asked on can't boot from CDROM to reinstall windows xp home
I am trying to clean up a friends PC that was full of spyware and some viruses. The PC is a Dell dimension 2400 w/XP home. I am trying to reinstall xp home from scratch to begin new but I cannot get the pc to boot from CDROM or from floppy after making the appropriate changes in the BIOS. suspecting something might be wrong with the BIOS i have even pulled the battery out to reset back to factory defaults. that did not work. I even tried booting from USB but that won't work either. I can't update the BIOS because you need to boot from floppy to do that. I'm stuck. please help!!!
Microsoft Legacy OSDesktopsWindows OS
Last Comment
charsch
XP CD, I am assuming, but is it a copy or original?
I would try building or using a Memtest bootable CD to see if it isnt just the CDRom...
With Dell Dim, you can use LED diagnostic to see system is functioning properly:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2400/en/sm_en/advtshoo.htm#1105412
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2400/en/sm_en/advtshoo.htm#1105412
ASKER
the CD i am using is a dell oem xp home disk. i have also tried a dell oem xp pro disk and same result. the floppy i tried was a dos boot disk and that would not boot. need any more info?
What about the boot menu?
Might even suggest taking teh service tag # on the case, and going to dell support online, and seeing if there is a BIOS update....Floppy not even booting just sounds odd....
ASKER
i currently have it set to boot in the following order...
1. cd rom
2. floppy
3. hard drive
1. cd rom
2. floppy
3. hard drive
ASKER
i thought about reinstalling the bios but without being able to boot from floppy i can't really do that.
Or you can use this key command to reset bios:
- F2 to access bios
-Turn on Cap Lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock
-Type in sequence: Alt+E, Alt+F, Alt+B
Then try to boot from floppy again.
- F2 to access bios
-Turn on Cap Lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock
-Type in sequence: Alt+E, Alt+F, Alt+B
Then try to boot from floppy again.
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in short :
-disconnect - inspect - reconnect cd and floppy cables
-test cd drive and floppy (and cables) on another PC
-test with other floppy or cd drive on this pC
-disconnect - inspect - reconnect cd and floppy cables
-test cd drive and floppy (and cables) on another PC
-test with other floppy or cd drive on this pC
The Dell 2400 has a restore partition on the hard drive by using Dell PC Restore by Symantec which should be installed on the computer. Go to page 43 of this Dell user manual for the Dimension 2400 for the details on how to access this.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2400/en/F75560LRs.pdf
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2400/en/F75560LRs.pdf
I remember Dell 2400's coming with XP CD and Restore CD rather than having a restore partition on hard disk. May have changed during product run which was relatively long.
Try changing Your Bios Carefully.
2nd Try using an External Cd drive. or last option unil i see it with my eyes then maybe i can find a solution
2nd Try using an External Cd drive. or last option unil i see it with my eyes then maybe i can find a solution
ASKER
turns out the reason is would not boot from cd is because both cd rom drives were on the same IDE channed and they both had the jumper set to cable select. i changed one to master and one to slave and everything worked fine from there. thanks everyone for the ideas
And what are you trying to boot to?