Hi,

I have searched the web and this site hoping for a resoluton to this problem. If I am repeating a problem that someone else has mentioned then I apologise.

I have a Dell 9100 Inspiron laptop. It has recently ground almost to a halt so I decided to upgrade my harddrive and install Windows XP home edition.

I checked that my Fujitsu 80Gb hardrive is supported by the OS. It is. I then put it in and tried to install XP home using the Dell CD taht came with the laptop.

Everything goes well until 13 minutes to go in the installation process (driver signing) where it just hangs, looking for all the world as though it is doing something. I have left the laptop for hours only to see it at the very same position.

I have added nothing to the laptop other than the harddrive, which is picked up correctly by the BIOS, and presumably by the Windows installation process in that it correctly copies data to the disk.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

I will later on plug my old harddrive back into it and download a BIOS upgrade. See if that helps!

Also heard that if you modify any of the defaults settings in the installation process it could cause these problems? Is that true?

I am suprised that an installation as basic as this could be so problematic.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Laptop upgrades can pose a problem because of the manner in which Manufctrs try to protect their markets.
First you should check with the Dell web to confirm that the Fujitsu is supported by them in your model.
Then confirm their O/S re-install procedure ,pay close attention to particulars,Download the latest drivers etc. and check for any Bios/Setup file updates for your model.
Finally ,I hate to play devils advocate, but you do not state what your symptoms were originally . Are you sure the HDD was really what is wrong with the machine ?

Welcome to Techspot!

Yes, your hard drive will work fine in your 9100 Inspiron.

There's another problem here though.

The BIOS upgrade is a good idea, by the way. You may also want to try another Windows XP disc (You don't have to activate it.. just try it out) and see if it completes the install. This would be just for the sake of ruling out your Dell disc as damaged (or maybe the extra stuff it loads is causing an issue)

There's not much that will cause hanging in the same place over and over again like that other than a defective disc. A failing hard drive would be on the top of my list, but if it is new.. That makes it very unlikely.

BIOS settings can have some funny effects on a Windows install, but the options Dell gives you are pretty limited. You really can't do much damage. But you can try entering your BIOS and selecting the defaults.

Rick Quote" There's not much that will cause hanging in the same place over and over again like that other than a defective disc. A failing hard drive would be on the top of my list, but if it is new.. That makes it very unlikely."

My point exactly Rick I have seen portables stop at the same point because their Bios and Set files cannot deal with minor Hardware changes or failures.I suspect that there may be some other issue and I think" device".

if there is a card plugged in remove it
do not have it connected to internet
disable boot other devices and or boot floppy seek
you may need a floppy drive and start with bare bones drivers to make sure there is no cdrom confusion
I know the dell oem XP disc's look for dell pc's/laptops but I don't think dell laptops' look for dell oem xp disc's
It is a Dell ???

Unless maybe the Dell CD is trying to load the OEM original HDD drivers, which are not compatible with the new drive. But as far as I know, Dell's OS CDs are almost exactly the same as a regular OS CD, except for changes in the EULA, Product Key, preactivation etc.. But not in drivers.

Trying a regular XP is a good idea, just to rule out a few things.

If all else fails, you could format and load XP onto the old HDD, then ghost it to the new one, like by creating a Norton Ghost image backup CD.

Good luck

I am overwhelmed with all this advice. Thank you so much.

I have some free time on my hands tonight so I will give it another go as I upgraded the BIOS lastnight but did not get a chance to swap the battery.

The reason I have decided to upgrade is obviously for disk space but also because my Windows XP has become so slow taht it was just frustrating to use. I checked for Spyware, viruses etc., I went through all the services that may be hogging up the machine, I cleared some space on the disk, I defragmented the harddrive, I did everything I know of to get the performance back up but no joy. I thought that wiping it out and starting again may be the quicker option, obviously not the most elegant however.

I have got a copy of XP Pro that I will try if the BIOS thing doesn't work. I have not added any other peripheral to my system other than a Draytek wireless card that I have pulled out for this install.

Thanks again everyone for this info.

To think that I was out there struggling when there was a resource such as this.