Serious HD problem or PC problem

Ok this is probably going to be a pretty long thread but I'm going to be as explanitory as possible so I dont end up with answers relating to everything I have already tried.First off I have a 2001 compaq presario 4100CA with about 300 mb of ram.I've tried numerous times to install an operating system on it and it just wont let me do it. I've tried installing win 2000 and xp pro but neither one will install.I even took the stupid HD out and installed xp with a different pc, The install worked but will not work on the compaq.So I wipe the drive clean with wipe drive and try again and still it stops half way through the install.. Also I used wipe drive to do a bad sector check on the HD and it says that the c drive is disabled..I am an actual PC tech from a business school and my own personal experience from trial and failure but I have never come across this problem before.. I also looked at the Mother board and noticed the jumper was set to clear cmos ram and I switched it to normal operation but the screen will not work. So I switch it back the screen works but the HD just keeps rebooting and wont run the operating system..Let me think now what else have I done short of take a hammer to it ..I hope this is enough info if you need more just email me at
spidey3@ntl.sympatico.ca I would really appreciate any help I can get..Thanx

 

That system comes installed with Win ME.
Ref.: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...9311&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=92636&lang=en

It is apparently upgradable to XP.
Ref.: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7103&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=92636&lang=en

XP drivers etc can be found here;
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=92636&lang=en

Note the ROMPaq, and Software Solutions for Cleanup & Update software near the bottom of the above page.

I would persue these avenues first (software packages) to see if it clears up the problem.

 

Dan Penny I cannot use any of those programs until I get an operating system on the PC. Which brings me back to square one.If you have any other Ideas let me know. Thanx

 

Sorry, I also meant to say to use the Restore Disk(s) (if you have them) to reinstall Comcrap's W2K, then do the ROMPaq's/upgrade prep. etc, then the actual XP upgrade. (I guess I got carried away with the searching process.) Based on this software being listed for that machine, it's most likely required for an upgrade.

If you don't have the restore disk(s), then that's a new ball game. The system was designed for/shipped with ~Compaq's~ W2K (Proprietary). The hardware (firmware etc) probably won't allow an XP upgrade without those changes.

"Also I used wipe drive to do a bad sector check on the HD and it says that the c drive is disabled"

Do you have a link for this programsoftware/tool or further information on it? Is this it?

If so, I'd imagine that it would provide the "tools" to enable the disk again. (I didn't read the entire product info.)

This may be the entire problem - disabled disk. Or there could be a piece of hardware that is dying/unstable preventing an O/S load. I've seen HP machines fail to POST because of a failed NIC card. Which brings up a point - have you tried removing all other hardware other than CPU, memory, hard disk (and video card if not onboard video) to load the O/S?

The hard disk can be tested with Hard Disk Analysis Tools - Major manufacturers to provide an indication of the disks overall health.

 

Ya stupid me I used wipe drive and lost all the recovery cd's too..I cant even get 98 or 2000 to install on the stupid thing. It goes as far as saying starting windows and jams up..I've researched till my eyes ache and still have no idea what to make of this problem.Like I mentioned in my 1st thread the MOBo jumper is set to clear cmos Ram which is jumper 2&3 when I would think normal operation would be the correct setting but my monitor wont work on that setting.As I was just saying to my wife as I write this 2 heads are better than 1 and possibly together we will find the solution to this difficult issue.In the mean time I'll keep looking for a window of oppourtunity until then lets see what our techy brains can resolve..have a good one and make sure it's a cold one ..later

 

From your post(s) it appears you have a 98 install CD. As a "one more try" effort, and if there's a floppy drive in this troubled machine, follow my steps outlined in this thread; (Post # 12)

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=129864
(There's another link near the bottom of this post which will take you to two installation methods, CDROM and Hard Disk. This linked post also provides means to test the hardware aspects of the CDROM integrity in RAW DOS)

or Post # 9 from here;
http://computing.net/windows95/wwwboard/forum/168276.html

Once you get 98 installed, there will probably be better chances towards the end goal. Plus some hardware will be tested along the way. Fdisk will do hard disk checking while setting up partitions after the old partitions have been deleted. CDROM test as stated above, etc.

If you have the time and inclination, so do I.

 

Two questions:
Are the cd's read only? If so, how can they be wiped?
Is the c-drive enabled in the bios?

abri

 

To answer your questions Abri yes the hard drive is detected in the Bios and 2nd the recovery cds were in not actually cds I never thought to burn them before I erased the hard drive.

 

If you do manage to get 98 installed on this machine, do the following;

Download, then install, and run Everest Home Edition on this machine. (Clean FreeWare) Once it's finished loading and running, click on Report, Report Wizard in the Menu Bar. Save the Hardware related pages (the default). Save it as an HTML file (the default) in a location of your choice. (It will default the location to C:\Program Files\Lavalys\EVEREST Home Edition\Reports.) Add this report(.HTM) document to a .zip (compressed) file.

Please Attach that .zip document to your next posting. (When posting, click on Advanced, and just below the posting box you'll see "Additional Options", and within that, "Attach Files". Click on "Manage Attachments" and follow the prompts. Browse to the file location on your system and choose UPLOAD.)

The (detailed) hardware information would help a lot.

 

Success Mr.Penny I have so far managed to get win 95 on the PC now hopefully I can get xp on it next.. Thanx for your help I will keep you updated.

 

Great. Glad to hear it and glad to help.

Did you fdisk (then format) the hard disk? If so, that's probably what cleared up the "disabled" issue.

Now is the time for Everest. It'll give you all the hardware information you need to obtain hard to find drivers which you may require later.

And/or..... (as you mentioned) since the hard disk is now "stable", if you have a (full/legal) XP CD, and the machine has "Boot from CDROM" capabilities, install XP clean. (Or you can run it as an upgrade from within Windows, however this will mean your install will be FAT32 as opposed to NTFS.)

Then if devices require drivers, run Everest.