Error loading operating system

I had a serious problem on Windows Vista (upgraded from XP Home), after installing a piece of software - the system would blue screen before getting to the welcome screen, and it would continually do this even in safe mode - without system restore points enabled (if they would have even worked in this case), there was no way of starting the OS. So, I was forced to dig out my XP CD and tried to format the C: drive and reinstall Windows XP. Upon formatting and copying files it says it's going to restart in 15 seconds, after doing that it just comes up with the message saying: Error loading operating system.

After looking round the Internet for ages, I've found stuff about a similar problem and think it's something to do with the BIOS conflicting with the XP Service pack 1 CD or something.

I'm a complete novice with BIOS and making changes to the system setup, but is there any advice you can give me in plain English about how I might get past this problem so I can at least try to reinstall Windows XP?

I have two SATA drives connected - a 300GB for Windows, and a 1.5TB drive just for storage. My motherboard is Asus P5KPL-AM. It says the Bios is version 0411.

Please help!

Thanks for reading.

 

When you did the Vista install, are you loading any mass storage drivers?

 

Oh dear Ronald you are in a pickle.

What was the reason for using the XP disk rather than the Vista DVD for recovery?

 

Because the Vista disc I have is only an upgrade disc and not the full version. I wanted to get the full version of XP on my computer so I could upgrade to vista while running XP.

I have actually managed to fix the problem. I had just bought a new laptop which came with a Windows Vista OS disc. The disc said to only use on a Dell PC (the laptop's make) but I had no other choice as my computer was pretty much useless without an OS. I wasn't sure if the install would go through with it being made for a different computer and with a product key already registered on the laptop. Thankfully it installed fine. Before activating Wndows I then tried to update this Vista with my Vista upgrade (something else I wasn't sure would work as I thought it might have to be an activated Windows version you need to upgrade from).

So after so many failed attempts to get my computer back working, I finally fixed it myself. Lucky I saw the OS disc while flicking through my laptop's software package or I would have had to drop my PC off at the local shop for repairs, which would have cost time and money.

Hope this solution can help other people Googling for similar problems in the future.

I have never encountered a problem this severe in my 6 years of using Windows computers. Word of advice (and something I will always do now) - always check Vista compatibility before installing your old software. I had no idea installing an old version of something as crappy as Alcohol could be so damaging to my system.

 

Upgrade versions actually contain a full version, and all repairs work as normal. You even get an option to do a clean install rather than an upgrade, so long as the disk is satisfied you already have a valid windows on the pc.

Anyway well done for finding your own fix and thanks for the feedback.