need help with newly built computer

[smsawyer]

:!: i need help because i'm getting very frustrated with my new computer system.. i am building it myself, from scratch.. i have all of the components and they are all installed correctly..

the system has an Intel Motherboard
Pentium 4 3.06 ghz
1GB of RAM
a SeaGate 120GM HD with the jumper set to Master
a Maxtor 80GB HD with the jumper set to Slave
a DVD drive set to Master
a CDRW set to Slave
a standard Floppy

now, i am trying to set the computer up so i can use it...and it is not going well and i can't figure out what the problem is..

the seagate HD came with NO software whatsoever, but the Maxtor did.. i put that in to set up that HD and ever since i cannot get the computer to work at all.. when it loads, no matter what i do it comes up with "NTLDR is Missing," and it says to reboot.. if i do, that exact message comes up again.. it never goes away.. i can't even get to the command prompt.. the seagate HD does have the procedure for setting it up on a new system printed on the HD itself, but i can't even get to that point to try it..

i have read the articles on Maxtor's website about this error message and i have read the article on Microsoft's website, and none of them have helped AT ALL..

if i run the BIOS setup, it comes up and i can change the BOOT sequence to start with the DVD drive, and i can run the maxtor setup software again... when i EXIT from that software... THEN the command prompt appears, and ONLY then...

i do not have a full version of XP, but rather the upgrade.. so i am trying to install windows 3.11 so i can upgrade it to windows 95 and then to XP..

i cannot get the computer to recognize my floppy drive, because when i put in a disk and check the "dir" it says that the volume in the drive is "MAXTOR" and lists the same thing, no matter what disk i have in there... i cannot regain control of the floppy..

i burned all of the windows 3.11 disks onto a CD and ran setup, which worked... but when i try to install the OS it asks me for the location to install, and when i put C:\ it says there is not enough memory... which is absurd because both HDs are more than big enough...

i have taken the computer apart and put it back together several times... everything is connected properly, everything is installed the way it should be, but i just cannot get my HDs setup, so i can install windows.. i can't even figure out what letter each drive is, and i have to assume C:\ as a default... but i can't find any others.. i have been able to identify the floppy and both CD drives, but none of the literature or tech articles online that i have read help at all...

i keep running into brick walls... i have put so much money into this system already, i really don't want to have to spend $150+ to have someone look at it or something... can anyone give me any advice at all? :cry:

[evilmonkey29]

win 3.1 is probably very confused that such a big hard drive exists.
at one point i had that netloader error and found no other way than to reinstall windows.

[smsawyer]

ah, yeah... they didn't have drives that big when windows was released...

so do you think i might need to buy the full version of XP?

[evilmonkey29]

i might be mistaken but i think the cheapest solution would be to buy win98se?

[Tekmaven]

Well, first of all, you don't need to have an operating system on the drive to install an upgrade copy of Windows. Durring setup, Windows will ask you to insert a copy of a prior operating system to verifiy that you are upgrading.

Secondly, those disk tools that came with your computer aren't needed. In fact, Windows XP Setup can partition/format your drives for you.

Try booting off the Windows XP cd, and when you are prompted to select a partition to isntall to, delete all the partitions on each disk, (I think by hitting the "d" key, but they key listings are on the bottom of the screen). When they are all deleted, on the master drive, create a partition (for the whole thing), and select that to install to (it may call the new partition something like RAW). Setup will then prompt you to format the drive. Select NTFS (Quick, if available).

Once you get into XP, goto Control Panel (and switch to the 'classic view') -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management. In the "disk management" area, you will see a graphical layout of your hard disks. Just right click the second hard disk, and click "create new partition". Format it with NTFS and you are on your merry way :-).

[smsawyer]

no kidding?? i didn't know i didn't need an older version.. i will def try that..

i have been contemplating giving linux a try because this new comp is going to be a graphic/video editing station.. anyone use linux? i hear so many dif things, i dunno what to trust.. is it a decent system?

red hat is priced pretty fair, so i was thinking of trying that.. anyone have def words against that?

[Tekmaven]

First and formost, you don't need to buy linux. Linux is available for a free download off of many distrobutions websites.

Linux has a nice video editing package, BUT none of it is supported in any way. Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid DV, or anything else doesn't run on Linux. Also, if you haven't used Linux before, you will run into a lot of hard times using it. It's very hard to get started - even installing programs that aren't on your Distrobution CD (ones that you downloaded) are a pain in the you know what.

Do yourself a favor and stick to Windows. There is no reason why Windows wouldn't work extremely well on that computer. In fact, Windows would take more advantage of the hyperthreading in your processor then Linux will (the Linux video software is not multiprocessor aware).

[smsawyer]

alright, that is good to know.. thanks a ton for the info guys.. :) i'm going to try the windows update route tonight.. i'll let you know how it works..

[smsawyer]

every time i try to install windows, any version... i have tried 3.11, win 95 and win 98, it doesn't work.. win 95 and 98 freeze as soon as setup begins and i have to manually restart.. win 3.11 says that there is some file in the sys directory that is read only and cannot be written over... and i don't know how to fix that..

i don't know how these files got into the system because i don't have anything on the drives, but i think they are from the failed windows setup attempts..

i am going to try formatting the drives completely and starting from scratch, without using the stupid setup disk that came with the maxtor drive, since all my problems seem to have started right after i used that...

any thoughts?

[Tekmaven]

i am going to try formatting the drives completely and starting from scratch, without using the stupid setup disk that came with the maxtor drive, since all my problems seem to have started right after i used that...

That is what I originally said to do...

Secondly, those disk tools that came with your computer aren't needed. In fact, Windows XP Setup can partition/format your drives for you.

Try booting off the Windows XP cd, and when you are prompted to select a partition to isntall to, delete all the partitions on each disk, (I think by hitting the "d" key, but they key listings are on the bottom of the screen). When they are all deleted, on the master drive, create a partition (for the whole thing), and select that to install to (it may call the new partition something like RAW). Setup will then prompt you to format the drive. Select NTFS (Quick, if available).

[smsawyer]

i meant format the completely.. the state they were in would not allow me to run windows at all.. i couldn't get to the step you were mentioning..

i have figured it out though.. i got XP installed and it is all set.. thanks..

[philpotrebel]

I built my cpmoutrt from scratch too and had almost the same prob. What caused it was my maxtor 40gig hd. I would try too install win. and it would screw up and say hardware malfuntion on a blue screen and i would have to restar. After it did that it wouldnt let me try to reinstall win. so i was stumped and it would say NTLDR Missing like yours did. so i thought for a couple of days and messed with it and finnally i put in the maxtor software and it partitioned my hd for me and had all my hard drive stuff set up right. so i thought this ould fix my problem. well it didnt it kept saying NTLDR missing and wouldnt let me install win. so i got mad and hit it a couple of times thretend to blow it up and all. so i left it alone for about a week and it hit me, my old comp a HP Pavillion came with a system restore disk. so i said what the heck and did system restore but with my maxtore in it so win 98 was on it and all the HP factory settings. I put my HD in my comp i was building and came up as a hewlett packerd and win 98. When win. loaded up i put in My win XP disk and deleted win 98 and the HP junk and installed win XP. After xp was done i installed all of my drivers and it was done the computer runs great now. The only dissadvantage about doing that though was i had to manually delete All the HP crap and Set up everything as a custom comp.