Topic: Another Hard ware problem

[Simon]

I think Terry is saying that the first screen he gets is the one in the original post, Bob. 

[Sandra]

To check that it is actually booting off the CD, does it say press any key to boot off the CD ?

If it doesnt then its trying to boot off the hard disk as Bob has said.

[TR]

When I boot with the cd "IN" then boot the pc, the cd whirs (sp) up then sits there spinning for 30 seconds then boots into the blue screen, does it matter if I dont have the original XP pro?

[Sandra]

Its not booting off the CD, it should ask you to press a key to boot off CD.

It shouldnt matter which OS CD you use, it should still go to a screen that asks you to press any key to boot of CD as it will do that before it even accessess the hard drive, regardless of which OS is actually on the hard drive.
I think that you have a faulty XP CD or for some reason its still set in bios to boot off the hard drive before the CD.

[Simon]

What would resetting the BIOS do, San?  Is the default to boot from the CD?

[Sandra]

No the default settings used to be Floppy as first device, then it could be either the hard drive or cd, dependig on the particular bios version being used on that pc.
Even with newer pcs not having a floppy fited they still often have the floppy controller on the mobo.

It could possibly be that the CD needs to be in the other CD/DVD drive, if the pc has two drives fitted. I have had that problem before.
It definately will ask you to press a key though if it is able to boot off the CD.

[Simon]

So, if the BIOS isn't set to boot from the CD, how can Terry get past that screen, if he can't get into the BIOS to check / alter it?

[Sandra]

He can get into the bios, as thats before the blue screen.
You can even access the bios on pcs without any drives being connected.

[Simon]

Ah, OK, sounds like that's what Terry needs to do then.

[TR]

Right.. this is where I'm at 

I have put the hard drive into a thid PC where I know the CD units are ok..loaded my spare XP home where ..bugger me it went into the Press a key to start the CD but because it's a home edition it wont load properly (repair) on the XP pro edition?

Now I naffed, cause I dont have a good XP pro edition 

[Sandra]

Thats awkward Terry but can you find out why it wont boot on your original CD, maybe its a similar thing to Lonas problem and the IDE cable needs pulling out and replacing again to make sure its connecting properly ?

[TR]

I can actually get to the screen where it says..enter safe mode etc now, but when I enter for safe mode it goes back to the blue screen?

[TR]

Just found an old XP pro disk that someone gave me.. it's in bloody german lol  Sandra, can you give me a screen shot on what should be on the XP pro disk?

Also when I pressed "R" fpr repair it asked for an administrator password 

[Sandra]

Do you mean like this Terry ?



The password will probably be blank so just press enter or possibly admin or administrator, hopefully.

Crappy pic, this may be better :

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll182/staylor51/XPCD.jpg

[TR]

here is the picture of the files I have on the disk? is there any difference