I Can't Access Anything...

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

HI all,

Today I went by the D.A.V store and saw a Dell Poweredge 600SC sitting there, and I figured, hey, for $15, I'd give it a shot. Took it home, and it does work, however..


There are several problems. One, whoever owned it last, didn't remove the username/password to the OS, for the next owner to use it. It has something called CentOS installed, which appears to be a type of Linux. I like Linux Mint, and Ubuntu, but I've never used this. I couldn't get into the computer, due to the password/username issue, so I figured I'd pop an XP Home disc in the CD Drive, and wipe the hard drive, use XP, and be on my merry way.

Ha.

I go into the BIOS and set it to boot from the CD first, and when I pop the XP CD in, It'll say "Setup is inspecting your hardware configuration..." and after 4-5 seconds, that message will disappear, and I'm left with a blank screen.

Can anyone assist me in at least getting into CentOS, to figure out what I've got, as I'd like to put XP on this machine.


Any help is greatly appreciated, Thank you.

 

[MindoverMaster]

What are you expecting to find? You could just use GParted to wipe the drive. I think XP isn't seeing the HDD, probably in an EX3 format.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Have you tried to boot to a live cd to see if it will boot? XP shouldn't be just hanging up like that during the install unless there is some driver it needs to load for the system before it can continue.

 

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

I'm not expecting to find anything, I just want to be able to use it.


How would I go about using GParted to wipe the HD, if I can't get it to load? Will it work from a CD, if I was to burn the program to one, or no?


I've tried to boot to a LiveCD (Linux Mint) but a screen pops up that says "select operating system" or something, and CentOS is the only option.

 

[patonb]

GParted is a livecd too. So yha burn it.

 

[kmote]

We can't help you break into the centOS install but we can help you get something else installed on there so you can use it.

You stated that you got a blank screen after 4-5 seconds of inspecting your hardware but how long did you wait after that?

If you can't get XP up on there give ubuntu, mint or whatever a go.

 

[ZRMaster]

Try to reset your master boot record on the hard drive you are using it still has GRUB Loader on it!!! This could also block your win installation. Even if u install win xp u could not boot it ... it will always show up message : Grub is loading...
Use MBR TOOL or MBR WORK and install standar MBR Code !
Be carefull! Do not erase MBR!