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some help please? ? ?

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5 replies

by ssgjwilson65

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ok, here is my problem. I am trying to load XP on a pc bought at a school auction. The pc is a Strata 850 by Omni Tech. It had (so I was told) Windows 2000 installed in it. It goes thru the normal setup options fine until it comes to a blue screen that states the follow:

Windows XP Home Edition Setup

The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer.

Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select an item in the list.

* To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press ENTER.
* To create a partition in the unpartitioned space, press C.
* To delete the selected partition, press D.

Unknown Disk

Unknown Disk

SOOOOO, how am I to get around this? Is the hard drive messed up?

5 replies

by thumbsup2

... and make sure the drive has been detected. If it's not detected there, you'll need to open the case and make sure it's connected.

by jdclyde

http://developer.novell.com/yes/64257.htm

didn't see anything in the hardware that would be special, and doesn't look like there is a raid controller that needs a boot time loadable driver (which is a very common reason for such messages on newer systems).

Disconnect the ribbons and then reseat them all.

Repeat with power.

Do you hear the HD spin up at bootup?

What happens when you try to boot to the win2k?

Another thing to try is to boot to a livecd. boot to that and then look at the hardware, and it will give you a good indicator of it you have a hardware issue or a driver issue.

by ssgjwilson65

thanx jd, i firmly (adjusted) my HD cables and was then able to read from cd. However, a new problem has arose. As XP is doing its setup, i get an error message stating the asms file is needed. Is that not in the XP cd? ( I have the hologramed cd w/product key) I figured the problem might be in the registry but cant get into the command session. I hit "shift f-10" when error came up, but nothing happened. Any ideas?

by nepenthe0

I encountered a similar problem when attempting to perform a 'clean install' of XP Pro on a computer designed for XP MCE.

The CompUSA consultant informed me that he uses the 'toolkit' supplied by the hard drive manufacturer. So I suggest that you open the computer, write down the HD make and model, and download the 'toolkit' from the HD manufacturer.

I confess that I've never used one of these toolkits, so perhaps some better and brighter TR participant can advise you further.

Rick/Portland, OR

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