Member Avatar for miasmom9

Hi -
I'm trying to format and reinstall Windows XP on a Dell 4300 for a friend. When I booted the computer up - A trial version of Windows XP Pro SP2 disk was in the drive and in the middle of set up. Problem is - I don't have an upgrade product key - and would just like to stop this set up. I have a legit copy of XP Pro or Home to install - but I can't get this set up to stop. When I attempt to boot from the Home or XP Pro disks (not the upgrade) - it either asks for the Upgrade disk - or errors 'Primary hard disk drive 1 not found - Strike f1 to continue, F2 to run setup utility.'

I have changed the boot sequence, enabled/disabled the hard drive - all to no avail.

So either I need an upgrade product key to finish this install so I can then put the legit copy on - or stop this install and try a new install/format with the other disks. This upgrade disk says it's a 120 day free trial - but I'm not finding a trial product key online. Any ideas?

Thanks!!

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The symptoms in the thread point to two different problems at once: an in-progress upgrade/trial install that needs stopping, and the installer failing to see the hard disk. described the installer behavior and the BIOS-style error; following the recovery/reinstall ideas already mentioned by and the recovery-partition note from , the next steps are to separate hardware-level diagnosis from installer-level fixes.

First, confirm whether the BIOS actually detects the drive. Enter the BIOS/Setup and look for the drive in the system info or boot devices list. If the drive is not listed, reseat power and data cables, try a different cable or SATA port, or test the drive on another machine or with a USB-SATA adapter — a missing drive in BIOS means the installer cannot access it no matter what disc is used. If the drive is listed in BIOS but the installer still fails, the issue is usually driver/compatibility related.

Many older XP installers will not see drives when the controller is in AHCI/RAID mode. Set the SATA mode to IDE/Compatibility/Legacy in BIOS if that option exists. If changing BIOS mode is not desirable or possible, supply the controller driver during text-mode setup (the historical "F6" workflow) or create an XP installation medium with the controller driver integrated (slipstream tools such as nLite were commonly used). These steps let a retail/full installer see a drive that the plain XP CD cannot.

To stop a half-done setup and do a clean reinstall, boot from an external rescue/utility medium (a small live CD/USB) and wipe the partition table or recreate one NTFS primary partition, then boot the correct install media. Preserve any needed data first. Finally, check licensing/COA details on the case before using retail vs OEM media — reiterated the license compatibility issue, and using the correct media and licence avoids activation/acceptance problems.

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Member Avatar for OlyComputers

I think they stopped offering the free trial on XP, so you probably wont find that code. If it's still availiable you'll find it on XP under the "software trials" section.

I'm not sure why the upgrade copy would be recognizing the hard drive but the full copy wouldn't, but I'd suggest booting from the upgrade disk, hitting "R" for recovery console. Use the "format" command, reboot, and load the right disk. See if this allows you to access the drive.

PS: Make sure the key on the computer (if this is a reinstall as you said) is for the right version. If it's a major branded computer (HP, Dell, Toshiba, ect,...) It's certainly an OEM key that will NOT work with a retail or upgrade disk.

I don't need to ask if these keys are legitimate because I'm SURE you already know that you can only use these keys on one system at a time (and need to affix the COA to the case). If you gave any reason to believe you did not have a valid COA the moderators would be forced to delete the thread.

Member Avatar for nsindian

dells usually ship with a recovery partition, try using a recovery disc to set it back to factory defaults

Member Avatar for OlyComputers

Sounds like she already formatted the drive.

Member Avatar for raagehomeboi

Hi I think they stopped offering the free trial on XP, so you probably wont find that code. If it's still availiable you'll find it on XP under the "software trials" section.

I'm not sure why the upgrade copy would be recognizing the hard drive but the full copy wouldn't, but I'd suggest booting from the upgrade disk, hitting "R" for recovery console. Use the "format" command, reboot, and load the right disk. See if this allows you to access the drive.

PS: Make sure the key on the computer (if this is a reinstall as you said) is for the right version. If it's a major branded computer (HP, Dell, Toshiba, ect,...) It's certainly an OEM key that will NOT work with a retail or upgrade disk.

I don't need to ask if these keys are legitimate because I'm SURE you already know that you can only use these keys on one system at a time (and need to affix the COA to the case). If you gave any reason to believe you did not have a valid COA the moderators would be forced to delete the thread. thankz

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