recovery console

I have a computer I am working on it has crashed. I did manage to make a recovery disk on a different computer however I need a operating windows windows xp. How can I get on without paying the full price the stores have it around 200 and I don't have that kind of money. Now I believe I did restore the PC it had a bad boot sector. Now I did order a update on ebay however I don't if that will work on this particular computer. I may need the entire xp.

Thanks Billy

 

Hello Billy,

Now I did order a update on ebay
Really not clear on what this would be, is this an "upgrade" XP? If so, that is the full OS and can be used to install XP, but, because it's labeled as an upgrade, you'll need "proof" of ownership of a previous copy of windows, such as ANY 98 or WinME disc.

Regards - Charles

 

Hello Charles

Thanks for the reply and yes I do hope this update works too. Cause I might have to order the full xp through the Internet and that costs much more. Also I don't the proof of ownership cause the computer I am working on is from someone else I am just fixing it for them. They didn't have the software that came with the PC.
Thanks Billy

 

Hi Billy,

We're stuck on terminology here, you use the term update which as far as I know, there is no such thing; can you indicate the exact wording of what you ordered from Ebay?

Again I'll repeat myself, if it is an Upgrade XP version, that is the full OS and any borrowed 9X(98 or WinME) OS version will do.

Regards - Charles

 

Hi Charles, you right I am sorry for the mix up I did meant to say upgrade NOT update. As for the Older operating system I did try to put in the Win98 however the system would not allow it cause there was not enough disk space if that is the right terminology. After I used the recovery disk. The computer did have Windows XP on it.

Thanks Billy

 

Hi Billy,

As for the Older operating system I did try to put in the Win98 however the system would not allow it cause there was not enough disk space if that is the right terminology. After I used the recovery disk.
Ok, I'm not being clear either I see

If you want to use the new XP you ordered for a repair or use it to install the Recovery Console - you won't have a problem.

If you want to do a clean install of XP with the new upgrade version, at the time of install, you'll be asked to insert a 9X disc, that's all. The install will do nothing with it other than check that you have one - it's MS's pound of flesh for the cheaper version.

Regards - Charles

 

Charles and anyone else reading this. I am still having trouble getting windows 98 loaded. I thought I would use the recovery disk again and this time I decided to fix the mbr but that didn't work either now it is saying the ntldr is missing. I even made a ms-dos disk thinking that will work I copied the disk a: sys c: I think that is the way to type it in. Does anyone have a suggestion. I can get into C: prompt.
Billy

 

Clean off that drive. Boot from the startup floppy and run fdisk. Remove all partitions and logical drives. Then use fdisk to create a new partition. Always answer "yes" to the large disk support question when it appears.

After creating a new partition, run format C: from the floppy.

 

Thanks Abraxas the suggestion you gave worked I put in my disk that has fdisk and formatted the computer put in win98 on it no problem. Except for one thing the windows xp upgrade as it turns out I think I bought the wrong disk it said on disk windows xp sp2. Cause when I put in the disk nothing happens I mean when I restarted the computer. I also typied in d:setup and run in the start\run section both opened the disk put as for the install the xp nothing. Billy

 

It's possible that you got just SP2 and not XP with SP2. Explore the disk in My Computer. Do you see setup.exe among the files there? What other files are there?

If you have a real XP SP2 disk, it should be bootable. By the way, there is no need to install 98 first if you have an upgrade disk. In fact, it is not advisable because so many problems can result from an upgrade. You can install XP from an upgrade disk to a clean, empty hard drive. The only difference is that you will have to prove you have a copy of Win98 (or other "qualifying product ") by inserting the 98 CD for a moment when the upgrade asks.

Let us know what you see on that drive so we can tell if you got just SP2.

But, if your only problem is getting the setup started, try this installation floppy:

www.madboot.com

Then, when you have the chance during XP setup, fully format the drive as NTFS and do a clean installation.