New pc assembly help

[Keaton]

Ok, it comes with certificate and original serial number, inlcuding liscence, but because of the scratches on this second hand cd, it will not auto boot or instal unless there is an older windows to load it from.

But going from 98 to xp shouldnt affect me in too much of a bad way tho, right? And then when my new drive comes along, putting xp onto the new drive and taking the old one back out shouldnt be a problem either?

Im just not sure how to clear this drive so it is ready for 98 for my new pc. I've tried format c:, but it dosn't do anything, I dont really know how its done, or if it should be done

 

[idiotec]

First, you will need a bootable, fully functional xp disk to ever get your sata drive working as your primary drive. I would make that your first priority.

 

[Sui]

lol no we don't, anyway, do you havea floppy drive in both computers? In 9x from the control panel, to add/remove programs, then the far right tab will allow you to make an Emergency Startup Disk(ESD). I think thats the correct path, but I havn't been in 9x in about 3 years.

If you have a cdrw then make a bootable disk and put on fdisk.exe and format.com. These are already present on a (ESD). DO NOT make a partition, or format with these, xp setup has its own program for that, I think only win95 and maybe a few early 98s couldn't format and part a drive.

The ESD is a perfered route in my opinion.

If you have problems booting from the xp CD then you will have to boot with a ESD and then run setup file manually

 

[Keaton]

So I should install XP over ME on here to make an XPESD on a floppy? I have one floppy drive, but it is not too much trouble for me to move it between the two machines. I also have access to a laptop that is running xp from the same cd I have, which I'm guessing I could make an ESD from also.

I have a cd rw on both pcs, but not the laptop. I did try D:setup from the dos menu, but it says it cannot perform that function in dos mode.

Just so I have this right, I would want to make an XP ESD to get the xp install process started, and that will let me get to my xp cd, which will let me format this drive and put xp on it?

If I mess something up after formatting I probably wont be able to get online anymore

 

[idiotec]

He said the xp disk he has can only be used upgrading from 98. 98 is not compatible with sata. So if that's the case he will not be able to install 98 on the sata drive and upgrade to xp. See? I see exactly what your saying if we were talking about a standard ide drive.

 

[Keaton]

But right now my sata drive does not work, so I will be using my tandard 20Gb ide drive on my new pc, and install 98 on it, then once 98 is up and running and does its auto configure thing to all the new componants, I would put xp over 98, so it would then be running xp. So I would receive my replacement sata drive about a week later, so I can install it as well as the ide drive, and xp on the ide drive will recognise the new sata drive. So Im guessing I can put xp, or transfer xp even, onto the new (sata) drive, and then take my old ide drive, as it is too old, slow and small to be of much use.

Would that work? And if so, how would I prep the ide drive (the one I am using now on my old pc) to start fresh for 98 on the new pc?

Im not sure if it even works like that, but its the best I can come up with

 

[Keaton]

You won't believe it, I actually got the thing working. I came up with a brilliant idea, all by myself too I started the xp instal from the autostart through ME on my old PC. When it got to the first restart stage (just after installing setup files) I turned my old pc off just when it had clicked through to restarting. Then I just took that drive (ide) out and put it in my new pc, turned it on and continued the install of XP . It is running a little sluggish mind, I don't know if its because some of the things survived the XP instal, or because its a 5 year old drive (WD Caviar 20GB), or even if its because I'm meant to instal new drivers for the hardware or summat, Im not really sure, but right now I'm just happy I got the thing going

Umm, what exactly should I do now, as far as getting this thing going as it should? I've installed the many programs and drivers that come with my mobo on a cd, set up my router (obviously, or else I wouldnt be here to post right now!), but what else is needed? Do I need to wait for my new drive before I can expect to use some games on here, or edit large photos, or even scroll down on the tech-forums page without it chugging like a rusty saw?

EDIT: actually, clearly the first thing I shoud do is to download firefox again

And just installed nvidias drivers, and now its running a lot smoother