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Updating to XP and having troubles

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by daralee100, 2006/08/12.

  1. 2006/08/12
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    I am updating a Windows 98 computer that was originally running Windows 95, so it is an old computer. To upgrade it, I popped in an old boot floppy of a 98 version that I had and used the FDisk and the Format functions to delete all the information on the disk and create a new partition.

    So here's my problem, I can't seem to get any OS working on this computer as it doesn't find the CD-ROM drive once reformatted to run the setup from my XP OS disk. Can anyone help me get this thing working?
     
    daralee100,
    #1
  2. 2006/08/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    daralee100 - Welcome to the Board :)

    This should work for you.....

    Download a fresh Win 98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com to be on the safe side.

    After formatting boot again from the boot disk and select 'With CD support'

    When the RAM drive has loaded and you are at the A:\ prompt, change to the CD drive and type 'setup'

    If that does not work type dir /p to see the directory of the CD page by page and sort out the setup file.

    I guess the BIOS does not have the option to boot from the CD?

    Are you sure that a computer dating back to Win 95 days is up to running XP - I somewhat doubt it ....

    Windows XP Home Edition System Requirements

    You wil need at least 256 Mb of RAM if you want it to run faster than paint drying, preferably 512 Mb. The requirements MS give are laughable.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2006/08/12
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    I'll try making another boot disk and see what that does. The computer has been greatly updated since ethen and has a larger harddrive and more memory.
     
    daralee100,
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  5. 2006/08/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    To start the installation of XP from a Win98 start disk you have to take a few more steps:

    When the computer has started, at the A:> command prompt;

    - type in D: (the drive letter for the CD-ROM) > enter (to change to the CD-ROM drive)

    - type in cd i386 > enter (to change to that directory, note the space between cd and i386)

    - type in winnt > enter (to start the installation)

    The procedure will be rather slow but if you load "smartdrive" before starting the installation, it will be quicker.

    See How to start the Setup program from MS-DOS in Windows XP

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #4
  6. 2006/08/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    The executable "smartdrive" is not on the Win98 start disk. You can download it here and copy it to the floppy.

    When the computer has started from the floppy, at the A:> command prompt type in smartdrv > enter (to load "smartdrive ") and then proceed as in my first post.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #5
  7. 2006/08/13
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    When you say, change directory, what do you mean? I'm not sure what the installation program is called, is the "cd" part the drive?
     
    daralee100,
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  8. 2006/08/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Directory or folder is the same. The setup files are located in the i386 folder on the CD.

    Most computers have a hard disk and a CD-ROM drive. If only those two, the hard disk is C: and the CD-ROM is D:. The path to that folder would be D:\i386.

    If the computer has been started from a Win98 start disk, at the bottom of the screen there will be an A: command prompt. To set the computer to work from the D:\i386 folder you need to:

    at the A: command prompt, type in D: > enter ( changes the command prompt to D: )

    at the D: command prompt type in cd i386 > enter ( changes the command prompt to D:\i386 )

    Now the computer can find the file winnt.exe which is in the D:\i386 folder.

    at the D:\i386 command prompt type in winnt ( starts the installation ).

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #7
  9. 2006/08/13
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Will it let me install xp in the same way even though I only have a 98 boot disk? Or should I get an XP boot disk?
     
    daralee100,
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  10. 2006/08/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    From your first post

    As PeteC indicated in his post, the computer may not be able to boot from the CD-ROM drive but ...

    When you have started the computer from the Win98 start disk (with CD-ROM support) and it is at the A:\ prompt, does it change to the D:\ prompt when you follow the steps in my previous post? If so, it can find the CD-ROM drive and the answer to your question is yes!

    Have you successfully added smartdrv.exe to the floppy?

    If so, start the computer (with CD-ROM support) from the Win98 start disk.

    - at the A:\ prompt, type in smartdrv > enter (to load smartdrive)

    - at the A:\ prompt, type in D: > enter (changes the prompt to D:\)

    - at the D:\ prompt type in cd i386 > enter (changes the prompt to D:\i386)

    - at the D:\i386\ prompt type in winnt (starts the installation).


    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #9
  11. 2006/08/13
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    I'm finally at the keyboard of this computer. I might not have said but it is not mine and I need to get it fixed for a family member...

    Well, I stuck the floppy into the slot and started it with cd-rom support and all of that jazz and I got to the system prompt, well, the A:\ prompt. Next I typed in smartdrv and it seemed to skip it so I went on. I typed in D:\ and it switched over to the D prompt and I was doing well. The next step was to type in cd i386, did that and it tells me invalid directory.

    I stuck the disk into my laptop and looked at it's contents, it has that directory and that setup file. I tried to type in D:\setup after that and yet it still didn't work saying that "This function cannot be run in DOS mode. "

    Going back to the smartdrive thing, I then typed in smartdrv.exe and got this system report thing about caches. It told me to type in smartdrv /? for help and I did and got a list of things to do. That is currently up on my screen as I type this on my laptop.

    Does anyone have any clue of what I'm doing wrong. I reformatted the disk and everything before hand. I have decided to go with loading Windows 2000 onto this thing instead on XP as I'm not so sure how stable this XP disk that I have actually is. I need some help still.
     
    daralee100,
    #10
  12. 2006/08/13
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thank you, everyone, for your help. I have finally solved this and I have even learned a whole bunch of new stuff. I hope to see you around the forums some more and I hope that one day I can return your favor!
     
    daralee100,
    #11
  13. 2006/08/14
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    daralee100,
    you're welcome ... :) ... !

    What did you do to solve the problem?

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #12
  14. 2006/08/16
    daralee100

    daralee100 Inactive Thread Starter

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    The system had warned me before that the cd-ROM drive would be a letter down and yet I missed that point on the later installation. Once I changed it up to E:\ instead of D:\ it worked perfectly and loading what it needed to load. The computer is fine now and running better than before on Windows 2000.
     
    daralee100,
    #13
  15. 2006/08/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Glad you caught that and sorry that I didn't suggest to check that the CD-ROM really was D:.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #14

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