Billy Ray

1st: Did this system work with XP and all these components before? How
much RAM are you running? Generally speaking you need AT LEAST twice what
Microsoft claims is the minimum

There are a few things I would try (see links below for additional info)
Open the PC case and reaffirm the jumpers are reset to Master (some drives
require removal of pins). Do not use Cable-Select.

Physically remove and replace ALL cards, unplug and reconnect all power and
data cables (I know this sounds silly but it had done the trick before more
than once)

Do NOT hook up printer/scanner/etc cables. You can worry about them later

Make sure your modem and/or Ethernet card are properly installed.

Plug in and power up your PC. Access your BIOS.
Reset your BIOS to the default settings (this is usually a choice) and set
your hard and floppy drives to AUTO Select. Reset your Boot Sequence to CD
first. Shut off the machine (rebooting is usually sufficient but sometimes
windows does not clear itself)

Start the PC and Boot to your Win XP Pro Installation Disk. Do NOT use a
boot disk you made some time in the past or that someone gave you.

If your computer will not boot to the XP Pro Disk be sure to let us know and
we can explore other options. We are assuming at this point that all
components are in working order and there is a 'software" problem

During the installation I generally remove all existing partitions You may
create just the primary partition and load all you programs and data
there.

What I prefer is to create the boot hard drive as 2 partitions. The boot
partition is relatively small and ONLY contains the computer programs and
the large partition contains all the DATA files. In event of a
virus/worm/etc. your DATA will be protected. For example on my 80GB drive
my C: partition is 15GB and the D: partition is the rest. This is more
complex and is NOT required. It can always be done later, I use "Partition
Magic" in that case

Reformat your drive in NTFS format (there may well be a debate on the
benefits/drawbacks on this newsgroup but we will ignore that for now)

Install XP Pro according to the program directions. On your computer it may
well take a couple hours. I then do the Microsoft upgrades. This should be
no problem if you own your copy of XP Pro. Service Pack 2 is a large
upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm

Jeff Strickland

"Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...
> 1st: Did this system work with XP and all these components before? How
> much RAM are you running? Generally speaking you need AT LEAST twice
> what
> Microsoft claims is the minimum
>

Yes, it worked until I put the HD in another machine as a slave and
reformatted it. It was ssslllooowww because the processor was taxed to 100%.
I have 384Mb DDR Ram.



> There are a few things I would try (see links below for additional info)
> Open the PC case and reaffirm the jumpers are reset to Master (some drives
> require removal of pins). Do not use Cable-Select.
>

The jumper is set as original.


> Physically remove and replace ALL cards, unplug and reconnect all power
> and
> data cables (I know this sounds silly but it had done the trick before
> more
> than once)
>
> Do NOT hook up printer/scanner/etc cables. You can worry about them later
>

Nothing outside the machine is connected, except the mouse, keyboard, and
monitor.



> Make sure your modem and/or Ethernet card are properly installed.
>
> Plug in and power up your PC. Access your BIOS.
> Reset your BIOS to the default settings (this is usually a choice) and set
> your hard and floppy drives to AUTO Select. Reset your Boot Sequence to
> CD
> first. Shut off the machine (rebooting is usually sufficient but
> sometimes
> windows does not clear itself)
>

I did these things. I turn the machine completely off, as opposed to using
the Reset Button.



> Start the PC and Boot to your Win XP Pro Installation Disk. Do NOT use a
> boot disk you made some time in the past or that someone gave you.
>

My Win XP CD isn't a boot disk, apparently. I thought it was. One of the
other posters helped me get to the point where I can boot from a floopy, but
there aren't enough instructions on the floppy to find the other drives. I
get an Invalid Drive Specification message. I am booting to the CD, then the
Floppy, then the HD.


> If your computer will not boot to the XP Pro Disk be sure to let us know
> and
> we can explore other options. We are assuming at this point that all
> components are in working order and there is a 'software" problem
>

I was making the same assumption. I told the BIOS to rebuild the table that
it was checking, now I'm over the Verifying DMI Pool Data message that I
first posted about.


> During the installation I generally remove all existing partitions You may
> create just the primary partition and load all you programs and data
> there.
>
> What I prefer is to create the boot hard drive as 2 partitions. The boot
> partition is relatively small and ONLY contains the computer programs and
> the large partition contains all the DATA files. In event of a
> virus/worm/etc. your DATA will be protected. For example on my 80GB drive
> my C: partition is 15GB and the D: partition is the rest. This is more
> complex and is NOT required. It can always be done later, I use
> "Partition
> Magic" in that case
>

Are you saying that if a virus comes to visit, it'll stick to Drive C, and
you can reload the OS and save your data?



> Reformat your drive in NTFS format (there may well be a debate on the
> benefits/drawbacks on this newsgroup but we will ignore that for now)
>

I'm using NTFS.


