Hi guys, hope you can help im going crazy trying to find the solution to this.
I have a Dell OEM CD for WinXP SP3.
Its not a Dell machine im using but i bought the CD AND the product key legitimately.
I’m trying to use this CD to format my HDD and completely reinstall windows. It is a full install disk not just a recovery disc.
When i put it in my drive while windows is already running the drive(F:) displays NOTHING. As if it was a blank disc.
I’ve tried the disc in my laptop and its a real disc with the full WinXP on it. reads fine on the laptop.
I’ve tried numerous different CD’s in the drive on this system and they all work fantastic. I even watched ‘Spinal Tap’ the movie on DVD on it.
So regardless of any of this i went ahead and tried to use it anyway.
I went into my BIOS, made the cd drive the primary bootand tried it. it ignored it and went straight onto the HDD boot.
So i tried disabling the HDD altogether and when i reboot it comes up with the error message:
‘DISK BOOT FAILURE. PLEASE INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND HIT ENTER’
The PC was originally a MEDION PC. I’ve done some searching and found out that Medion put a ‘BIOS lock’ on it so that no software other than their own licensed ones can be recovered or reinstalled.
From the Medion website(direct copy/paste):
“What does BIOS lock mean?
A BIOS lock is a technical mechanism that allows you to perform an installation only under certain conditions. A special code, developed by us, prevents the installation of content of external media (e.g. recovery CD) except additional files (driver, tool, etc.), on a PC system other than that of the OEM’s (hardware manufacturer).”
Does anyone know a way to bypass this?
I dont even know what BIOS Flashing is but will that work?
There is no password on the BIOS but would removing and replacing the CMOS battery work?
The pc is at least 10 years old and is waaaaaay past warranty. Its also had about 3 owners since the original purchaser.
Keeping that in mind. I’m still not out to break any sort of laws so if me even asking this question is breaking a Policy of these forums i apologise. Please inform me and i’ll delete it ASAP.
Thanks to anyone that can help.
Baron