HELP reformating from CD.

Ok so I have lost my reformat partition that came on my HDD as I deleted it.

I dont have recovery CDs that usually come with a PC so I used a new Windows XP CD i bought at the university store. All was well, the process of installing the OS was easy.

Now when I try to repeat this process and reformat again using the same CD, I restart and boot from CD, yet instead of going into the install screen it simply just boots into Windows and gives me no option to install.

What is going wrong here and can I fix it, or should I just go out and get another copy of Windows.

 

Check the boot priorites in your BIOS. Make sure that the CD drive is set to boot 1st, before the HDD.

 

in my BIOS eh, I dont really know how to access that. can I check boot priorities from within windows?

 

Nope. To access the BIOS you will notice some text at the bootom of the first black screen you see during bootup. Usually there will be two options. One will say something like 'SETUP' and the other 'BOOT PRIORITIES'. The first (setup) is where you can permanently change the settings. The second (boot priorities) you may or may not have. If you have it, it will make a one-time change to the priorities.

Next to the text I desscribed above, it will tell you what key to press to enter it. Usually it is an F key.

If you enter the BIOS, make sure to only change the boot priorities, leaving other settings instact. Then save and exit.

 

time to learn how to access your BIOS
right when you see the splash screen for whatever computer you have (the screen before the WinXP loading screen), try mashing F8, Delete, or Esc.

 

When you first turn on the notebook, you may see a logo or a black screen showing you its detecting hardware.. this can be quick or can take a few seconds.... during this time, Press the F1 key once or twice, if that doesn't get you into the bios to look at Startup/Boot order, try powering it off and back on, this time pressing F2. Other options i've seen on older machines was F10, or even sometimes to allow you to just choose which device you want to boot off of, F12 has done it.

Regardless, if you already have a partition on your hard drive (most likely), and you go to boot from the Windows XP CD, it will briefly tell you to press any key to boot from CD. You must press a key (I usually use Enter) It will not just boot up and begin the install so if you look away for a sec you may miss this prompt.

 

Nope, only in the BIOS. As soon as you turn on your computer, look for something on the splash screen (the dell, hp, etc... logo) that says something like "press ... to enter the BIOS"

in addition-if you go to your computer makers support site, you can lookup how to get to the BIOS.

Edit: wow, i type really slow, LOL

 

yeh thing is, i do get the option to press any key, and i do. after that though it boots into windows and thats it.

i'll try the bios thing, thanks everyone.

 

The Bios Booting should works, set it to run from CD/DVD Drive instead of HDD. If that doens't work (never happened before), just format C: =]

 

yeh it worked, thanks alot everyone.

have another question though, last time i did clean install i was left with two Windows XP Professional choices when first booting the computer. that is, Windows XP was offered twice in the OS choice screen. one worked and the other did not.

anyway, is there a way to completely wipe my HDD so none of these things are present and i can simply install a clean copy of windows?

 

Yes. During the Windows installation it will offer you a choice which partition to use. Delete all the partitions (assuming there is no data you want on any of them). Then chose to install on that empty space and it will create a fresh partition. (Or you can create a new partition, either will work.)

 

yeh thats what i did the first time and yet i was still stuck with two choices of windows xp.

i dont understand why that happens when i completly wipe all partitions.

 

If that is the case, then after installing Windows open the 'Recovery Console' via the XP disc and type the command 'fixmbr'.

Also, during the installation, chose to do a full format. If the dual-boot option is still present, come back and we can help you get rid of it then.

(Using other tools to wipe the hard drive can be troublesome to those who have not used them before, so it will be easier to fix it in Windows after the clean install.)

 

oh thanks alot.

i'll comment later after i'm done. gotta download some drivers right now...

 

if you have extra boot options, like a duplicate of windows xp, try doing this:

start -> run (winkey + r)
type msconfig - the System Configuration Utility will popup
go to the BOOT.INI tab and click the Check all Boot Paths button

this should remove all duplicate boot options in your boot.ini.

 

ok thanks guys. i didnt need anything, there were no duplicate boot options.

the reason why i reformatted is still here though it seems. my wireless is broken and i think my wireless card has finally died.

i'll keep testing but i think its done.

 

did you install the correct drivers?

 

Be sure to check for updated drivers. If it is built into the laptop check your laptop manufacturers support site. If it is an external card (USB, PCMCIA) check the manufacturers site of the card.

 

i have a dell 9100 laptop. under device manager it says i have a dell 1350 mini pc card.

ive downloaded the driver from dells site and i'm assuming its the correct driver.

or do i perhaps have a different card? is there a different way to check which card i have? i'm starting to think i have a different card...

 

You can type in the service tag and it will list the exact model numbers of the parts that came with your computer. You should print out a list.