Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : Installing Windows Problem

[markjut]

Hey all

I recently decided that it was time that I reformatted my laptop. I put the OS disk in and rebooted. It started the installation. I re-paritioned the hard drive which deleted every thing on it. There was then an error in the installation. So I then rebooted it and tried again. Now it seems it doesn't have the driver for the CD drive as it won't boot up off the CD anymore, even though that is selected as the first boot device.

Is there anyway I can get an operating system on the laptop short of taking the hard drive out and putting it in another computer?

[RofyHost]

Well with laptops this could be a little hard to do, check the OS boot CD it might be damaged, try another one and see what it gives

[Zzyzxx]

Model of the laptop?

[Patrick]

What is the error message that you are getting, and is this Windows XP?

[Disgruntled]

I think that you may need to insert the CD in the CD drive and also a boot diskette in the floppy drive. Boot to the diskette and try the instructions at
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307848

[Vortex-Steve]

What partitions did you remove? It's possible one was a recovery partition where the actual data is stored for the whole recovery and the CD just gets things started.

[markjut]

I removed all partitions - and then made a new partition that was the size of the hard drive. Then I tried to install windows, not sure what happened and it said windows could not be installed - now it won't boot of the CD Drive at all - i imagine because I deleted the driver for it.

Its a Compaq Presario 2500 series

[markjut]

Can anybody help me?

[Mike V]

I agree with rofyhost it sounds like a damaged disc. The ability for a computer to boot off CDROM doesn't come from a driver. The BIOS of the machine has to support a CDROM as a bootable device, and the CD has to be created as a bootable disc too. Since it worked once and then stopped working, it sounds like you have a bad CD or the drive went out. Try to get a different CD from a friend and see what happens.

The other possibility is what Vortex-Steve said, meaning your machine might have been booting off the hard drive's recovery partition and immediately acccessing the CD. Some vendors let you restore this partition (Dell for example), but I don't know how Compaq laptops work for that.

In my own experience those are the two most likely causes.

[markjut]

Ok thanks - as this was an aftermarket CD drive, would the driver still be on the bios?

[trau]

Sounds like you have a recovery-cd and not a full windows cd. How many partitions were on the drive before you deleted them? I agree with what others have said, sounds like you deleted the "hidden" recovery partition. Now the recovery-cd can't find it and therefore cannot continue the boot process.
If you don't have a full windows cd to use, you can contact Compaq. They offer a full recovery CD set for those that have had their disks die.

[markjut]

Ok - i'll give that a try - thanks

[markjut]

Still doesn't appear to work

[Vortex-Steve]

What actually happens when you put the CD in? Does it try and boot to it at all? Does it try but give an error?

[trau]

Originally Posted by markjut

Ok thanks - as this was an aftermarket CD drive, would the driver still be on the bios?

Is it an external CD drive?