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How to reinstall Windows XP

Last answer on Apr 24, 2009 11:53:53 pm BST PC dummy, on Oct 23, 2008 6:12:17 pm BST 
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Hello,
My PC was attacked by virus a few weeks ago. I cannot even start it in Safe mode. I want to reinstall Windows XP, but the PC says it cannot find the CD-ROM. I can see the light of the CD-ROM lit up when I boot the PC. What is the best way to get the PC working again.

Configuration: Windows XP
Internet Explorer 6.0

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1

xpcman, on Oct 23, 2008 6:17:44 pm BST
  • +2

You went into the BIOS and changed the boot order - so that it will first boot from the CD?

Do you have an old Windows CD that does not support booting?

   
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2

PC dummy, on Oct 23, 2008 7:14:14 pm BST
  • +1

I tried that, it did not work. The PC seems not able to recognize the CD-ROM. It keeps saying, "CD-ROM cannot be found". The Windows XP CD came with the PC.

   
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3

xpcman, on Oct 23, 2008 9:03:38 pm BST
  • +4

While you were in the BIOS screen did you see the CD drive in the list of IDE devices?

If the CD drive does not show in the BIOS then you have one of two problems.
1. no power -You have a light on the drive - so that's not the problem - you have power to the CD drive
2. no data connection - try to remove the data cable and reconnect it - at both ends. Do the hard drive and the CD drive share the same IDE cable? If so - are the jumpers set so that one drive is the "master" and one is the "slave"? If you have a 2nd IDE socket on the motherboard you could add another IDE cable and have only one drive on each cable.

   
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4

PC dummy, on Oct 24, 2008 1:28:47 pm BST

I could not see the BIOS screen, it ran too fast. Is there a way to slow the display?
Any way, the hard drive and the CD-ROM have their own cable. When I boot up the computer with the Windows XP CD in the CD-ROM, I can hear the CD-ROM is spinning. So it is working, but the PC cannot recognize it. Is it possible the virus delete some files?

I have another PC that is working, is it possible to put the virus-damaged hard drive there and reinstall the Windows XP?

   
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5

xpcman, on Oct 24, 2008 2:55:32 pm BST
  • +1

You need to hit DEL (or maybe F2 or another F key each PC has it's own special key ) during the boot process - that will bring up the BIOS screen. It will stay up until you exit it. You change the boot order on that screen or a sub-screen.

Unless the two PC have identical motherboards it's not a good idea to move hard drives between them. Windows customizes itself to the motherboard, loading the correct drivers for the motherboard chipset. If you try it Windows will probably just require the install CD to find the drivers it needs.

A better idea is to move the CD drive from the 2nd computer to the broken one. AT this point I think you have a broken CD drive.

   
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6

PC dummy, on Nov 1, 2008 4:58:54 pm GMT

Sorry, I was busy with other things. Today, I put a working CD-ROM in the PC, it still cannot recognize the CD-ROM. So it is not the CD-ROM problem. How can I reformat the hard drive, and start all over.

   
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7

xpcman, on Nov 1, 2008 11:50:31 pm GMT
  • +1

You need to change the boot order in the BIOS before you can install Windows. Experiment with all the Function keys and the DEL key - hit them with the computer first starts.

You need to verify that the BIOS can access the CD drive and change the boot order.

   
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8

PC dummy, on Nov 30, 2008 8:17:51 pm GMT
  • +1

I finally reinstall Windows XP by putting the hard drive into an identical computer with a working CD-ROW. I think the problem may lie in the motherboard; both the CD-Rewritable and DVD-Rewritable drives are not recognized by computer. When I put the drives into another computer, both work fine.

   
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12

starskey2009, on Mar 30, 2009 3:39:26 am BST

If you change your hard disk you must make have an individual rabbit cable connection with your cd rom drive ( just check and read the label to know the position of the jumper at the back of it, it must me jumper into a single connection not in a slave). I'm sure you can now reboot with your bootable cd and then you install your xp accordingly.

   
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13

 edwin, on Apr 24, 2009 11:53:53 pm BST

I can in into save mode!!!

   
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