installing XP Pro "cannot load dos. press any key to retry"

Hello all

I just built my first PC from scratch and I can't get windows to install.

I have a 120 GB SATA drive and a DVD burner on the primary IDE. I verified that in the BIOS it should boot from the CD.

I bought XP Pro, put the disk in, and I get an error "cannot load dos, press any key to retry ". When I press any key, it reboots the system and goes back to the same error.

Any ideas?? I know there may be drivers required for the Sata drives, but the windows install should ask me for them later right??

 

Your XP CD is not an original from Microsoft.
The disk could be damaged.
You have a disk in another removable drive.

 

it's an original microsoft disk, just opened (bought at best buy), and there doesn't appear to be any damage to it. And those are the only drives i have, one sata, one cd/dvd. I don't have a floppy drive.

could it be the sata drives/drivers?

 

You will not be able to install the SATA drives without a floppy.

 

i just read that I don't have to install sata drivers as the disk has SP2 which has drivers built in.

Anyway (after some fiddling with the bios), I got it to load fully to windows, i installed some drivers, rebooted, and got an error that some files in the windows/system directory were corrupt.

I tried to run the install again, and it keeps stalling at various parts.

Is the drive a dud possibly?

 

You might get away with installing a SATA drive as a PATA drive on an Intel motherboard with the older Intel Application Accelerator drivers on the XP CD.

But that is it.

If you give us the motherboard make and model, the drivers needed can be linked for you. If you are using a PCI-add-in board for SATA support rather than a controller on the motherboard, please specify. You will have to borrow temporarily a floppy drive to install the drivers.