Have i messed up my PC

I was trying to reinstall XP on my computer and the recovery disc shattered inside the cd drive at around 1% of the process, so i had to remove the pieces from the drive and reeboot after this happened i restarted the the pc and saw this message NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.
I did some searching around and found out i needed to start the install process again from another XP cd which i did last night the problem is that the cd was from a dell computer (mine is'nt a dell). During the install it would stop and tell me that it could not install various bits so me being an impatient fool skipped whatever could not be installed and carried on the installation. Once it finished i restart the computer and get a bsod is there any way i can fix this ie reformating the hdd in another pc and getting a proper copy of windows suitable for my pc? any help given will be greatly appreciated.

 

You can buy a window installation disk and format during the installation. You may have some driver problems after installation but you
should be able to download them and if you have any problems you just have to ask, just give all the info on your system

 

I have a non legit copy of xp pro which ive tried to install until i can get a legit copy from computer fair this weekend but the instalation will not start the computer 1st tries to install and gives this message. Setup is inspecting your computers hardware configuration then. Goes to the screen we appologize for any inconvenience how would you like to start windows safe mode etc or start windows normally after that i get the bsod and a long string of numbers. My sytems pretty old and the specs as best as i can remember them are ....... Motherboard Msi 845pe/ge max, 2.4ghz Cpu, Maxtor 120 and 160 gig hdd's, 2gig pc world ram and Nvidia 6600 graphics card hopefully thats enough info as im a bit of a computer noob thanks for taking an interest in my problem

 

It's not our policy to help people install illegal copies

 

If you had a legit "key" it wouldn't matter who you got the disk off it would work with the key you had. The CD drives sounds very dodgy "as well".

 

Im aware that everyone here is above board but i thought that i could fix my problem for the short term with this copy of windows until i was able to replace it with a valid install of xp. You mentioned that the drive could be dodgy i remember after the dell disc install of xp ( silly me ) that windows told me that drivers were missing or words that effect. Is there any chance of getting this machine up and running again ?

 

Format your drive using the bootable HD manufacturer's utility disk from their website then run XP setup.

 

If the CD drive is working, you could run a live linux distro and at least surf and do email until you get the XP sorted out.

 

The computer is made by a company called Higrade i checked there site for any downloadable content but there are no utillities available for download.
When switching to post i getthe following message at the bottom of the screen...
searching for boot record cd/dvd not found . I can see all the installed hardware on the bios screen but does this mean i need to get the drivers for the cd and dvd drives restored before i can install my operating system ?

 

It sounds the Bios may be having trouble seeing the CDROM drive. The CDROM drive may have been damaged. Try unplugging the computer taking out the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes and then putting it back in.

You'll be asked to set to defaults, say yes. See if the cdrom is recognized. If it is check the boot order is CDROM first HD second.

 

When i go into the bios screen all of my installed drives Hdd ,cd and dvd are present but i'll try that now all i have to do now is figure out where the battery is on the motherboard fingers crossed it all goes well thanks for the help .

 

It's just a quarter shaped "watch type" battery. Should be sitting near the small square CMOS chip.

There are no drivers needed before installation of the OS. Check the boot order to make sure the CD is first.

The errors about boot record would seem to be coming from the partially installed OS that's why I recommended formatting the HD before attempting a new OS installation. Consider downloading the disk utility for your HD and using the "prepare for OS" option to clean out any partially installed OS.

 

funny thing is i'm using my ps3 to post for help and don't have access to another pc so i can't download any utilities. I have looked on the manufacturer's website but there doesn't seem to be any downloadable content available. i'm also having a bit of difficulty removing the battery thanks for the help .

 

If it's mounted flat, there should just be a tiny clip barely holding it in. Not sure about a vertical mount, I assume it's just a matter of grabbing an edge.

The HD is Maxtor so you would get Seatools for DOS. And do a Erase Track 0 or the more thorough Zero Fill. To clean out the drive.

Maybe I'm misreading something but I've never heard of BIOS saying "Searching for boot record, CD/DVD rom not found. Are you sure this happens in POST?

 

Yeah i hit the tab key to go into post then hit the pause break button to stop the computer and, thats where i see the message about the boot record . Well i removed the cmos battery for about 30 mins then replaced it but to no avail. Had to reset cmos values so i loaded the default ones but still getting the blue screen. Im going to a computer fair tommorow if i were to buy a new hdd and a copy of windows would i be flogging a dead horse with regards to the issue im having now ? thanks for the continued help

 

I'm not sure a HD and XP Cd are the answer until you know what is going on. The problem could be the CD drive.

IF you unplug the HD (power or data cable) put your XP cd in the drive and start the computer what happens?

 

If a disc shatters inside a drive, from my experience, the drive rarely survives. In fact, going off my experience, I've never had one survive a disk explosion.

 

I pulled the thicker of the 2 cables attached to the hdd switched on the pc and get the following message. Setup is inspecting your computers hardware configuration... then the pc reeboots itself.

 

Damn Small Linux (DSL) is about 50mb, it's the smallest live distro I know of. Download an iso, burn a disk, and see if you can boot off that. It kind of sounds like your less than reputable cd may be well... less than reputable. If DSL works, you know the cd drive's ok.

 

Bluepickle's advice is sound but you said you can't download anything right now.

Plug the HD back in. Check your boot order in Bios making sure CD is first. Restart with the XP CD in the drive making sure you "hit any key to start from CD". You should get the inspecting hardware and then what is the error message?

 

Whoops, missed that part. Sorry

 

I've reconnected the cable and get the same situation as below, stays on the hardware configuration screen for around 3 to 5 mins then reboots with no error message looked in post but, am unable to see what it says about the boot record. I was given another dvd drive which i put into the comp, and tried to do the install but with the same results as the other drives i've got. Going to get the legit copy of xp now i know its a shot in the dark but will have to try fingers crossed, thanks for the help.

 

Back online with my pc again :-D with a legitimate copy of windows and a new dvd rewriter. I would like to say thanks to all those that showed an interest in my problem

 

Thanks for posting back! Glad you got things sorted.

A legit copy is worth the money in the long run whether you like Microsoft or not. It just makes life simpler. You made a good choice on replacing the DVD writer as well. Looks like you're set.

 

Cheers mate may all your problems be easily sorted :-D