Guest Chico Posted September 12, 2007 Posted September 12, 2007 To make a really long story short, about a month ago I got infected with malware and it totally screwed up my computer. Of the many problems I have, whenever I try to open an application I get a prompt to choose what application I want to use to open it. For example, if I try to open Word, it will paradoxically ask me what I want to use to open it. Sometimes choosing the same application from the list works, sometimes it doesn't. Of the numerous other problems I have, I can't open many critical files such as Control Panel. I've tried fixes such as System Restore but nothing works. I want to do a clean install of XP, but when I put the CD in my drive, the prompt screen loads but when I click on "install XP" simply nothing happens. Is there anything I can do? Thank you in advance for any help. Post 1 of 1 | Back to top
Guest LVTravel Posted September 12, 2007 Posted September 12, 2007 Re: Can't re-install XP Have you tried booting the computer with the XP CD in the drive? If it goes into XP you need to change the boot order in the bios to boot from the CD first. After powering up the PC (with the CD in the drive) you will see a screen for a short time telling you what key or key combination to press to enter Setup. Press the key. If you aren't fast enough, reboot again and hit the key as soon as you see the message. Once you change the boot order save and exit. You should then be able to boot from the XP CD and either repair XP or delete the partition and reinstall from scratch. You can't run the install XP from within XP itself. "Chico" <Chico@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:C7344583-8C9A-420B-AFD5-FC1F204147EB@microsoft.com... > To make a really long story short, about a month ago I got infected with > malware and it totally screwed up my computer. Of the many problems I > have, > whenever I try to open an application I get a prompt to choose what > application I want to use to open it. For example, if I try to open Word, > it > will paradoxically ask me what I want to use to open it. Sometimes > choosing > the same application from the list works, sometimes it doesn't. Of the > numerous other problems I have, I can't open many critical files such as > Control Panel. > > I've tried fixes such as System Restore but nothing works. I want to do a > clean install of XP, but when I put the CD in my drive, the prompt screen > loads but when I click on "install XP" simply nothing happens. Is there > anything I can do? > > Thank you in advance for any help. > > Post 1 of 1 | Back to top >
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted September 12, 2007 Posted September 12, 2007 Re: Can't re-install XP On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:00:03 -0700, Chico <Chico@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > I want to do a > clean install of XP, but when I put the CD in my drive, the prompt screen > loads but when I click on "install XP" simply nothing happens. Is there > anything I can do? You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since that would leave Windows without a leg to stand on. Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one). You can find detailed instructions here: http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html or here http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Chico Posted September 13, 2007 Posted September 13, 2007 Re: Can't re-install XP I changed the boot order so that my CD Rom drive was first, but then when I booted up with the XP install disk in my drive, all I got was a flashing white/grey bar in the top left hand corner of the screen for several seconds, then the computer proceeded directly to load XP. Please help. "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:00:03 -0700, Chico > <Chico@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > I want to do a > > clean install of XP, but when I put the CD in my drive, the prompt screen > > loads but when I click on "install XP" simply nothing happens. Is there > > anything I can do? > > > > You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since that > would leave Windows without a leg to stand on. > > Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if > necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean > installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when > prompted, then create a new one). > > You can find detailed instructions here: > http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html > > or here > http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm > > or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm > > or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm > > -- > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > Please Reply to the Newsgroup >
Guest HeyBub Posted September 13, 2007 Posted September 13, 2007 Re: Can't re-install XP Chico wrote: > I changed the boot order so that my CD Rom drive was first, but then > when I booted up with the XP install disk in my drive, all I got was > a flashing white/grey bar in the top left hand corner of the screen > for several seconds, then the computer proceeded directly to load XP. So change the boot order to CD - then nothing. If your machine doesn't boot, then the problem is most likely one of two things: 1. Defective CD 2. Defective drive
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted September 13, 2007 Posted September 13, 2007 Re: Can't re-install XP On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:12:02 -0700, Chico <Chico@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > I changed the boot order so that my CD Rom drive was first, but then when I > booted up with the XP install disk in my drive, all I got was a flashing > white/grey bar in the top left hand corner of the screen for several seconds, > then the computer proceeded directly to load XP. > > Please help. Normally, you get a prompt asking you to press any key to confirm booting from the CD, then if you don't press it it defaults to the next boot device, usually the hard drive. Are you sure you aren't missing that prompt, perhaps at the bottom of the screen? Even if you don't see the prompt, try pressing a key when you see that flashing bar. Other than that, I have no suggestions for you. This is not a Windows issue, but has to with some combination of your hardware--the CD drive or motherboard/BIOS. > "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > > > On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:00:03 -0700, Chico > > <Chico@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > > > I want to do a > > > clean install of XP, but when I put the CD in my drive, the prompt screen > > > loads but when I click on "install XP" simply nothing happens. Is there > > > anything I can do? > > > > > > > > You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since that > > would leave Windows without a leg to stand on. > > > > Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if > > necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean > > installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when > > prompted, then create a new one). > > > > You can find detailed instructions here: > > http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html > > > > or here > > http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm > > > > or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm > > > > or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm > > > > -- > > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > > Please Reply to the Newsgroup > > -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
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