I'm back. So, I received the Windows XP Home Edition installation CD . . . excited. I did what you said, inserted the disc and rebooted.
During initial blue-screen Windows Setup, there are initial options (1) setup Win on selected item (2) create partition (3) delete selected partition on C: Parition (unknown) 131,069MB; so I chose #1. but wait, the HD is a 1TB, why is it just showing 131GB??? Is it because I partitioned it a few years ago. It has NOTHING on it . . . it's blank. Options then are to "INSTALL", "DELETE" or "QUIT" . . . I chose install.
Next window pops up saying that the partition is either too full, damaged or not formatted . . . Setup must format with 2 options available: Format using NTFS file system (Quick), or Format using NTFS file system.
Okay, so, I chose the latter the first time around, and installation took quite a while, including when setup "copies files". PROBLEM ONE . . . at the end, a blank screen with the error message "Disc read error, press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart", and then it goes right back into wanting to install Windows XP.
The second attempt I told setup to delete the partition and create a new one, and then told it to format using NTFS file system (Quick). The installation froze at 20%.
The third attempt I repeated what I did the first time, and everything worked out fine. THANK YOU.
A different problem that maybe you can redirect me to if you are uncertain how to help? I purchase a new 300W power supply from CPUtopia to replace my 215W supply since I am running a Radeon 2400Pro that states I should have at least 275W on board. Well, I installed it and everything went fine, for the first minute. Then the computer just plain died. I triple checked all the connections, even took it out and reinstalled it, but nothing worked. Replaced the old power supply and it's up and running. I will be returning it (less S&H). Do you know maybe why. The company sold it for my HP a350y. I did notice however that on the connector for the SATA HD, there was a 5th, orange wire. I only have a yellow, red, and two blacks. Makes me wonder if they sold me the wrong one, or if it was just plain bad. Any ideas where I can find a good power supply?
Tony
---------- Post added at 04:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
Sorry for that lengthy post. So, besides my power supply issue, I have Windows XP up and running, but when I check the Properties of the HD, it only shows 137GB as the total room. This is a 1TB HD!!!
I can only imagine that because I partitioned it into 3 partitions a few years back, and even after erasing everything on it, and then loading Windows XP, the Setup only recognized the first partition.
So, the question is, is there a way I can get the system to recognize the other two partitions? Or do I have to start completely over and do this OS installation another way?
Thank you!
