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Need help installing a HD

W

wordwiz

Over the years, I have set up lots of computers, but I'm stumped now. I removed all the HDs from this one computer and installed a new one. Now, IIRC, when the computer boots I have few options, but I don't have a blank screen from which I can go nowhere.

I have a Windows XP disk that I want to use to install an OS but can't get to it. My first impulse is to blame someone I hired to fix the computer a few months ago - thanks to a series of events that should happen once every 500 years but picked last October to occur, I didn't have time to do it myself and he was an advertiser.

Anyway, isn't it normal for a computer that has a virgin HD to at least boot up and offer a choice of what I want to do?

Mike
 
Not nessessarily... sorry for spelling.
You need to get into your BIOS to tell the pc what to look for or to see if the pc can find the new HD on it's own.

Just in case... when the pc first boots, depending on the bios you need to press ESC or DEL to access it. If it's a proprietary pc, check here for a list of hot keys to allow you access. HOT KEY LIST

Once in, there's a section that will let you check the HD. I can't remember what the section's called.
If the pc finds it on its own, save changes & exit.
If not, you'll have to tell it what to look for. The required info should be on the sticker of the HD. Fill in the blanks, save changes & exit. Then re-enter the BIOS to verify it found it.
 
Might be too that your computer is setup to not use the CD/DVD drive as a boot device. Check your booting order in the BIOS.

Mine all boot in this order: floppy, cd, then HDD

Unless it's a really old computer, or incorrectly installed, the drive should be auto-detected FAIK.

Also check that the drive is set to Master if it's a single drive. A lotta drives come set to "cable select". Well, unless it's a SATA drive..

If there are other devices like CD/DVD drives, they should be on the secondary controller, and have the lone HDD on the primary.

Might help: http://www.pcmech.com/article/installing-a-hard-drive-step-by-step/
 
Sort of off topic, but the lack of good computer parts stores around Pittsburgh is pissing me off.

No, I don't want to buy a Dell or a Mac or whatever the f is popular and trendy on TV this month, I want to build my own f'ing pc so somebody sell me the f'ing parts I need.
 
This is Dyces' wife. I build computers and repair them on the side. First and most important questions.....IS IS A BRAND NEW HARD DRIVE??? If so, there will be nothing, and I mean nothing on it. Make sure the back of the hard drive jumper settings are set to master or cable select. If using cable select, make sure you are on the LAST connection on the cable. While bootin up the computer, when you can open the CD Rom, put your windows disk in. Go into BIOS and change the start up settings to that it will read off the CD rom first and not the hard drive, Save and exit out of BIOS. When you roboot the computer, it should read the CD rom. You should see windows start. If not, the hard drive may be bad, or to powerful for your motherboard. Another way to check it is to SLAVE it into your computer and see if you can access it. PM if you need any more help.
 
Skydiver said:
Sort of off topic, but the lack of good computer parts stores around Pittsburgh is pissing me off.

No, I don't want to buy a Dell or a Mac or whatever the f is popular and trendy on TV this month, I want to build my own f'ing pc so somebody sell me the f'ing parts I need.
Click to expand...

Tiger Direct is good on buying parts, and reasonable on prices to.
 
Skydiver said:
Sort of off topic, but the lack of good computer parts stores around Pittsburgh is pissing me off.

No, I don't want to buy a Dell or a Mac or whatever the f is popular and trendy on TV this month, I want to build my own f'ing pc so somebody sell me the f'ing parts I need.
Click to expand...
newegg has good prices, excellent deals, & they don't overcharge shipping.
I've been using them exclusively for 3 years now.
 
OK, after lots of tweaking and such, I can not only get the computer to boot to the CD but also start installing XP. But it seems to hit a snag - XP is set to reboot at a certain point and that is when the puter hangs. I simply cannot figure out why, unless there is something in the Bios. Before I started, I checked to see if the computer was "worthy" of XP and no problems were reported, so I don't have a clue.

Mike
 
Poisonette said:
newegg has good prices, excellent deals, & they don't overcharge shipping.
I've been using them exclusively for 3 years now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Newegg is great but I'd also check Tiger Direct. IMO they're just as good but for some items can have better prices at times. I always check both when I'm ordering any hardware.

wordwiz said:
OK, after lots of tweaking and such, I can not only get the computer to boot to the CD but also start installing XP. But it seems to hit a snag - XP is set to reboot at a certain point and that is when the puter hangs. I simply cannot figure out why, unless there is something in the Bios. Before I started, I checked to see if the computer was "worthy" of XP and no problems were reported, so I don't have a clue.

Mike
Click to expand...
At what point does it hang after rebooting? I'm a total computer geek and the person pretty much everyone I know comes to with problems. I need to know what exactly is going on to help further, but we'll get you through this. Hit me up on AIM at Sw1ngOnTheSp1ral and I'll walk you through everything if you want.
 
wordwiz said:
OK, after lots of tweaking and such, I can not only get the computer to boot to the CD but also start installing XP. But it seems to hit a snag - XP is set to reboot at a certain point and that is when the puter hangs. I simply cannot figure out why, unless there is something in the Bios. Before I started, I checked to see if the computer was "worthy" of XP and no problems were reported, so I don't have a clue.

Mike
Click to expand...

If it hangs while copying files to the hard drive, that is often a bad RAM chip somewhere, eliminate this problem by removing one RAM chip at a time and see if it helps. If you arent confident doing this, go to a shop.
If it hangs when rebooting, it may be getting stuck on the master boot record (MBR), the small part of the drive which contains the info dictating where all the important bits are. There are ways to fix this, I cant remember how to explain them in an easy manner, google it if you feel up to it. Or it could be a RAM problem, see above.
Not a comprehensive list, post up more info and we might be able to help more.
 
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