Computer Built: Trouble begins

vileguy · Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 01:50:03 Post Subject: Computer Built: Trouble begins

Alright! I built my first computer at last w00! Got it all set up in about 6-10 hours almost exclusively by myself (much manual reading and a lil guidance by my dad at the end). The long anticapated boot. I plug everything in and it starts up, I make sure all's good in the BIOS and then boot it off my Windows XP cd. Running fast (compared to my old comp, much faster CD Rom Drive I think) and when I tell it I want to install, it won't read the CD. I check the Windows XP manual for troubleshooting and as suggested I (of course) clean the CD, then move on to switching in my old CD Rom Drive and even my old Hard Drive. It still won't read the cd =(

1 thing that's somewhat related...my last comp was an HP and came with HP's version of XP and a product key...which I couldn't find until I'd already bought and installed a fresh copy of XP. I messed up the HD format the first time so I actually installed XP (and activated/registered it) twice. Does the installer possibly damage the cd on purpose? Or do I need to somehow get drivers for my CD Rom Drive? I hope I don't have to buy another copy of XP Bang Head

Really excited to get this new comp goin...thanks again to everyone who helped me figure out what I needed.

Blue|Fusion · Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:28:53 Post Subject:

It really depends on the type of CD-Rom used. If it's a SATA CD-ROM than it may be tricky. Find out what chipset or controller you are using for your CD-ROM (the southrbridge IDE controller? The SATA controller? A secondary onboard controller? Once you find out which one it is, do a litle research (Google) and see if others have the same problems. You may need to load drivers on the CD or witht he "F6" method of loading the driver from floppy. If that's the case and you don't havea floppy, use www.nliteos.com to make a custom XP CD with the drivers you need.

If all else fails, download a Linux LiveCD, slap it in and see if that works. It's a great way to test your hardware.

Spire · Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:04:38 Post Subject:

If I remember from your parts thread, you are using an NEC 3550A (or close) DVD burner correct?

If so, then you won't need any drivers, you won't need a new XP copy , and everything should work normal.

Make sure the NEC is seen in BIOS, make sure CD-ROM is set as the first boot device in BIOS.

If you can't see the NEC drive in BIOS, then maybe try a different IDE cable or the other IDE port.

Try that and get back to us if that doesn't fix the issue.

LaTech · Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:10:31 Post Subject:

Also, if it's IDE and you have it on the same controller as your HDD, make sure your master slave jumpers are set correctly...nothing worse than having everything hooked up, but nothing visible due to jumpers.

If you have 2 cd roms, make sure the disk is in the right CD rom also...I've made that mistake before as well.

edvallie · Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:14:33 Post Subject:

acruxksa · Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:49:03 Post Subject:

The installer won't intentionally damage the CD. (it's not even possible)

What do you mean when you say "when I tell it I want to install" Does it get to the "press any key to boot from cd" option?, Does it get beyond that and into the windows setup/install menus?

If you actually get to where you can choose what disk/partition to install to then your cdrom/dvd drive is likely working correctly and the disk is damaged or you need to load drivers for your hard drives. Usually if it's a driver issue it will say something to the effect that there are no drives present (something like that)

vileguy · Posted: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:27:04 Post Subject:

This is my posting...on my new working machine ^^

After a quick talk with Microsoft tech support (probably the first successful tech support encounter I've ever had) and following their advice almost exactly, I got my hard drive formatted and windows installed. The problem: I have the windows xp home edition UPDATE cd. It didn't see windows on the hard drive and said I needed to insert a full version disk; since I thought I was using a full version disk I thought there was a hardware issue or the cd was damaged. Borrowed my dad's XP Pro full version and got it going. Downloading and installing drivers atm. Considered updating my NEC drive's firmware but I don't wanna flash it, no idea what the risks are and I think it should be fine as is. Just getting my windows updated and drivers set before I make a restore point and then I can resume my normal computer life.

Might have a problem still though. My old PC came with XP and when I formatted it I didn't know where the cd-key was so I bought a new copy of XP (the one I was using today). Now I have both keys but I think the one my old comp came with is for HP machine only or something and I can't run my old machine so I can't change the product key activated for it. Might have to hassel with Microsoft again to get them to unactivate my key or something (if they even will). I don't really want to buy a third copy of XP when I only have 1 PC to run it on.

This forum has been a great help and I'll prob check by now and then even though I (hopefully) will have no problems to beg for help about ^^ You guys are great.