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XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

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I am trying to reinstall windows xp and I am
> having all kinds of issues…the first thing was he
>I was not able to put a cd into the
> cd drive and have it read. So
> I tried to re-format the HDD. When I started the install the 1st time it
> went to 100% then it gave me an error: disk may be
> damaged.I thought I would check the
> HDD using the scandisk.exe in dos (because @ this
> point I have already wiped the HDD clean and
> re-partitioned it)the scan came up good.
> next I tried using another HDD and loading a
> fresh OS to it, NO luck, I got the same message. I tried
> again a couple of times and it gave me random errors
> about different files being corrupt,and it wouldn’t
> even finish loading setup. I have checked all of the
> obvious, the cables and connections and jumpers even the CMOS /bios settings but
> nothing gives. Do you have any suggestions? It’s a
> Dell Dimension 4500 (P4)
> I read some thing about the drive controller and was
> wondering if it’s bad but then again isn’t it built
> into the HDD itself? So by swapping the HDD I
> should have been able to fix it? What’s wrong with this PC? Can anyone help me?

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Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Load a DOS boot disk into the system.

Run a Fdisk and blow away any partitions on the disk.

Then put the Windows XP boot system in the CD and re-install.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Well Dalton hit the nail on the head but I would also go to the maker of the HDD and download a drive tester from them and test the drive.

The error message that you are getting refers to the HDD and can happen quite often on a reload if the drive has not been wiped. Your HDD maker should also have a utility that wipes the drive {writes 0’s to every sector} so if the Drive passes the Drive Test then wipe the drive and then go about reloading the system. Just remember that some m”Boards require you to go into BIOS and set the Drive so just changing a HDD may not cure the problem if the BIOS still thinks you have the old drive in place as the readings will be all wrong and you will get the same error message.

Remember in XP the Quick Format option just sets up a partition map of the drive and the Full Format only writes to every third sector so even if you delete the partition information with FDISK the data still remains intact on the drive. While you are in BIOS you can also reset the Boot Sequence of the system for the install so you don’t have to worry about anything at all on a HDD. It should read A,CD, HDD 0 and that way you will always be looking for a install from a CD ROM before the system even looks at a HDD and anything that may be written to it.

Col

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Sounds like it may be the CD and not the HDD which has the damage. Can you lay your hands on another copy of the Install CD and try to load off that?

If not there are some CD recovery products available which you may need to try to remove any scratches off the data face of the CD. Failing that you may need to order a replacement Recovery CD from Dell.

But if the CD is scratch free then the CD Drive that you are attempting to install from may be going faulty and need replacing or at the very least a clean out.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Hi,

You might want to check and make sure you have your hard drive in the boot sequence in your BIOS/CMOS. Just to make sure.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Try to swap data cable.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

It might be possible that the EIDE connector got bad.You can use another EIDE connector of motherboard.If it works well,your motherboard is at fault.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

I have tried everything that has been suggested so far. I did aquire a disk test and ran it, I ran Dell’s clean disk utility to wipe the drive clean before I partitioned and formatted it but I still had no luck. XP setup gave me errors again and one of which was again the disk may be damaged.I have to reboot several times to even get the cd to boot despite the fact that I have reset the boot order and I have checked to see that the Bios see’s the new HDD correctly (which it does). Is this a Dell issue? I have never had a problem re-insatlling Windows. I have been told that it may be the CPU or the M board. The last time I tried to load XP the error I got was: file SETUPREG.HIV could not be loaded. error code 8192, setup cannot continue press any key to exit. and that’s just one of the many I get one every time I try. Some say that sucha nd such a file my be corrupt or such & such file is missing or again disk may be damaged.
Is there something I should be doing different or is it a CPU/board issue? If so should I try replacing the CPU 1st then the board?
Is there no mercy for me?!

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Col, thanks for the mention but wasn’t me that time. I’ll jump in now.

Faulty memory can and will produce errors similar to what you are experiencing. Swap memory (preferable) or run memtest86+ to check memory.

Memtest86+ is available separately and is also included on the Ultimate Boot CD which I highly recommend for trouble shooting. Links are:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

http://www.memtest.org/

Also wouldn’t hurt to try a different install CD or optical drive if the above don’t help.

Dalton

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

1. Change memory
2. Install XP using a basic/small configuration: MB, CPU, mem, video, HDD, CD-ROM

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

What issues determine you to reinstall WinXP?

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Did you try a different hard drive or using only one memory module at a time? It’s rare that the CPU would do this, unless it’s overheating.

It could just be exactly what it says, the hard drive is dead or dieing.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

If XP won’t install, you can check out the HCL (hardware compatibility list). Make sure that the DELL system is a ‘purely DELL system’ and not a part-DIY one. If that’s OK, then it could probably be a system problem – nothing to do with the HD’s controller (that will be the firmware).
Try to make a restore (and a backup) if ye can.
If you cannot make it, then do an inatall in other OSs (win 9.x, NT/2K/2K3, then do an upgrade/downgrade in XP).

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

If XP won’t install, you can check out the HCL (hardware compatibility list). Make sure that the DELL system is a ‘purely DELL system’ and not a part-DIY one. If that’s OK, then it could probably be a system problem – nothing to do with the HD’s controller (that will be the firmware).
Try to make a restore (and a backup) if ye can.
If you cannot make it, then do an inatall in other OSs (win 9.x, NT/2K/2K3, then do an upgrade/downgrade in XP).

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

Also don’t overlook the possibility that the CD drive could have a problem.

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

I agree with bfilmfan, but also fdisk /mbr. If you don’t, there is a possibility you will still have the same problem. Computers are possessed sometimes, and do whatever the hell they want.
Always clean your cd-rom several times with a cd cleaner disk before you start installing any os, or you will have problems. Good luck

Reply To: XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

In reply to XP wont reinstall-disk may be damaged

I agree with bfilmfan, but also fdisk /mbr. If you don’t, there is a possibility you will still have the same problem. Computers are possessed sometimes, and do whatever the hell they want.
Always clean your cd-rom several times with a cd cleaner disk before you start installing any os, or you will have problems. Good luck

[Author]

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