Alright, im trying to reinstall windows XP on my harddrive. I have done it several times before without a problem. But now im trying to install it and it wont let me.

When I boot from the Windows XP cd everything loads, setup and all that good stuff loads, then I press enter to install a fresh copy. I hit F8 to agree with the liscense, then it tells me that it cannot detect a previous version of Windows and tells me to insert the installation cd, which is already in the drive. I took it out and reinserted it and pressed enter and then it tells me it cannot read the cd, and I have to turn off computer. I reformatted the harddrive so there is nothing on it.

I tried to run it on my mom's computer and it ran fine. I when through the prompts like I was going to set it up, and it did not give me that screen about "not detecting a previous version of windows". Can anybody tell what is going on, and how I can get it working? Thanks.

If it's a legal copy of XP, contact Microsoft. I believe that there is an inbuilt limit on the number of times you can install XP to minimise piracy. Sorry I can't help explain why it works on another computer, other than to guess that your registry has recorded previous installations.

Try this help page on microsoft - http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315341

It sounds to me like the particular Windows CD you have is an upgrade version. That is why it is asking for a Windows installation CD. If you have an older version of Windows laying around, pop that in and follow the prompts and see what happens.

It is an upgrade version, but I dont have another version of windows on cd. Any suggestions on how else I might install it?

If he formatted the hard drive there shouldn't be a registry. Is the disk scratched or anything? Maybe the cdrom is having problems reading the disk.

Its a little scratched, but like I said, the other computer that I have has no problems reading the disc.

Well the only thing I can say i that you have a 1. upgrade version(which you cannot install if there is nothing to upgrade in the first place) and 2. you have a scratched installation disk(which may cause some errors while the Drive is reading it). My only recommendation is to buy a new installation disk and try running it on your PC that should work fine. Correct me guys if I am wrong.

I guess people don't like to hear the truth... If you do not have an older version of Windows (EX: Win95, Win98, win 2000 etc) then you can do nothing with the upgrade cd. Look on Ebay & just buy an old 95 disk, they are a dime a dozen these days.

when installing xp or 2000, people often forget press F3 to quit repair option. i cannot believe it happened with you.

sorry, it is my misunderstanding