> Install XP Pro according to the program directions. On your computer it
> may
> well take a couple hours. I then do the Microsoft upgrades. This should
> be
> no problem if you own your copy of XP Pro. Service Pack 2 is a large
> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>

Jeff Strickland

"Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...
> 1st: Did this system work with XP and all these components before? How
> much RAM are you running? Generally speaking you need AT LEAST twice
> what
> Microsoft claims is the minimum
>

Yes, it worked until I put the HD in another machine as a slave and
reformatted it. It was ssslllooowww because the processor was taxed to 100%.
I have 384Mb DDR Ram.



> There are a few things I would try (see links below for additional info)
> Open the PC case and reaffirm the jumpers are reset to Master (some drives
> require removal of pins). Do not use Cable-Select.
>

The jumper is set as original.


> Physically remove and replace ALL cards, unplug and reconnect all power
> and
> data cables (I know this sounds silly but it had done the trick before
> more
> than once)
>
> Do NOT hook up printer/scanner/etc cables. You can worry about them later
>

Nothing outside the machine is connected, except the mouse, keyboard, and
monitor.



> Make sure your modem and/or Ethernet card are properly installed.
>
> Plug in and power up your PC. Access your BIOS.
> Reset your BIOS to the default settings (this is usually a choice) and set
> your hard and floppy drives to AUTO Select. Reset your Boot Sequence to
> CD
> first. Shut off the machine (rebooting is usually sufficient but
> sometimes
> windows does not clear itself)
>

I did these things. I turn the machine completely off, as opposed to using
the Reset Button.



> Start the PC and Boot to your Win XP Pro Installation Disk. Do NOT use a
> boot disk you made some time in the past or that someone gave you.
>

My Win XP CD isn't a boot disk, apparently. I thought it was. One of the
other posters helped me get to the point where I can boot from a floopy, but
there aren't enough instructions on the floppy to find the other drives. I
get an Invalid Drive Specification message. I am booting to the CD, then the
Floppy, then the HD.


> If your computer will not boot to the XP Pro Disk be sure to let us know
> and
> we can explore other options. We are assuming at this point that all
> components are in working order and there is a 'software" problem
>

I was making the same assumption. I told the BIOS to rebuild the table that
it was checking, now I'm over the Verifying DMI Pool Data message that I
first posted about.


> During the installation I generally remove all existing partitions You may
> create just the primary partition and load all you programs and data
> there.
>
> What I prefer is to create the boot hard drive as 2 partitions. The boot
> partition is relatively small and ONLY contains the computer programs and
> the large partition contains all the DATA files. In event of a
> virus/worm/etc. your DATA will be protected. For example on my 80GB drive
> my C: partition is 15GB and the D: partition is the rest. This is more
> complex and is NOT required. It can always be done later, I use
> "Partition
> Magic" in that case
>

Are you saying that if a virus comes to visit, it'll stick to Drive C, and
you can reload the OS and save your data?



> Reformat your drive in NTFS format (there may well be a debate on the
> benefits/drawbacks on this newsgroup but we will ignore that for now)
>

I'm using NTFS.


> Install XP Pro according to the program directions. On your computer it
> may
> well take a couple hours. I then do the Microsoft upgrades. This should
> be
> no problem if you own your copy of XP Pro. Service Pack 2 is a large
> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>

Jeff Strickland

"Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...
> 1st: Did this system work with XP and all these components before? How
> much RAM are you running? Generally speaking you need AT LEAST twice
> what
> Microsoft claims is the minimum
>

Yes, it worked until I put the HD in another machine as a slave and
reformatted it. It was ssslllooowww because the processor was taxed to 100%.
I have 384Mb DDR Ram.



> There are a few things I would try (see links below for additional info)
> Open the PC case and reaffirm the jumpers are reset to Master (some drives
> require removal of pins). Do not use Cable-Select.
>

The jumper is set as original.


> Physically remove and replace ALL cards, unplug and reconnect all power
> and
> data cables (I know this sounds silly but it had done the trick before
> more
> than once)
>
> Do NOT hook up printer/scanner/etc cables. You can worry about them later
>

Nothing outside the machine is connected, except the mouse, keyboard, and
monitor.



> Make sure your modem and/or Ethernet card are properly installed.
>
> Plug in and power up your PC. Access your BIOS.
> Reset your BIOS to the default settings (this is usually a choice) and set
> your hard and floppy drives to AUTO Select. Reset your Boot Sequence to
> CD
> first. Shut off the machine (rebooting is usually sufficient but
> sometimes
> windows does not clear itself)
>

I did these things. I turn the machine completely off, as opposed to using
the Reset Button.



