No Operating System /won't complete XP load

An aquaintenance got a new computer and gave us there old one. Said we could have it if we could get it to work. :foolish
It is a T1742 eMachine, 1.70 Ghz Intel Celeron Processor, 40GB HD, 56K Modem It is suppose to already have Windows XP home on it but it says " No operating system found" :confused When we tried to load Windows XP on it it quit installing at 90% Saying " Can't copy file" after 2 unsucessful retries I went ahead and skipped the file to see if it would continue loading. The same thing happened at the next file. This was a brand new Windows XP CD so I know that isnt the problem. :hammer:hammer:hammer:hammer
Any ideas? We know very little about what we are doing LOL so you'll have to be specific.
I appreciate any help given!!
Sincerely,
Technovirgin:duck

 

See if the hard drive is seen in the BIOS.
To get into the BIOS, there is usually a mention when the computer boots up. It will say something like press F2 to enter setup.

 

It must be seeing the drive to get to 90%. Sounds like the drive needs reformating to me.

 

Usually, problems during setup with file copying are due to bad RAM, or a bad hard drive. Just because the BIOS sees the hard drive (or the RAM for that matter) doesn't mean it's 100% healthy. If there's nothing you want to save on the hard drive, try a full format before installing Windows; the quick format will not really tell you if something is wrong with the drive. If the drive formats but Windows setup still gets errors during the "copying files" stage (white letters on a blue background with the yellow progress bar), then it may be a RAM issue. Use a bootable memory diagnostic to test the RAM; I like this one. It will create a bootable floppy or an .ISO image file to create a bootable CD with. Boot to it and press 'T' for the extended tests and run at least 3-4 passes. If that passes 100%, then run an extended hard drive diagnostic available from your hard drive manufacturer. Since you're getting an 'Operating system not found' error, I'd say the hard drive is faulty.

 

Thanks... I'll give these ideas a try and let you know how it goes..:heli
Sincerely,
Technovirgin :duck

 

:cry We tried to reformat the hard drive as suggested, but were lost when it said to boot from windows or DOS diskette or CD-ROM and run FDISK. We could understand everything else but :confused as to what to do here. Sorry to be such dopes , it's probably very simple. But, Help! We aren't afraid to learn though.... we actually enjoy the challenge. :strong
Also, my fiance informed me that the CD ROM wasn't working before the attempted reformat. Any ideas? Did we maybe lose the driver? Again, Help!
Also we found upon closer examination that the jumper setting was on # 3 and 4 when, that was the only setting that wasn't shown on the hard drive. We moved the clip to the setting for master. I believe this was the right thing to do... please inform if it wasn't. I've enclosed a copy of the hard drive so you will have all that info. Well, I tried to but the upload kept failing. If you need this info plz guide me on the uploads I believe I am done with computers for today!
If you need anything else, in order to help us, just let us know. We appreciate your time and expertise in this.
I have learned alot just going through the site....
Sincerely,
Technovirgin :duck

 

Don’t loose heart and patience is key….lol…

Its real easy for those of us who do installs regular to just forget that it can be a nightmare if your biting your finger nails at every % of an install for fear that you didn’t press the right key just previously to the bit its now doing.

Some small things that can cause problems…..

A genuine, brand new and legal disk with COA… dose not mean it can’t be without fault.

Some disk read better by a DVD ROM than a CD or CD/RW ROM… and knowing you have one that works well, with no inherent glitches or faults helps tremendously.

Setting the jumpers on the HDD to master is a good thing to do and a must really if you want to have the said drive as the master in the system.

Sometimes, due to age or introduction of new hardware the data leads between HDD and motherboard are also the incorrect ones to be using to do an install (the drive may work fine with an O\S on it, in a system but I have found the same leads not to be capable of an install. Also have you checked the jumper setting on the ROM (As in if both HDD and ROM are on the same cable, you have a master and slave).

Good advice you have already received about checking the Drive and RAM.

A trick which for whatever reason I got possessed to try…. But hey it work… still don’t know why….lol…. I did a format from a WIN98 disk on a drive… then did an install on it of XP… had a similar problem to yourself and it worked.

Hope to hear good news soon.

Stephen.

 

Sounds like the CD, optical drive from your description, had a similar problem recently, no emulation. Finally got Windows to load and update after repeated tries, research said to check the HDD with the hard drive manufactures software or replace the CD/DVD optical drive. there was a third obscure reason, what it was escapes me at the moment. If you don't use the comp, can the parts, they may come in handy one day. The comp our problem was on is a Compaq S5200NX, but we also run a T1221 1.3 G Hz e machine, among others. I picked up a functioning CD/RW for a dollar at a local thrift stare and am using it in the T1221. If you install more than one CD/DVD drive, the more complex, more functional one, (DVD over CD/RW, CD/RW over CD-ROM) goes on top.

 

Hello!
Looks like you have a bad hard drive. When you load the CD, 0%-90% is assessing the computer, running test, etc. 90%-100% is copying the installation files to the hard drive. Then when you run the rest of the installer, it is actually off the HDD. Then it just copies the files off the CD as needed. You are definatly going to need a new HDD.

 

Hi all,

I'm putting my money on Bugallou. Had it happen many times. Bad CD reader can quit anyplace on the Disk.

Good Luck, Jim