Upgrading To Windows XP Problems

[Jacob Roman]

Whenever I try autobooting the CD from DOS, I keep getting a "CDBOOT : Couldn't find NTLDR" error. This is a brand new Windows XP cd I just bought today, and I had this problem before from a school issued XP cd. I updated everything and I still get this problem. I have my DVD drive on the top of the list in the BIOS, making it top priority, but not sure if I have to do anything else. Any help would be appreciated.

[RobDog888]

I thought I read a trhead on a similar issue on VBF before. It turned out that it was a bad copy (bad legal copy). Something like during manufacturing
it did a bad stamp on the CD.

[dglienna]

Is it an Upgrade or a Full Version?
Can you open it from within Windows? I think it might work.

[Jacob Roman]

I thought I read a trhead on a similar issue on VBF before. It turned out that it was a bad copy (bad legal copy). Something like during manufacturing
it did a bad stamp on the CD.

Well it's certainly not that because it reads fine on other computers. Just not mine. Like for example, the school copy of XP read fine on my dads comp and located NTLDR, and as a result autobooted the XP installation menu. But on my comp, I get the error I mentioned. Not sure what to do with this problem.

[Jacob Roman]

Is it an Upgrade or a Full Version?
Can you open it from within Windows? I think it might work.

The OS I bought is Windows XP Home Upgrade SP2. The OS I have in my comp now is Windows ME.

[RobDog888]

ME ewe

Can you even upgrade ME to XP?

[Jacob Roman]

It says so right on the XP box.

[RobDog888]

Well maybe you can upgrade but that doesnt mean you should.

ME is a shady OS version and its always best to start off on a good foundation.

[Jacob Roman]

You mean all of my mp3's, full episodes of Beavis and Butthead, Family Guy, Southpark, etc., must go?

[visualAd]

The question I would ask at this point is can you boot from any other CD's/DVD's on your PC? If you can then it is an issue with the disk, if you cannot then it is a hardware issue.

[Jacob Roman]

I also cannot install XP while in Windows mode. By the time it reaches the part where it says "Preparing Installation", it stays that way for a couple hours. I hit control-alt-delete and it says that it's not responding. I've had no problems with my DVD drive running anything else. It has done this with my new Windows XP CD, as well as my school issued one. Only I had more success with the school issued one because after it finished copying the installation files, my screen goes black and stays that way. It did this over and over again every time I tried installing it and would never get anywhere further than that. Something is definitely up here.

I have plenty of ram. 256 Megs worth. I changed the settings to not autorun any program what so ever, so the only prog that runs is Explorer. I have 10 gigs of space left on my harddrive. Everything has been updated. What else could it be? Can anyone Google this problem or look into MS's website for me while I look too? There's gotta be a solution.

[Jacob Roman]

Ah ha, there was problems with the DVD drive. I put in an old CD drive that still works, and it was installing, but ran into the same problem as the school issued XP. The screen goes black. Much better progress than how it was earlier today, but it still can't read the NTLDR file in DOS mode. I did a google search on [Windows XP Couldn't Find NTLDR] and apparently many other people had the same problems. I'm gonna read up on them and see what I can come up with.

[RobDog888]

Ah, the DVD is not on MS' Hardware Compatibility list I bet.

I tell you I think its a bad CD.

[Jacob Roman]

No. The disk is good. I'm thinking I'm gonna need a drive that's MS compatible that'll run the file. The NEC CD drive is not, and I know the HP generic DVD drive is not either. And it just so happens that my dads old comp had a CD drive that is compatible and read the file before when I attempted to install XP, only my dad changed his mind and got a new computer instead.

[RobDog888]

Guess its time to buy a CDROM at least since they are cheap. Then you can have a DVD and CD ROM in your system.

[Jacob Roman]

I found this:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=34482

Where the heck do I put in the capital letters for something like I386 at? Can't do it on the CD cause it's read only, and the only thing I got in my comp is ntldr, which I just captitalized to NTLDR. I'm gonna give it a try. Be back in a bit...

[Jacob Roman]

Rats

[RobDog888]

Looks like your doing something from a custom CD? According to that link they are using an ISO image to burn to a CD copy of it and
they didnt use the proper casing on the file?

[RobDog888]

Did you try formatting the drive first? Use the fdisk /mbr to completely wipe out the drive, then fdsik it to delete and
recreate the partition, and format the drive maybe.


Also, I found thi sshort thread that mabe might help.