> Start the PC and Boot to your Win XP Pro Installation Disk. Do NOT use a
> boot disk you made some time in the past or that someone gave you.
>

My Win XP CD isn't a boot disk, apparently. I thought it was. One of the
other posters helped me get to the point where I can boot from a floopy, but
there aren't enough instructions on the floppy to find the other drives. I
get an Invalid Drive Specification message. I am booting to the CD, then the
Floppy, then the HD.


> If your computer will not boot to the XP Pro Disk be sure to let us know
> and
> we can explore other options. We are assuming at this point that all
> components are in working order and there is a 'software" problem
>

I was making the same assumption. I told the BIOS to rebuild the table that
it was checking, now I'm over the Verifying DMI Pool Data message that I
first posted about.


> During the installation I generally remove all existing partitions You may
> create just the primary partition and load all you programs and data
> there.
>
> What I prefer is to create the boot hard drive as 2 partitions. The boot
> partition is relatively small and ONLY contains the computer programs and
> the large partition contains all the DATA files. In event of a
> virus/worm/etc. your DATA will be protected. For example on my 80GB drive
> my C: partition is 15GB and the D: partition is the rest. This is more
> complex and is NOT required. It can always be done later, I use
> "Partition
> Magic" in that case
>

Are you saying that if a virus comes to visit, it'll stick to Drive C, and
you can reload the OS and save your data?



> Reformat your drive in NTFS format (there may well be a debate on the
> benefits/drawbacks on this newsgroup but we will ignore that for now)
>

I'm using NTFS.


> Install XP Pro according to the program directions. On your computer it
> may
> well take a couple hours. I then do the Microsoft upgrades. This should
> be
> no problem if you own your copy of XP Pro. Service Pack 2 is a large
> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>

Frank_v7.0

Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
> "Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
> news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...

Service Pack 2 is a large
>> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>>
>

Oh no! Not Service Pack 2! Everything, but that! I actually went back to
2000 Pro because of issues with XP.
--
FRH

Frank_v7.0

Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
> "Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
> news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...

Service Pack 2 is a large
>> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>>
>

Oh no! Not Service Pack 2! Everything, but that! I actually went back to
2000 Pro because of issues with XP.
--
FRH

Frank_v7.0

Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
> "Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
> news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...

Service Pack 2 is a large
>> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>>
>

Oh no! Not Service Pack 2! Everything, but that! I actually went back to
2000 Pro because of issues with XP.
--
FRH

Billy Ray

The only problems I had with Service Pack 2 was with programs that weren't
"XP Compatible". Generally those just required some tinkering to get them
running or perhaps a new driver from the manufacturer.

I did have to get rid of my Canon Laser printer. When I contacted Canon
they told me the no longer supported printers that old. I did not ask when
it went into service as I bought it used and then used it another 10 years.


"Frank_v7.0" <none@no.net> wrote in message
news:9itkf.257$OU3.169@news01.roc.ny...
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>>
>> "Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
>> news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...
>
> Service Pack 2 is a large
>>> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
>>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>>>
>>
>
> Oh no! Not Service Pack 2! Everything, but that! I actually went back to
> 2000 Pro because of issues with XP.
> --
> FRH

Billy Ray

The only problems I had with Service Pack 2 was with programs that weren't
"XP Compatible". Generally those just required some tinkering to get them
running or perhaps a new driver from the manufacturer.

I did have to get rid of my Canon Laser printer. When I contacted Canon
they told me the no longer supported printers that old. I did not ask when
it went into service as I bought it used and then used it another 10 years.


"Frank_v7.0" <none@no.net> wrote in message
news:9itkf.257$OU3.169@news01.roc.ny...
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>>
>> "Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
>> news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...
>
> Service Pack 2 is a large
>>> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
>>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>>>
>>
>
> Oh no! Not Service Pack 2! Everything, but that! I actually went back to
> 2000 Pro because of issues with XP.
> --
> FRH

Billy Ray

The only problems I had with Service Pack 2 was with programs that weren't
"XP Compatible". Generally those just required some tinkering to get them
running or perhaps a new driver from the manufacturer.

I did have to get rid of my Canon Laser printer. When I contacted Canon
they told me the no longer supported printers that old. I did not ask when
it went into service as I bought it used and then used it another 10 years.


"Frank_v7.0" <none@no.net> wrote in message
news:9itkf.257$OU3.169@news01.roc.ny...
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>>
>> "Billy Ray" <Billy_Ray@SPAMfuse.net> wrote in message
>> news:89d3d$439239f4$4831b233$21972@FUSE.NET...
>
> Service Pack 2 is a large
>>> upgrade and may take several hours on your PC via broadband.
>>> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
>>>
>>
>
> Oh no! Not Service Pack 2! Everything, but that! I actually went back to
> 2000 Pro because of issues with XP.
> --
> FRH