Re: Currently Vista Home but want to format and load XP PRo

"Heinz" <Heinz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:7BE2E274-F288-485F-A78F-804CD5A9E18A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I bought a Fujitsu-Siemens laptop with preloaded Vista Home. I've found it to
be terribly unstable (receive Microsoft Visual C++ errors and continously
restarts the internet while surfing etc.)

I want to reformat my hardrive and reload Windows XP PRo (genuine software
with license) from my previous laptop (which is no longer in use).

I insert the cd and boot from it - it does it's Setup checks and loads the
necessary files - I chose to load a fresh version of Windows, press "F8" to
agree and then when it comes to chosing the partition, it tells me "No Drive
found" - it doesn't display any harddrive at all. When pressing "ESC" to
cancel, the dreaded "blue screen" comes up and says there has been a "fatal
error".

Any ideas why this is happening and why I cannot reformat the harddrive with
Windows XP Pro?

Heinz,

When you say Genuine Software with license from your previous laptop - did the copy of XP you are talking about come with the lap - was it preinstalled on the old machine when you bought it ? If so is what is known as an OEM copy and you are not legally allowed to transfer it to another machine even if you have scrapped the old laptop. The only one you can transfer is the full packaged product (FPP) also known as a retail product (the one that comes in the big blue box for Pro or Green for Home Edition.)
So if you have a Retail copy of XP then you can try and install it on your other laptop as long as it has been removed from the previous machine.

The reason for your failed install is as has already been covered - the hardrive in your new laptop is a new type of drive that the older XP CD does not have the drivers on. So you would need to download the drivers for the machine from the laptop vendors website and provide them during the install process. There is a point on the XP install where you can provide additional drivers for things like the hard drive etc.

Alternatively - if you laptop is under a year old then just give the support people at the manufacturer a ring and they may even be able to supply you with a XP CD to do the install from for that machine, or at least help you.

Also with all due respect if you are not comfortable with terms like drivers etc then you really should not be attempting to install an operating system - you may be better off taking it to your local PC shop and letting them do the install for you.

--
Mike Brannigan

.

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