Bios not following instructions

[olivia869]

i have told the bios in this old HP to startup using the cdrom, then the floppy. when i bootup with windows xp cd it looks like it checks it, but the setup screen for xp doesnt come up.

i have also tried booting with the windows startup disk, but that doesnt seem to be working either. it just loads xp and goes straight to desktop. i need to really format this pc as it needs it desperately...any ideas what i need to

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Check that both your floppy and CD work in the first place.
Try this from within Windows.
Are you sure you SAVED the settings in BIOS after your changes?
Go to www.bootdisk.com and get the file to make a W98SE OEM bootfloppy.
Set BIOS to start from floppy first, boot from it, and select Start with CD-ROM support.
Then use FDISK first to change your partition(s) if needed.
Otherwise at the A:\> prompt type in format c: /u and hit enter.

 

[Nodsu]

In some BIOSes there are two startup sequences - one for normal bootup and another one for "recovery" bootup after power failure etc.

 

[olivia869]

ok i got everythign working now, it turned out the pc didnt support cd-rom boot, so i used the six disk xp setup routine, and the floppy drive turned out to be faulty. thx for setting me on the rite track guys, much appreciated