to save any changes to the cmos memory)
when the start up disk has fully loaded you should then type in format c: were c is the driver letter,and you will be asked do you wish to continue with the format,choose yes and the drive will be formatted
after the format restart windows,go back into bios and change the boot order back to cd rom first(this may be the reason why windows isnt being accepted in the first place,the p.c needs to be bootable from cd to install windows,see above on how to do this)
after you have formatted the drive and as long as your p.c is set to boot from cd rom then windows xp should start automatically,you will see a message"press any key to boot from cd",prees any key and then follow the onscreen prompts
you will also need the product key for the windows disk so make sure you have this to hand
i hope this helps,however any problems let me know
good luck linda !
2007-09-22 09:48:13 · answer #1 · answered by brianthesnail123 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just a guess: If 10 GB is an upgrade, the PC is old? If so when windows is loading, do you get "can't read filexx"? That means your cd is operating at a speed too slow. Replace the drive with a newer one. Also, make sure the PC is set with the CD first in the boot order, and the drive has the jumper set to master. When installing windows, reformat the drive to the NTFS file system.
2007-09-22 01:04:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If 10G is an upgrade then it is highly possible that the pc is so very old that the processor and clock speed are not actually up t orunning wndows. Vista you have no chancebut you may just be able to get a copy of XP on it. Also, if it is that old, check that there is sufficient RAM in it to run the OS and anything else remember, most games are very memory hungry soa mere 256M is not going to be sufficient to run many games.
Also, ensure that the disc is formatted in NTFS format and not FAT or FAT32 as this allows more disc space to be accessed and read by the OS.
2007-09-22 01:14:42 · answer #3 · answered by Nigel B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you start the machine ensure that boot up routine recognises the presence of the drive. If so it is possible that you need to format the disk. It is possible that it was previously formatted in a way that is not recognised by your version of windows
You can try this (up to Windows Millenium)
Run FDISK from DOS
Then FORMAT from DOS
Then load windows
All the data will have been erased but the disk should work ok
This can work for 2000 and XP but these versions will then ask you to change the file system.
Check in the BIOS to see if you have a hard drive checker - if so activate it to ensure the drive is still good.
2007-09-22 00:29:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He's 10 they're probably just his friends. Stop reading too much into it, if they are those kind of calls why does your son give out your number and think this is okay? Take some responsibility and show the boy some morals instead of coming to Yahoo talking nonsense, how old are you? 15? Acting like a child.
2016-05-20 22:49:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
10 Gig is small, but should do Windows XP.
Might be too small for Vista.
What does it say when it will not accept Windows? Reformatting the disk can be made part of the installation process.
If the computer originally ran Win95 or Win98, it may not be able to run Windows XP at all.
2007-09-22 00:24:27 · answer #6 · answered by Computer Guy 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Whichever version of windows you have, put in cd, make sure that your boot device is set to boot from cdrom 1st, you can check this by looking in bios, for most pc`s its the delete key on startup, then try to format the hardrive and reinstiall windows.
Good luck
2007-09-22 00:23:35 · answer #7 · answered by debbs_lfc 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just out of curiosity why would you want to install a 10gig HDD? Spend about £40 and get yourself a brand new 300 gig drive.
2007-09-22 03:15:40 · answer #8 · answered by Colin H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you should get a new PC... old hard drives get sluggy and have a lot of bugs after a certain number of years.
2007-09-22 00:21:15 · answer #9 · answered by pastadudde 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