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jazzman

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Hi, Got a free pc for my kids with no hd. Bought a cheap second hand IBM 20g drive so system is -

Jetway A266B Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 1600+ chip
IBM 20g hd
Nvidia Geforce graphics
128 pc133 ram


I installed the hd but can't do anything. Tried a bootable xp disk but nothing happens. Just taken to a long winded error which goes something like,

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows
Normally.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked) Start Windows Normally

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.

Seconds until Windows starts: 30"

When I choose any of the options all I get is a long list of Windows\System32 etc etc paths.

Can't access C: prompt, can't access any prompt.

I can access CMOS through pressing del but can't get to any prompt anywhere. I've changed the boot order to see if that helps still no joy.

Even tried booting my old Windows 98SE boot disk still nothing.

Very bizarre.

I've checked to see if the mobo/cpu/ram etc are working and they all are but no joy at all.

At no point have I even got the start of the xp boot, absolutely nothing.

Please help
 
You need to format the drive. The copy of Windows on the drive is trying to boot, but the configuration is wrong.

I'm not sure, but I think you need to make a floppy boot disk, and then use it to boot, and then format the hard drive. Once it is clean, reinstall Windows.
 
I downloaded a floppy xp boot disk but it comes up as an invalid system disk.

I've just tried something. I reset the BIOS and put in my 98se boot disk. Still no joy with this OS boot disk but now I have a blue screen and blinking cursor.

Any ideas.
 
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