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...ighlight=NTLDR

[Jacob Roman]

Yeah but the thing is, is that I have an Upgrade of XP, which means a previous version of Windows must be in there. Wiping out the harddrive would make my Upgrade worthless. I could try copying the ntldr file from either my current CD or another one to the harddrive.

And the CD I have is not custom. This is a brand new Windows XP Home Upgrade I just bought at Best Buy.

[RobDog888]

Not at all. What I used to do back in the day when I was running 98, I would format the system and load 98 (upgrade). When it
goes to verify the previous version and prompt you for its location, I would get my 95 CD and switch it in the CDROM, let it scan the CD and
verify. Then it would prompt me for the 98 CD again and I would be on my way. Not 100% sure about ME --> XP but...

[Jacob Roman]

Oh let's face it. XP sucks.

MS made many peoples lives difficult all because of some stupid NTLDR file that they can't even get all the CD drives to read. It's not fair

[RobDog888]

How old is your CDROM? It may be that its too old and not supported anymore?

[Jacob Roman]

I tried 4 different CD-ROM drives so far.

Anyways I give up for tonight. Keep those solutions rolling. Do some research for me, as I'm doing myself. I may call Microsoft's Support Center tommorow. Heard they might transfer the call to India though. Goodnight. Hopefully anyone of you might have a solution for me.

[RobDog888]

Ok, but if you do call try this... I had an issue with my neighbors HP computer and I called tech support for them and they
routed it through the middle east somewhere and they didnt know or could understand what was going on. I called back and specifically
asked to be transfered to a US support center or closest one they had to it. They transfered me to Canada and the guy was much
better and helped determine it was a hardware issue and setup a prepaid shipping box for them and everything. Maybe some technique
like this would help you.

[Jacob Roman]

Ok I'll try that.

[DaveBo]

FYI RobDog is right about being able to do a full install from the XP "Upgrade" CD.

I had upgraded my daughter's PC from W98 to XP Home with the Upgrade CD,
6 months later when her HD crashed, I replaced it and rebuilt it from scratch. The XP upgrade CD just wanted me to insert the original Win98 CD to prove I owned a previous Windows version, then it happily installed the full-blown XP Home OS.

Good luck, DaveBo

[RobDog888]

FYI RobDog is right about being able to do a full install from the XP "Upgrade" CD.

I had upgraded my daughter's PC from W98 to XP Home with the Upgrade CD,
6 months later when her HD crashed, I replaced it and rebuilt it from scratch. The XP upgrade CD just wanted me to insert the original Win98 CD to prove I owned a previous Windows version, then it happily installed the full-blown XP Home OS.

Good luck, DaveBo

This is my preferred method of installing upgrade Windows. Its much better to install from a clean updgraded version of XP then
it is to install on top of another version.

[Jacob Roman]

Just to let you know, i'm using an HP computer, but bypassed their BIOS using a PCI card. I'm gonna wipe out my harddrive tonight. Hopefully I should be online after installing XP successfully. Now I got quite a few Windows OS's on CD, such as 95, 98, ME, 2000, etc., since the computers we've had over the years, not to mention we now have 6 PC's in the house. If I can't find my original ME cd, can I use another OS cd to check for previous Windows?

[RobDog888]

I dont see why not? I dont recall them being cummulative or requiring you to upgrade from 95 > 98 > ME >....

[Pc_Madness]

You can use any OS except Windows 95 I do believe...

Doing abit of searching, http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q314057
not your situation? :unsure:

[Jacob Roman]

The error I'm receiving is not "NTLDR is Missing, Press Any Key To Continue." It specifically says this:

CDBOOT: Coudn't Find NTLDR

And I went through 4 different CD drives to see if that was the problem, and it wasn't. I also get the same error message on the school issued Windows XP Pro, so it's not a scratch on a CD or anything like that. Bare in mind, the XP Home Upgrade is brand spanking new. Not a scratch or a hair on there. So there's gotta be another problem going on. I would hate to erase my harddrive for nothing and end up with the same error.

[RobDog888]

You dont have a spare HD to test it with? Maybe an old one left over from an upgrade?

[Jacob Roman]

I plan on getting another harddrive anyways. Might as well wait till then.

[SLH]

You can use any OS except Windows 95 I do believe...

Doing abit of searching, http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q314057
not your situation? :unsure:

I've used Win95 before. Baught it for £5 especially, since my WIn98 CD was misplaced.

[RobDog888]

It probably needs to be 95 version C?