Just Built Comp need to install XP how?

[phifer7]

Hey yall I am a "newbie" so to speak and I have just dumped $700 into building my own custom computer. Everything is put together and plugged up and i have turned on my computer for the first time. It runs POST and everything checks out but after that what do i do? I want windows xp on my comp! I have XP on a CD but when I boot with it in the drive nothing happens and it says it is booting from CD. Please help a poor newbie guy get some use out of a $700 hunk of metal in his room. Thank You.

P.S. Detailed instructions would be appreciatted considering im lost.

Thank You

-Thomas Phifer

 

[Vigilante]

Well you are on the right track, if the XP CD is in and the PC says for SURE that it is booting from it but doesn't work, then you have a problem.

Some off-hand ideas:

Do you have a Serial ATA hard drive? The kind with the small, thin data wire. If so, there are extra steps.

Did you check the BIOS boot order? Go into the BIOS and check that CD-ROM boot comes before everything else. When the system boots up with the XP CD in there, it should ASK you "Press any key to boot from CD...." And you have to click a key to go into XP setup. If it doesn't say that, then it isn't trying to boot from the CD.

Also while in the BIOS, check that it detects your CPU speed and Hard drive and CD-ROM properly. When you see the POST, does it list your hardware correctly?

We'll just start there. And welcome to Techspot!

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

First go into your bios setup, and set the boot priority to floppy(if applicable)/cd-rom/hdd

Then put the Windows xp disc into your cd drive, and save and exit bios.

You should see a message appear, that says press any key to boot from cd. So press any key to start booting from the XP cd. Just follow the on screen instructions. During the installation of Windows the computer will reboot. You will be asked again to press any key to boot from cd. DO NOT PRESS ANY KEY otherwise it will just start the installation process allover again.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

 

[phifer7]

Thank you for your timely responses! I am trying what you have suggested and i will get back to you in a little bit. My mobo supports serialata but i have nothing using that, just the thin wide ribbons. Thanks