hi

i have been experiencing a lot of problems with my new machine.
i have managed to solve some of them, but i still have a last problem.

to cut a long story short, i need to bypass the xp setup installation process.

i have a 750 hd with three partitions.
C: Has windows and other files
D: is empty
E: is empty

for some reason, windows couldn't start, as it was confused where to boot from. i tried fixboot, bootcfg and fixmbr.
noting worked.

in the end, i attached that HD to another machine and resized all the partition to make ONE big one (C:), with windows on.

then i made a silly mistake:
i started the installation process of XP.
so it tried to basically install a fresh copy of XP.
obviously i don't want it to do that, as i have a copy on C already, which i think is intact.

so i immediately removed the CD from the drive and restarted the PC straight away.

but now, after the windows XP logo, it wants to continue with the installation and asks me to insert the CD labelled with XP SP2.

i have tried restoring the Boot.ini file and that seems OK.
here is a copy of it:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

i dont know what else to change or what file to delete to stop it from asking for the CD and start windows in the normal manner.

i still have the WINDOWS folder inside C:
i.e. setup didn't create a new one and rename the old one.

any help will be greatly appreciated.
hammer

hammer,


Quote:

windows couldn't start, as it was confused where to boot from.

What error did you see?

I'd delete the partition and start again with your three partitions.

Brian wrote on Nov 10^th, 2008 at 11:07pm:

I'd delete the partition and start again with your three partitions.

Yeah.

i no longer have three partitions.
as i said, i connected the hard drive to another PC and merged  Partitions D: and E: to C:.
i.e. partition C:, which has windows, is now bigger than before, and still has the windows folder along with the drivers and applications.

if i delete the one and only partition, then i will have to start all over again and i want to avoid that.



Brian wrote on Nov 10^th, 2008 at 11:07pm:

What error did you see?

before i merged the partitions, I got this error:
Reboot and Select proper Boot device or insert Boot Media in
selected Boot device and press any key

and now, i dont get an error message as such, it just asks me to insert the XP cd so it can continue with the installation.
it starts on the typical installation window where you have the progress bar on the left side which tells you how many minutes are remaining,etc...
http://tweakhound.com/xp/installxp/install_10.gif

i want to bypass this, a si believe the current installation of windows which i currently have on the HD is in working order.

i am guessing that there must a file which can be deleted or a setting tat can be changed in order to bypass the fresh installation.

sorry about the confusion.

hammer wrote on Nov 11^th, 2008 at 7:47am:

sorry about the confusion.

hammer,

I may have confused you. I'd delete your one partition, re-create three partitions and start again.


Quote:

i want to bypass this, a si believe the current installation of windows which i currently have on the HD is in working order.

Has it ever booted?

@ hammer

You have three different threads outlining *significant* problems that you are having with your system:  this one here, Error Message: Reboot and select proper boot device, and Can't boot from WIN XP CD, pls help!!!


Several points--by the way--don't take this *personally*, I'm not trying to be negative--I'm trying to help here!:

1.  There have been several suggestions made on how to help the situation--I've seen no response from you indicating that you tried those, and whether they helped or not.

I've only seen a new thread show up outlining more *fixes* that you have attempted and new problems.

2.  Regarding *more fixes* that you have tried--I do not have the feeling you are attempting all the various *fixes* with purposeful pre-thought.  If the utility says something about *booting* you have tried it.

Your first post indicated being *trapped in Ghost virtual partition*--there is a fairly easy fix for that, and you can get around the problem in the future using Ghost--but, by the time you posted here, it looks like you had already done multiple *fixes*--but, if you don't know what problem you are trying to fix--running random fixes is fraught with unintended results!

3.  Again, regarding *more fixes*--we see the ones you have mentioned--but I highly suspect that you may have done possibly many more in between your posts that are not being mentioned--it's probably unlikely anyone can really know what the current status of your system is!

4.  
Quote:

i want to bypass this, a si believe the current installation of windows which i currently have on the HD is in working order.

Why do you think this?

I there a reason you want to *save* this install of WinXP?

Personally, given the degree of uncertainty about the various effects the various *fixes* have introduced--I would take a deep breath, consider everything I've done as a *learning experience* of what to avoid in the future--and start over--which is what Brian and Rad have suggested earlier in this thread.

If you want to *save* this install of WinXP--you could possibly let the install program run to the end--let it over-write the current WinXP install--it will just overwrite the files that are already there!--or you could have the install procedure do a *parallel* install, have it install a second copy of WinXP to a different sub-directory--it can later be uninstalled and files deleted!  You will have to adjust a few startup files--but should be doable.

But, you should *slow down*, do one step at a time, one change at a time, research the problem and the suggested fixes before proceeding--and only proceed if there's a specific reason to believe that the procedure actually relates to the problem you are attempting to resolve!

Let us know what the status of you system is and how thing have worked out!