Ah! Bought Os... Won't Work! Help

[czGLoRy]

Ok...I bought an OS (windows XP homefull) because when i took my cpu to a shop they lost the OS already on it.

 

To install my OS, i put in the windows CD, got it to format, then it reboots. And doesnt work.

 

 

I get the same error message:

 

Invalid boot.ini file: Booting from c:\windows\

 

And my computer restarts infinitely. Can anyone help please?

[anthony]

Set boot from CD in bios, then it should work

[czGLoRy]

Set boot from CD in bios, then it should work

497982[/snapback]

When i try to boot from CD it brings up the windows setup menu and it has the options

 

To set up windows XP now, press enter

 

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R

 

To quit Setup wihout installing windows XP, press f3

 

I already went thru the first option.

[Ste]

well, can't hurt if u try to reformat and reinstall.

[Mangar]

Can you try different XP cd? or try running it from a different cd drive?

[Symeon]

Try reinstalling and deleting the old partition and creating a new one, when promted to format choose NTFS format not quick NTFS format.

 

If that still does not work try a different hard drive.

[r_g]

make sure you have the keyboard/mouse hooked up through the ps2 ports, not usb. Worked for me

[liamstears]

it sounds to me like you have fully installed windows but somehow you have currupted the boot.ini file. the boot.ini file tells the pc how to boot to windows, if this file is not working windows will not boot. the way to fix this means you need to put that drive as a slave in a different computer to change the boot.ini file. open notepad then write:

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

 

and save that as boot.ini on that drive. when you have done this change the drive back to a master and put it back in your computer and it will work.