New Laptop problems..

Help!! Just got a referb Gateway 600YGR that was to come with original systems software. Well, it came, I turned it on, it asked for disc 1 of the XP pro pack. The problem is that it came with win 2000 pro saftware. It also has the product code for win 2000 pro on the bottom of the computer. Long story short. I do not have the xp pro cd, so I got a copy of xp pro from a friend, when I boot it from that cd, it goes to an error window stating that it does not see a valid number. this tells me that some of xp pro has been installed and need that cd that comes with the system to complete the install. What can I do with what I got, or do I have to wait untill Tuesday to get ahold of the Co. that I bought it from?? Any help would be greatly appreciated..........Rob

 

Welcome to MG. Don't stuff around any further. Get back to Gateway and explain your problem. Send them an email so you get a written reply. Bazza

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Is there a way to just format the hard drive and just reinstall win 2000 pro. Keep in mind that I cant get to windows, it has been formated and when I got it, it was not with the right disc, it has the 2000 pro disk but xp pro had been started. Being that I'm not that up tp speed on computers, I'm not sure what to do..

 

Before I offer any advice, I need to know if you have a floppy drive in the computer.

 

If no floppy just set the BIOS to boot from the CD, restart, boots from CD, reformat, (for win2k/xp format NTFS), follow installation procedure.

Voila

 

You should be able to boot the computer with the Window2000 CD & do the install from there, assuming your computer is capable of booting from the CD drive. Most are, check in the BIOS to see if there's an option to boot from CD. If it doesn't seem to want to give you the option to do that, then get a Win98/ME floppy boot disk, boot from it & then FDISK & Format the hard drive. It'll then be ready for the Windows2000 installation. You can get the boot disk here:

www.bootdisk.com

If you type FDISK and FORMAT in Google, you'll get plenty of sites with lots of information on what these commands are & step-by-step instructions on how to use them. Good luck,

 

If you need a walkthrough just post back





Sorry Wavetar, didn't see you there, sneaky

 

Ok, now the problem is that I did as stated, use floppy w/win 98 and now it says
Remove disks or other media.
Press any key to restart

 

Is it that I have no drivers or what.. Sorry that I'm not to up to speed on this kinda crap...

 

Do you have the Win2K CD, is it bootable? If so, boot off that, you will get to screen that asks if you want to format. Follow previous post.

 

Sorry, it first said Non-system disk or disk error
Replace and strike any key when ready

 

Yes I do Have that disk, but it will not boot off of that disk, it keeps going to the win xp pro screen, then it asks for a disk that I do not have..

 

Can you get into BIOS when you turn the machine on?

 

Do I need to just through it in the trash!!!

 

If that means, hit F2 when it starts to boot, yes. If not, I'm not sure what you mean.

 

Have you tired booting a different computer with it, to make sure it's actually a good boot disk? Is it one you downloaded from bootdisk.com? If so, did you just copy the download onto a floppy, or did you actually run the installation program (which automatically extracts & writes the information to the floppy).

 

OK, you need to make sure that your CD is set to boot before IDE0, ( your HD, hard disk), you can find this option by going through the screens.


If you have a bootable copy of Win2K you put it in the CD drive, make sure that you do not have a floppy in the A; drive and restart.

Your machine will boot off the CD. Follow the procedure, it will ask if you want to format your HD, choose yes and make the format NTFS, follow the procedure, it will install Win2K.

You'll then have a fair few updates to do, but that's Windows

 

No I have not, I can try that, it will take a minute or two..

 

The disk I have says- Gateway Operating System W2K Use this cd to reinstall your operating system.

 

OK, we've got two different approaches going on here so I'll step aside, don't want to confuse the issue.


Procedure is the same.

 

Boot off that then, it'll put the machine back to default settings at least, you'll have a bit of updating to do after that but it'll get you up and running

 

It also says To begin reinstallation:
1. insert this cd into cd/dvd drive
2. restart the computer.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions

I have tried all of this at least 20 times with no luck. It keeps going to the Xp pro window. Very frustating

 

The cd that I have says win 2000 pro around the center of it, where the hole is

 

well it seems to be doing something this time. will it hurt, since it has xp pro or some type of something on it?

 

OK, to go back to an earlier post. Make yourself a Win98SE bootdisk.


Put floppy in drive, (after ensuring a: is first boot device in BIOS).

Restart

At A:> prompt type the following

A:FDISK/MBR press enter




you should then be able to follow setup procedure outlined earler

 

Ok great, it is asking me if I want to set up win 2000 or reapir or to quit what should I do

 

Setup, and do a format as NTFS, follow it all through, you'll have a lot of updating to do but you're on the way

 

Ok, it asks me if I want to install win 2000 on a partition that contains another operating system. To cont setup using partition, press C.
To select a diff partition, press ESC.

 

It's press C all the way, when you select you should be getting to the bit where you can format

 

I thank you very much for walking me through this mess. It may not seem like much to you, but believe me. I'm not the brightest bulb when it comes to computers...

 

It is now formating and at 15%. I'm sure that this may take some time. Is there much more to know after this is done, or is it pretty much follow directions from here on out?

 

We live and learn, welcome to Major Geeks

 

If I could have found this place a long time ago, I would have saved myself as well as friends, ALOT of trouble..

 

Just follow it through, install a firewall, loads here, sygate personal is good, go to Windows update, Service pack 4 should be your first then all the others, even on broadband it'll take a while.

Still, you'll be up and running and now you know how to setup a machine, Win2k, XP Pro, Linux whatever, same procedure, darn, you're a Geek

 

Thanks again.............Rob

 

My pleasure............Jim

 

Jim, everything seems to be going just great now. I have one more question. Is windows 2000 Pro a good operating system, or is Xp pro that much better. I will be using this for work as well as at home, download pictures, write documents, surf the web etc. Anything on that?

 

Now you know how to get a machine up and running and before you spend a lot of time updating Win2K; my advice would to be to get XP Pro and follow the same procedure you've just done. That would make XP Pro a clean install.


I like Win2K, among other OS's, but then again I run 5 different OS's 'cos I seem to end up sorting out a lot of peeps problems.

For you, XP Pro is a very good choice, esp on a laptop, when you fancy trying Linux give us a shout

 

I appreciate that advice. I'm sure you will be hearing from me in the near future

 

OK I'm back with a new problem. Got the vender to send me the software for the Xp Pro. I formated and loaded the XP Pro. When I load it, everything goes just fine, right up to the point that it says 2 mins left to lad, then the computer will freezf, and that is it. I restart and it goes just like the firts time, right up to the 2 min thing........ What now.