out of ideas!!

[chrisbrunke]

step 1: i inserted XP pro with SP2 disc with the intention of formatting and re-installing.
everything was going fine until about half way through the installation, it asked for the SP2 disc (which, of course i didn't have one because it's already on the CD that was in there). it wouldn't let me go past that point. i rebooted, and same thing. it wouldn't even let me boot from CD anymore. checked the bios, and everything was fine.

step 2: i took the HD out of comp#1 and installed it on comp#2. formatted, and installed xp pro without any problems (same disc). so i put HD back into comp#1, and 'no operating system found'. still wont boot from CD.

step 3: used ultra ISO to make bootable USB key... tried it... wont bootfrom USB.

(meanwhile, i've checked the bios almost EVERY reboot just to make sure everything was set properly).

step 4: set bios settings back to default, and manually set everything i needed to...
still nothing worked (it's recognizing the HD, the USB, the CD rom etc, exactly how they should be... HD and CD are both set to master)

step 5: took out mobo battery, and left it for a few minutes, reinserted, and reset settings again... nothing...

step 6: re install Hd into comp#2... worked perfectly fine.

any ideas?

keep in mind that everything on comp#1 is OEM stuff. there has been no hardware changes whatsoever during this whole process...

anything would help.

thanks

[kgun]

Very fast comment.

I have installed and reinstalled XP Home edition several times without problems. But I have to delete every older version of XP. So my computer must be free of XP. Then I can istall from the original CD and (download and) install the server packs.

keep in mind that everything on comp#1 is OEM stuff. there has been no hardware changes whatsoever during this whole process...

That can make complications.

[holyhttp]

What was the issue in the first placed that made you decide to format and reinstall Windows on comp#1?
Does the HD that you formatted and installed XP on from comp#2 works properly after installation and reboot in comp#2?

[kgun]

What was the issue in the first placed that made you decide to format and reinstall Windows on comp#1?
Does the HD that you formatted and installed XP on from comp#2 works properly after installation and reboot in comp#2?

I have only reformatted my old stationary Pc with the original Cd that followed with the computer when it was new.

[timmathews.com]

I have had the same issues arise when I am about to lose my mind I finally swap the IDE cable. Then everything worked perfectly.

Give it a shot.

[keyon]

I'm preparing to do a clean re-install of XP myself, but stumbled on to some articles about doing what's called a "PC restore."
In this case you don't need the original installation discs -- which is good for me since I can't find them.
Anyone done this? Sounds a lot quicker and easier than a complete reinstall.

[SnerdeyWebs]

Depending on one's computer the hard drive has the ability to factory restore without cd's.

Instead of spinning one's wheels you might just take it to a local shop and have them fix ya up for just a few bucks

[ee222]

step 1: i inserted XP pro with SP2 disc with the intention of formatting and re-installing.
everything was going fine until about half way through the installation, it asked for the SP2 disc (which, of course i didn't have one because it's already on the CD that was in there). it wouldn't let me go past that point. i rebooted, and same thing. it wouldn't even let me boot from CD anymore. checked the bios, and everything was fine.
......

Install Win XP from your HD...

You can try to copy your whole Win XP installation CD files on your HD. Then boot up your PC by using a floppy disk or other bootable CD. And go to the setup folder on your HD. Then double-click on the "setup.exe" file.

[alphaomega]

When you install OS like Windows, set the boot priority to boot from CD and disable all others. That way if you need to start from CD again it will not try to boot what you just installed. Try to format the disk with third party utility, since normal format does not remove the master boot record from the disk, which is the outer few millimeters of hard disk for keeping the data base of what is on disk. If you don't remove the Master Boot Record, Windows does remember the previous installation and will ask you silly questions. Your installation would have been SP3 from updates so your CD with SP2 is no good. It has files missing for which the installer keep looking. Installing Windows on different computer wont help, because the machine number is not identical (unless you have the special utility for OEMs, which does Pre-Installing the correct way). You will experience issues after you insert the HD to Computer 1 as you call it. You can make SP3 Windows installation CD though. Google for it and it will tell you how to create Win XP with SP3. That will install without any hiccups.

[alphaomega]

One more thing, you must change the BIOS after successful installation back to
1. Boot from CD,
2. Boot from HD
to be able to see the OS (operating system).