Non-System Disk or Disk Error

[ndfantp]

I recently acquired a used pc for my father. I got it from a government agency that wiped the hard disc clean before donating it. When I attempt to install a clean version of Windows XP I receive the following message: "Non-System Disk or Disk Error. Replace and strike any key when ready."

Currently the cd-rom drive is set to the first boot position and everything seems in order in the bios.

The computer is an HP Compaq d530 CMT

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[ss202sl]

it's not booting from the cd. Are you sure the disk is good? Is the cd-rom working?

 

[ram1009]

Just because the BIOS detects the drive doesn't necessarily mean the drive will read that disk. For example you may be inserting a DVD into a CD drive or it may just be broken. Try a known good drive.

 

[ndfantp]

The disk is good, I just tested it on another computer. The Cd-Rom drive works. I placed my 64 bit version of windows 7 in the drive and it attempted to load the windows files; however, it obviously failed because the computer is older and thus only 32 bit.

 

[ndfantp]

The drive the cd was placed into is a dvd drive.

 

[rgd1101]

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
see if one of the Hard Disk Tools or partition tools can format the disk.

 

[cball1311]

Here I read this in the manual for the PC.

A certain percentage of users may choose to re-install the 64-bit OS with a
Microsoft DVD. On machines with UEFI BIOS, the DVD setup utility may try to install
the image in GPT format by default. If this is not what the user wants, then the DVD
setup utility will need to be manually selected to install in MBR format instead. To
install in MBR mode, the user will need to access the boot menu using F9, then
select “Legacy Boot Sources/ATAPI DVD Drive/SATA0” as shown in Figure 5.

 

[ndfantp]

cball1311,
I wasn't trying to install a 64 os, I was just testing the drive to see if it works. Thank you though.

I will try the hiren boot cd when it finishes downloading.

Thanks for your help thus far.

 

[cball1311]

Yeah. I know. I was referring to the quote to make sure that your CD/DVD drive was setup to be used as a legacy boot device and not UEFI. If the HDD is setup with GPT partition table, you won't be able to install the OS on it.

 

[cball1311]

??????????

 

[ndfantp]

Cball 1311, I looked for what you were referring to, however, I couldn't find it. I tried the Hiren Boot CD and nothing really worked there. So I hunted down a different XP install disk and it appears to be working. The other XP install disk I had works, it shows up when you pop it in another computer, but something about it just doesn't work. I'll just give it back to the person who gave it to me and get a different one.

Thanks for everyone's help.