help installing XP on compaq laptop

[mando]

i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard disk
drives installed in your computer.
make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to your
computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. this
may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup program.

set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.


what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be so
greatful.

i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he told me
to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the windows
password.

thanks,

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: help installing XP on compaq laptop


"mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2C985D1E-C847-4EA1-93DC-2611EF3C1817@microsoft.com...
>i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
> windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
> instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
> now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard disk
> drives installed in your computer.
> make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to
> your
> computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. this
> may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup program.
>
> set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.
>
>
> what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be so
> greatful.
>
> i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he told
> me
> to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the windows
> password.
>
> thanks,

You appear to have two problems:
a) A forgotten password. A boot disk from here would have fixed this
quickly: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html
b) A disk that is possibly damaged. You need to determine the disk
manufacturer, probably by taking out the disk, then run the diagnostic
program that you can download from the manufacturer's home site.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Re: help installing XP on compaq laptop


"mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2C985D1E-C847-4EA1-93DC-2611EF3C1817@microsoft.com...
>i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
> windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
> instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
> now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard disk
> drives installed in your computer.
> make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to
> your
> computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. this
> may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup program.
>
> set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.
>
>
> what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be so
> greatful.
>
> i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he told
> me
> to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the windows
> password.
>
> thanks,

How old is this laptop?

This message currently means that your system has SATA drives and that Setup
requires drivers to find the drives, if the drive controller is in AHCI
mode; sometimes providing the drivers doesn't work, so you enter the BIOS
and change the controller to legacy mode, install XP, install the drivers,
then shift to AHCI.

If your system doesn't have SATA drives, which is likely if it had Windows
2000, enter the BIOS and look for detected hard discs. If there aren't
any, XP setup won't work either. Try replacing the drive, or the laptop;
an upgrade from W2K-era laptop hardware will likely be appreciated.

HTH
-pk

 

[mando]

Re: help installing XP on compaq laptop

how do I enter the BIOS?

"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

>
> "mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2C985D1E-C847-4EA1-93DC-2611EF3C1817@microsoft.com...
> >i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
> > windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
> > instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
> > now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard disk
> > drives installed in your computer.
> > make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to
> > your
> > computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. this
> > may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup program.
> >
> > set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.
> >
> >
> > what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be so
> > greatful.
> >
> > i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he told
> > me
> > to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the windows
> > password.
> >
> > thanks,
>
> How old is this laptop?
>
> This message currently means that your system has SATA drives and that Setup
> requires drivers to find the drives, if the drive controller is in AHCI
> mode; sometimes providing the drivers doesn't work, so you enter the BIOS
> and change the controller to legacy mode, install XP, install the drivers,
> then shift to AHCI.
>
> If your system doesn't have SATA drives, which is likely if it had Windows
> 2000, enter the BIOS and look for detected hard discs. If there aren't
> any, XP setup won't work either. Try replacing the drive, or the laptop;
> an upgrade from W2K-era laptop hardware will likely be appreciated.
>
> HTH
> -pk
>
>
>

 

[mando]

Re: help installing XP on compaq laptop

never mind that was a stupid question since i alread knew that.

"mando" wrote:

> how do I enter the BIOS?
>
> "Patrick Keenan" wrote:
>
> >
> > "mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:2C985D1E-C847-4EA1-93DC-2611EF3C1817@microsoft.com...
> > >i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
> > > windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
> > > instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
> > > now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard disk
> > > drives installed in your computer.
> > > make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to
> > > your
> > > computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. this
> > > may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup program.
> > >
> > > set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.
> > >
> > >
> > > what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be so
> > > greatful.
> > >
> > > i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he told
> > > me
> > > to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the windows
> > > password.
> > >
> > > thanks,
> >
> > How old is this laptop?
> >
> > This message currently means that your system has SATA drives and that Setup
> > requires drivers to find the drives, if the drive controller is in AHCI
> > mode; sometimes providing the drivers doesn't work, so you enter the BIOS
> > and change the controller to legacy mode, install XP, install the drivers,
> > then shift to AHCI.
> >
> > If your system doesn't have SATA drives, which is likely if it had Windows
> > 2000, enter the BIOS and look for detected hard discs. If there aren't
> > any, XP setup won't work either. Try replacing the drive, or the laptop;
> > an upgrade from W2K-era laptop hardware will likely be appreciated.
> >
> > HTH
> > -pk
> >
> >
> >

