Can't install windows on new (old) laptop

[swee'pea99]

The story so far....

Got an old HP Compaq laptop off ebay, with no HD. No probs, thinks I, it's the same generation as the one I just sold for spares after my daughter trashed it, keeping the HD. I'll just put that one in. Got the laptop; HD wouldn't fit. Turns out it takes an IDE, not a SATA HD. So, back to ebay.

Got an IDE HD (10gb, IBM), stuck it in, it fits. Started up.

NON SYSTEM DISC OR DISC ERROR

REPLACE AND PRESS ANY KEY

Fine - as per expectations. Put an XP recovery disc in the cd drive and startup again, pressing f10 to go into Bios. Go to change boot up order. Surprised to find no option for CD. Full list reads:

Notebook MultiBay

Notebook Hard Drive

USB Floppy

USB Superdisc

USB CD-Rom

USB Hard Disc

Notebook Ethernet

Since it's not a USB CD, I tried putting Multibay first, assuming that was a catchall for onboard drives other than the HD.

NON SYSTEM DISC OR DISC ERROR

REPLACE AND PRESS ANY KEY



Hmmm. Ok. Went back and tried USB CD-Rom.

NON SYSTEM DISC OR DISC ERROR

REPLACE AND PRESS ANY KEY

Hmmm. Oh dear.

Or to put it another way, No idea. Any suggestions very much appreciated.

 

[Manonabike]

Never seen anything like that.

Can you reset the BIOS settings, just in case.

Is the CD attached correctly to the motherboard? If not then perhaps the BIOS is not detecting it hence no reporting one.

If anything fails, Ebuyer sells a HDD adaptor that has a USB interface..... very handy to have such little device around.

 

[trustysteed]

I build various makes of laptop at work, including HP's and the Multibay option is the one you'd choose for the CD drive.

I believe it's called multibay as you can swop the cd-drive for an extended battery module.


Is your XP recovery disk actually a bootable cd? Maybe you need to boot with a bootable cd and insert the recovery disk when prompted?

 

[swee'pea99]

I build various makes of laptop at work, including HP's and the Multibay option is the one you'd choose for the CD drive.

I believe it's called multibay as you can swop the cd-drive for an extended battery module.


Is your XP recovery disk actually a bootable cd? Maybe you need to boot with a bootable cd and insert the recovery disk when prompted?

Ah. Thanks. Yes, that's confirmed what I thought (and googled) about the multibay option. I believe it also allows you to install a 2nd HD if you want.

Plus, tho' the bios doesn't list a CD option, when you power on with a disc in the drive, it whirrs away, till it stops, so clearly it is physically (which is to say electrically) connected, and something deep in the gizards of the software does know it's there.

Which leaves 'is it a bootable CD'? An obvious question, you would have thought, which is why it never occurred to me to ask it. I don't know, is the simple answer. It's actually a recovery disc from an old PC, long since died, which I just assumed I could use. Maybe I was wrong. Can I create a bootable CD? (I have numerous other pooters around running windows.)

 

[trustysteed]

you can create a bootable cd (google is your friend).


normally with HP's, Pressing F9 brings up the boot menu option from which you can choose multibay. it sounds def like you have a non-bootable cd. if you had a proper xp installation disc, it'd work.

 

[swee'pea99]

Update...

Just tried powering on with 'Ultimate Boot CD' in the drive...

NON SYSTEM DISC OR DISC ERROR

REPLACE AND PRESS ANY KEY

 

[trustysteed]

oh dear, can you return it to the seller?

 

[swee'pea99]

Nope.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

[quote name='swee'pea99' timestamp='1318516869' post='1880053']
Nope.


[/quote]

You can create a bootable USB stick with Linux on it... worth trying?

 

[swee'pea99]

I think at this stage anything's worth trying. Would I then BIOS-set the thing to boot from USB floppy?

 

[SavageHoutkop]

I'd try USB Hard disk first; out of those options... but all the USBs are woth trying once you have the stick

 

[swee'pea99]

Looked into the bootable usb linux option, but it all looks a bit daunting. Bear in mind my very limited it skills. A bit of lateral thinking...

might I be able to use one of these, loaded with the disk from another laptop, boot up from that, then copy the entire disk to the HD? It sounds so easy, it has to be flawed!

 

[Manonabike]

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download[/url]

 

[swee'pea99]

Hmmm...thanks for that. Have to admit it does look pretty straightforward. Can I use this to get the thing beyond its current non-responsive state into at least working, then install Windows? Not that I'm anti-Linux - but this is for my daughter, and I know she'll want her familiar OS.

 

[swee'pea99]

Weird...

I successfully installed ubuntu, as per the link - many thanks for that. And it runs briliantly - really fast and clean. I'm posting this from it! Only problem is, even tho' I've installed it to the HD, when I reset the bios to boot up from the HD, then restart, I get the same old

NON SYSTEM DISC OR DISC ERROR

REPLACE AND PRESS ANY KEY

I just don't understand why it won't boot (to Ubuntu) from the hard drive. Any advice appreciated.