Computer won't load after brand new XP install

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I'm not sure what I have done wrong, but hopefully you pros will know :) I formatted my hard drive and installed a fresh copy of Windows XP Pro. However, when it tries to do the first reboot after the initial install process I get the error that no system disk is found. The files are there, but the machine is not recognizing the HD as bootable device?

Please help,
Stacy
 
Go to bios(press delete when the first screen loads), check if the system is set to boot from the hard-disk.
 
original

are you using a copied version of windows?

if so it casues probelms sometimes.

also id the xp cd is damaged its gay loading up :giddy:

oh yeah also, make sure you have no usb devices attached like memory stick or camera,mp3 player.coz its can stop windows from loading.

only other thing i can think of is.... did u open ur pc up, u might have changed the jumper setting, or are u running a slave hard drive to?
 
If your Bios is seeing the HDD properly .Try copying the i386 file from the CD to a partition on the HDD (not O/S partition ) and reformat and install from there.
Check the Window CD for marks etc.
 
I am back at work now...so will have to try again later.

Full details:
This hard drive was set as secondary master before the format and it was partitioned into 2 drives (neither of which had an OS on it). I pulled the Primary Master HD out to use in another machine and switched the cable to the primary slot in the mother board.

This XP CD was fresh out of the original packaging, no scratches, etc. I used Windows Installer to delete the old partitions and reformat as NTFS. The First segment of the install works flawlessly and everytime it attempts to reboot it gives the error.

The BIOS shows the drive as primary master and has the CD drive listed as primary slave. No secondary cable is installed. No jumpers were changed, but I will double check to make sure they are in the correct positions, I almost always have it on cable select.

There is 1 USB device installed, a printer, so I will remove that as well. I have reinstalled 3 times and tried repartitioning the drive once too.

I feel like such a n00b, have done this many times in many different computers and never came across a drive that BIOS can see, but that it will not boot the OS.
 
m8 i do this for a living n every day i come across new problems, thers always conflicts n that. well am out of ideas for nwo but al have a think over night (uk) let me knw if u find the soloution al ask a few m8's for you. good luck
 
is your hdd showing up in bios?

do this:
get a 98 floppy boot disk from www.bootdisk.com
start your pc with boot disk in the machine
after win98 comes up, enter fdisk
display partition(s) (if any)
delete partition(s)
create new partition
restart
format the hard disk
turn pc off
take win98 boot disk out
put xp cd in the cd rom drive
turn pc on
get into bios
go to boot sequence and choose "boot from cd first"
save bios, exit.
let xp install.
 
The HD does show up in BIOS, also I checked the jumpers and the HD is set to CS.

Just to make sure I was not losing my mind, I reinstalled the old HD and moved this one to its original position (secondary master) and installed XP completely without a hitch on the old drive. Once Windows was up, I went to Explorer and browsed over to the HD that will not boot and I can see all of the Windows files there. This is making me sick puke:

I will try alidabiri's method tonight, if I don't take a hammer to it first :evil:
 
the method i posted above, should work.
make sure that boot sequence is set to cd first, then hd, then floppy. and you have to save and exit. the prompts are tricky. if you can see all your files, then your format hasn't been done properly. before you install windows, check again to see if you can see any files or not. after you check for files, you must turn machine off, put the cd in drive, and turn it back up.
 
You said your jumper was set to Cable Select when it was alone Pri master Probably a mistake, Cable select can always cause errors ,Always best to put jumpers at the REAL config position.

Also you had the CDrom on the primary ide channel slaved to the HDD , also not good, Better to seperate optical drives to their own channel if you can.

Also if I read you right you formatted that HDD when it was a slave to another HDD
This means the first partition could not be Active windows won't load .
You should reset these items above and boot to the XP cd delete all existing Partitions , make new ones and reformat .
You should have no problem,
 
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