 

[mando]

Re: help installing XP on compaq laptop

my dad installed XP perfectly on an old work computer that had windows 2000
professional. this laptop is newer than my PC that has XP on it.

the laptop is about 4 years old. or so

"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

>
> "mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2C985D1E-C847-4EA1-93DC-2611EF3C1817@microsoft.com...
> >i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
> > windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
> > instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
> > now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard disk
> > drives installed in your computer.
> > make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to
> > your
> > computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. this
> > may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup program.
> >
> > set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.
> >
> >
> > what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be so
> > greatful.
> >
> > i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he told
> > me
> > to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the windows
> > password.
> >
> > thanks,
>
> How old is this laptop?
>
> This message currently means that your system has SATA drives and that Setup
> requires drivers to find the drives, if the drive controller is in AHCI
> mode; sometimes providing the drivers doesn't work, so you enter the BIOS
> and change the controller to legacy mode, install XP, install the drivers,
> then shift to AHCI.
>
> If your system doesn't have SATA drives, which is likely if it had Windows
> 2000, enter the BIOS and look for detected hard discs. If there aren't
> any, XP setup won't work either. Try replacing the drive, or the laptop;
> an upgrade from W2K-era laptop hardware will likely be appreciated.
>
> HTH
> -pk
>
>
>

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Re: help installing XP on compaq laptop

"mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5E509048-6DFC-4059-ACFB-2EB2F61F82A4@microsoft.com...
> my dad installed XP perfectly on an old work computer that had windows
> 2000
> professional.

If it's a different system then that isn't really relevant.

> this laptop is newer than my PC that has XP on it.

This actually has little to do with the age except as to whether it can or
can't have SATA drives.

> the laptop is about 4 years old. or so

Pull out the hard disk and look at the connector, or look up the model
number from the hard disk.

If it's a SATA drive (an IDE drive will have a connector with 40 pins,
though some systems use a header pushed onto the pins) the problem is likely
that drivers are needed, or that you have to shift the drive controller, in
the BIOS, out of AHCI mode for the XP install.

Does the drive appear in the BIOS?

-pk


>
> "Patrick Keenan" wrote:
>
>>
>> "mando" <mando@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2C985D1E-C847-4EA1-93DC-2611EF3C1817@microsoft.com...
>> >i tried to install XP Professional on my dads old compaq laptop that had
>> > windows 2000 professional. it started to install it, i followed the
>> > instructions but the comptuer went black at about what said 58% or so.
>> > now when i tried to reinstall it it says set up did not find any hard
>> > disk
>> > drives installed in your computer.
>> > make sure any hard dik drives are powered on and properly connected to
>> > your
>> > computer and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct.
>> > this
>> > may involve running a manufacturer--supplied diagnostic or setup
>> > program.
>> >
>> > set up cannont continue. to quit setup, press F3.
>> >
>> >
>> > what I want ti know is what do I do. if any one could help i would be
>> > so
>> > greatful.
>> >
>> > i don't have any disks for the laptop. just the XP professional. he
>> > told
>> > me
>> > to install XP and wipe it clean because he couldn't remember the
>> > windows
>> > password.
>> >
>> > thanks,
>>
>> How old is this laptop?
>>
>> This message currently means that your system has SATA drives and that
>> Setup
>> requires drivers to find the drives, if the drive controller is in AHCI
>> mode; sometimes providing the drivers doesn't work, so you enter the BIOS
>> and change the controller to legacy mode, install XP, install the
>> drivers,
>> then shift to AHCI.
>>
>> If your system doesn't have SATA drives, which is likely if it had
>> Windows
>> 2000, enter the BIOS and look for detected hard discs. If there aren't
>> any, XP setup won't work either. Try replacing the drive, or the
>> laptop;
>> an upgrade from W2K-era laptop hardware will likely be appreciated.
>>
>> HTH
>> -pk
>>
>>
>>