Installing Windows Question....

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by artistwantab, May 10, 2012.

  1. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    I am putting a new hard drive in a computer.

    I have the registration key for windows but not the disk. I downloaded a copy and was prepared to transfer via Coolmax hard drive adapter.

    Two problems....

    Using power iso to run it says...

    Then when I tried formatting the hard drive it wont do it via coolmax and I tried to find a way to get into dos to do it but I can't.

    I guess my question is how do I install windows this way.

    I would prefer NOT to burn a copy to a CD and run via cd because I don't own a cd burner and would prefer not to by one just for this job.
     
  2. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    BTW....I am trying to install the Windows 2000 on another hard drive via my lap top which has windows 7 and once all the data is transferred I would then install the hard drive on the desk top.
     
  3. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Change of plans....

    Turns out my laptop has a built in CD-Burner so I was able to transfer all the files to a cd.

    I put the cd in.

    Changed the bios so it would see the cd first.

    Still wont start.

    Says "error loading operating system."

    Now I have no clue.
     
  4. foogoo

    foogoo Major "foogoo" Geek

    Windows 2000 is a bit old and I can't recall, but it might not be bootable. Older OSes need a boot disk, called a floppy (look it up kids) to initiate an install.
    http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
    Or the disk you downloaded was a file copy of a CD that did not include the boot file.
     
  5. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Re: Installing Windows Question...possible hard drive problem

    Thanks.

    I followed these instructions....

    To download one single bootdisk so I could then transfer it to a cd. sadly it is still giving me the same error.

    <Sigh>

    BTW...I am sorry I put this in the HARDWARE section of the forum. I thought my problem was related to me using coolmax to transfer everything.

    Please any other suggestions.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2012
  6. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Not to dissuade you from doing a new install but if you are just replacing the desktop HD and the old HD has a working OS then you could just clone the old HD to the new. Is this an option or does the desktop not have a working old HD with a running version of 2000?
     
  7. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Correct.

    I would prefer not to use Win 2000 but I bought a bunch of all desktops to use in the warehouse as workhorses.

    They have no hard drive but have the serial for win 2000 for each desktop so rather then buy operating system disks I figured I would just use win 2000.

    I have a question. If I am the ONLY user but have a few desktops in various parts of my warehouse. Do I need a registered copy for each one?
     
  8. Just Playin

    Just Playin MajorGeek

    I recall that the Windows 2000 CD was indeed bootable. Was your file a disc image such as an ISO file? If so, you can't just burn the data to a disc. In order to preserve booting info in the image, you must follow the proper burning procedure for disc images:
    http://www.poweriso.com/tutorials/iso-burner.htm
     
  9. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Well that might explain a lot. It was an iso.

    I will go through the steps and see if it works.


     
  10. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Well I tried it an no luck.

    I opened the ISO in PowerIso and followed the instructions and still have the same error.

    I even tried just burning the ISO to the disk also but the same error.

    I even disabled the hard drive in case it was looking for the hard drive first and now have this error.

    God I miss DOS.
     
  11. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    I enabled the hard drive again and now back to the...

    So I guess back to plan B.

    Is there a way I can install this through my laptop on Win7 on an other hard drive and then put it the desk-top?
     
  12. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I don't know any way to install from the laptop.

    I'd test the newly burned CD by trying to boot it in the laptop. Just see if it starts the Win2000 install screens. Obviously, you won't be installing just want to know if the CD is bootable.
     
  13. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    I tried that first think I could install it on the hard drive using a cool max's hard drive adapter but it gave me the above warning.
     
  14. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    It seems there is a good chance that my Hard Drive size is not supported by the controller or my bios need to upgraded.

    The smallest I have is 165+ GB.

    So here is what system I am trying to get to work. If anyone can give me an idea what to look for to confirm this.

    Dell Dimension 4400 Setup
    Bios.....ao3
    Intel Pentium 4
    1.6 ghz processor
     
  15. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    If all of these computers can boot from a USB flash drive, would you want to install by connecting the flash drive to each computer and installing windows 2000? When you double click the Windows 2000 iso does power iso say the iso is bootable? Should be in the lower left.

    Edit: Did you test the CD in your laptop to see if was bootable as sach2 suggested?
     
  16. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    No I would want each computer to be independent of each other.
    Yes it does bootable image.

    Edit: Did you test the CD in your laptop to see if was bootable as sach2 suggested?[/QUOTE]

    Ahhh.....I misunderstood. I did reboot and it did start to install windows 2000 properly.
     
