Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

New PC plus my inadequate knowledge on installation

Jan 7, 2005 10:33AM PST

As a present for my husband and a replacement for his old e-machine, I bought a new silver tower & monitor from EBay plus separately a mouse, keyboard and speakers. I also bought a new Windows XP Home version disc. Stupidly I thought that by just running this disc on the PC it would install and the computer would be ready to go. Unfortunately when I ran the XP, the message was that the partition was not the right size, and then I realised that it had not been partitioned. However the message "error loading operating system" remains on screen even after rebooting and will not let me in.
What do I do now please, as the present has backfired on me due to lack of knowledge? The more we know the more we realise how little we know!

AMD Athlon
2.4Ghz
80gb HD
256 RAM
AMD Sempron proc.
plus lots of other goodies and an upgraded graphics card from the spec. for gaming

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Try This
Jan 7, 2005 10:39AM PST

Reboot the computer from the installation disc. You may need to configure this in the computer's BIOS or by holding the F8 key on reboot. From there, you should be able to repartition your hard drive(s) or repair the installation.

- Collapse -
Try this
Jan 7, 2005 5:18PM PST

Thanks Exaltare, but I don't believe they sent an installation disc, there is a motherboard installation disc and a software driver disc only. I purchased the brand new, sealed XP Home one from another source.When I first switched on the PC it flashed thro' the BIOS and went straight on to reading something about media with growing "R" numbers appearing on the screen and seemed to not be able to move on. Now I am stuck with the error message that I mentioned and not able to do anything. Perhaps I should have said at the beginning that I am a 66year old female silver surfer who has learned the little I do know by reading and researching on my own.

- Collapse -
Look here maybe...
Jan 7, 2005 10:48AM PST

While you reszie the partition(s) with a 80gb HD, I suggest 20gb for C, then the remaining 60gb for D, or can use the whole 80gb for C. Its up to you, here's a helpful website on this topic:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=%2
Fdirectory%2Fworldwide%2Fen-gb%2Fpartitioning.asp

Make sure under the bios area, that you can boot-up from the XP CD, select CD as your first boot-up device and save it before exiting bios area. Accept, reformatting HD and/or select the partition you want the OS to reside, usually first one if all you ever use is XP. Hope this helps, otherwise, I'm certain other posters will offer suggestions. If you want further details on partitions, etc. try the HD makers support website for your OS(XP), plus check for easier install method using thier "install s/w" if none came with your system, at least read what to expect.

good luck Happy -----Willy

- Collapse -
New PC plus my inadequate knowledge
Jan 7, 2005 6:55PM PST

Hi there guys..thanks for your help...it was set to reboot on a floppy. A fresh day and with your help, I am now in the later part of the XP installation. My fingers are crossed, it seems OK.
May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who is generous enough to take part in these forums. They have
been my first port of call when I have had problems with both my own PC, my husband's PC and Broadband/AOL.
I have also learned from the forums and picked up tips all the way. Again thanks to all.