can someone please give me a run through of installing windows from msdos. everytime i do i get an error for finishing install. what i am looking for is an order of how to do it...like delpart, format, fdisk...etc. thanks!

when running format, it says "trying to recover allocation unit"....then eventually it goes away. what does that mean? then when format is doen i have some space is bad sectors and i have no idea why? also, when i format, do i run format from A: or from D:?

What version of Windows are you installing?

Is the version you are trying to install an upgrade or is it a full version?

Just pop the disk in your drive, reboot your system, and the install program will automatically run. Is there a reason why you are trying to install through DOS?

when running format, it says "trying to recover allocation unit"....then eventually it goes away. what does that mean? then when format is doen i have some space is bad sectors and i have no idea why? also, when i format, do i run format from A: or from D:?

Hi
runswit2guns,
B very clear when asking a question

First u said while trying to format u got a message "trying to recover allocation unit"....This occurs when HDD has got bad sectors and is displayed when formating with Windows 98.

Secondly u said u wanna install Windows XP.

while formatting with Windows XP this message won't b displayed, then why to format HDD with Windows 98 when u wanna install Windows XP

the only boot disk i have is 98...but i am trying to install xp pro...can i not do that?

here is EXACTLY what i am doing...
1) i put in 98 bootdisk(bootdisk.com) which takes me to the A: prompt. i also put delpart on the same disk
2) i run delpart - giving me the option to wipe the hdd/partition - i do that, save changes and restart
3) run same bootdisk again (without cdrom) - i then use fdisk to create a partition on C drive - this ithis is where i get that allocation message, nevertheless, it creates a partition
4) then i put the SAME disk back in,and start the lapop with cdrom support- i go to the E: drive, then run the app "winnt" which goes through and copies files to the computer, however, 6 or 7 files do not read properly and are not copied
5) after that is finished, it restarts the computer WITHOUT bootable disk. setup then reads the copied files to finish installing xp pro - in the blue screen that says windows setup, it loads the copied files until it says "setup is starting windows"
6) it then takes me to the screen where i have to option to either
a) continue installing windows by pressing ENTER
b) repair windows using recovery console, press R
c) to quit setup, press F3
PROBLEM - NO KEYS AT ALL resgister at this point
Am i doing something wrong with the install?

the only boot disk i have is 98...but i am trying to install xp pro...can i not do that?

You should be able to. If you have an XP CD. Just boot into it and partition the drive.

-T

something else ive noticed...when i run a windows xp bootdisk, it says starting windows 98 when reading from the disk even though there is no OS installed yet. why?

First u said while trying to format u got a message "trying to recover allocation unit"....This occurs when HDD has got bad sectors and is displayed when formating with Windows 98.

-T

how can i format without 98. ie: how can i format through xp?

how can i format without 98. ie: how can i format through xp?

If u have Win XP Disk boot with it

Press Enter to continue setup, then press F8 to agree License Agreement

Now u will be prompted to select the drive in which u wanna install (nly if u have created the drive.)If u havent created the drive u will c unpartitioned space, select it and press c to create partition

Select Drive C: and press Enter

u will be prompted to format the drive, which will be like this

Format the drive using NTFS file system
Format the Drive using FAT32 file system
Format the drive using NTFS file system (Quick)
Format the drive using FAT32 file system (Quick)
Leave the current file system intact no changes

If u have Bad sectors in the drive do not perform quick format, select NTFS or FAT32

After format file copying will be done and the computer restarts. Now dont boot the computer with CD-Rom, boot with HDD setup will continue...

If u have Win XP Disk boot with it

Press Enter to continue setup, then press F8 to agree License Agreement

Now u will be prompted to select the drive in which u wanna install (nly if u have created the drive.)If u havent created the drive u will c unpartitioned space, select it and press c to create partition

Select Drive C: and press Enter

u will be prompted to format the drive, which will be like this

Format the drive using NTFS file system
Format the Drive using FAT32 file system
Format the drive using NTFS file system (Quick)
Format the drive using FAT32 file system (Quick)
Leave the current file system intact no changes

If u have Bad sectors in the drive do not perform quick format, select NTFS or FAT32

After format file copying will be done and the computer restarts. Now dont boot the computer with CD-Rom, boot with HDD setup will continue...

it wont let me press ENTER to continue though???

Are you still having issues with this?

You mentioned that it's not letting you press enter. How far along can you get? What is the last thing you can get to and are you shown any errors when you get there?

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