  17. foogoo

    foogoo Major "foogoo" Geek

    NM.. late posting
     

    Attached Files:

  18. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Yes....It says bootable image and also worked properly when I tried on my laptop.
     
  19. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I am not sure I understand. If the Windows CD is bootable, why not just put it in the desktop computer that is supposed to get 2000 and install. I am missing something. The disk does not boot in the desktops?
     
  20. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Correct...When the cd is on the desk top I get the following error....

    I guess we wanted rule out the possibility that the boot disk was bad.

    I also ruled out the possibility that the cd drive was bad and tried an external cd-drive and it seems configured correctly according to my bios. Still the same problem.

    I think it may be my hard drive is not compatible because I looked on the net and someone mentioned when helping another person with the same problem that it could be the hard drive controller cannot read larger hard drive. Sadly they never replied whether that fixed it or not.

    If that is true I would imagine it would still at least start the boot process from the cd. I even tried disconnecting the hard drive and then get another error.

    I then though maybe the issue is with win 2000 on this system so I tried Win XP just to see if it would start and the same problem.
     
  21. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Doesn't seem to be booting from CD when in the DELL.

    With the CD in the drive, during the Dell screen press F12 and choose to boot from CD. Give the exact error message.
     
  22. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    I tried that before and still received the same error.
     
  23. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Tell us the specific error using F12 and selecting CD.

    Is it "boot failure; system halted"
    or "error loading operating system"

    I'm thinking the "boot failure" means no bootable devices--so no HD nothing to boot from even though you have the CD available.

    And the "error loading Os" message means that the specific CD is not bootable (for some reason).

    I realize you have done this all before but am just trying to pin down why you can't get the basic Win2000 installation screens.

    ***
    You said you have more than one machine are you experiencing the same error on multiple machines? Trying to eliminate a bad CDROM drive from the equation.
     
  24. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Do you get a CD-ROM option? If not, this might indicate something is wrong with the optical drive.

    There are a series of 4 diagnostic lights on the back. I'm curious if they are lit and what colors at each (they are labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) is showing.
    The chart for a Dimension 4400 http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4400/codes.htm#1101572
     
  25. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    I did some looking and the size of the hd you want to install might also be a problem.
    P4 size for HDD: if your Mobo has only ATA Support not SATA then the limit is 160GB

    The Dell documentation notes: ATA-66 or ATA-100 Ultra DMA hard drive
     
  26. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    It is "error loading operating system" when a hard drive is present.

    When I unplug the hard drive or disable it it gives me the "boot failure..." error.

    The external cd drive and boot disk works because both work when installed on my laptop.

    When I press f12 is gives me the option of loading from the cd or hard drive. But something tells me even though it may see the cd drive it may not be working properly and so it automatically defaults to the hard drive.

    I am going to pull the cd drive from another desktop and plug it in and see it it works.

    ******

    As far as the hard drive.

    This is exactly what I am trying to work....

    Hitachi HDS722516VLAT20 160GB Hard Drive
    The hard drive says....ata/ide?
     
  27. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    So is the CDROM you are trying to use a USB drive? That would make a difference because the PC would call that a USB device not a CDROM. So it wouldn't be trying to boot from it unless you were set to boot from USB.

    If you have an internal CDROM that should get you going. I would go ahead and try that.
     
  28. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I don't see support for USB booting in your BIOS so I don't think that is an option.

    I did notice that LBA-48 support was included in BIOS version A03 (which you have) so I think the larger HD should be supported without problems.
     
  29. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    All green...which mean everything is fine.

    Sorry didn't see that till now.
     
  30. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    Fixed it. :cool

    Even though the bios claimed it was seeing the cd it kept defaulting to the hard drive.

    Thank you all for you help. I could not have solved this with your insight.
     
  31. artistwantab

    artistwantab Private First Class

    That was exactly the problem.

    So even though the bios somehow saw the drive it would not allow me to boot from it.

    If you could explain where you actually saw that in the bios it may help me in the future. So the original CD drive didn't work so I went to an external cd drive and when I saw it in the bios I moved on.
     
  32. foogoo

    foogoo Major "foogoo" Geek

    Ok, just to check, this post has gotten long, the CD is set to boot first?
    The last thing is to burn the disk on a different system or a different brand of cd, could be that drive just will not read it. Seen it happen.
     

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