Trouble Formatting my XP

[SuhasTS]

hi, I am running an XP SP2 and I want to format my PC and install an XP SP3..
I have the disc and when I enter windows setup at boot , my keyboard stops responding at harddisk space partitioning...
Whenever i press something, the light just blinks but no response..
Dont know what to do, please help

 

[RaDiKaL_]

Your HDD might have a defective sector causing the system to halt when trying to make the partition, try running Hiren's Boot and use some of it's HDD utilities (or if you can connect that HDD to another pc use chkdsk /R on it) to repair your disk.

 

[bigwoofer]

2 things I would check first that have been the problem at this phase for me:
- dirty or scratched disc?
- replace cd rom drive

I had this same issue with an XP install recently - the thing just would NOT let me proceed through setup and errored on copying files. After 3 tries, replaced cd drive and it zipped right through like it should.

 

[SuhasTS]

Your HDD might have a defective sector causing the system to halt when trying to make the partition, try running Hiren's Boot and use some of it's HDD utilities (or if you can connect that HDD to another pc use chkdsk /R on it) to repair your disk.

How do I run Hiren's Boot ??

 

[SuhasTS]

2 things I would check first that have been the problem at this phase for me:
- dirty or scratched disc?
- replace cd rom drive

I had this same issue with an XP install recently - the thing just would NOT let me proceed through setup and errored on copying files. After 3 tries, replaced cd drive and it zipped right through like it should.

There is no problem with the CD or the ROM..
However, i tried creating my own windows disc with nLite, but when i use this disc to format, it dosent direct to Windows setup on startup. It just loads Windows Xp normally and directs to the Desktop interface...

 

[RaDiKaL_]

It's a bootable cd just like windows XP installation CD, download the ISO, burn it into a cd and then start your PC with it, once the program loads get into "DOS Programs" and from there you'll have a bunch of HDD utilities.

Alternatively you could load its "mini Windows XP" and from it run a chkdsk on the conflicting HDD (be sure to use the parameter /R in order to have it fully repaired, could take a few hours and look like it frozed, give it time to finish).

 

[bigwoofer]

When burning, I've found that burning at 4x speed vs. max makes for a much more reliable copy especially when accessing the disc in older systems.