[account_inactive]

I've spent ages trying to sort this out and drawn a blank

My old computer has been failing bit by bit over the last few months.  The cd/dvd drive has stopped working and removed its entry from the Bios.  This means I couldn't do a re-install.  The hard drive is partitioned into c: (system) and D: (data).  I bought a IDE/USB adapter to try to recover the c: drive (d: is ok) from my new laptop.  I ran Fdisk on C: and its totally fucked. Instead of repairing it just deleted the drive.  Since then I have formated both drives and am looking to install XP.

All the info I find on the web is about installing to a usb pen or hard drive and seems very complicated.

Help

[unclesomebody]

you can install via a network or from a USB stick. Easier than both of those is just buying a CD-ROM drive for under £10.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Super-Slim-External-USB-Portable-24x-CD-ROM-Drive-CC_W0QQitemZ330168235996QQihZ014QQcategoryZ3754QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[account_inactive]

My computer won't boot from a USB device  

[Jim]

what laptop have you got dylan?
easiest and probably only way is to replace the cd drive
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CD%2FDVD+Drives/DVD-R%2FRW+Writer/Optiarc+8x+Slimline%2FLaptop+internal+DVDRW+-+Black+?productId=28346

[account_inactive]

The knacked one is an Acer.  Before I shell out I'm concerned that the Bios is not recognising the drive.  That's a bit weird is it not? I've never heard of that happening. 

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

You may be able to take the harddrive out and install XP on it from another machine. Could be a bit of a hassle. Is it really worth it now you have a new machine? Most options I can think of need it either to boot from USB or firewire etc.

[account_inactive]

I've removed the hardrive and linked it up to the ide converter and taken off the useful files. I need a seperate computer to the wife as I take ithe other one away with me to work. 

I knew this would be a nightmare

Thanks for the help

[Jim]

the reason the bios isn't recognising it is because the drive is knackered.
It's easy to replace the drive, I did it recently with someone else's computer and it fixed it just fine

[Jim]

If you have got 2 laptops, just take the drive out of one and test it in the other, should confirm the knackered drive

[account_inactive]

Finally figured it out

My last ditch attempt was to put the laptop hard drive into another computer.  I managed to get an install, but when I replaced the hard drive I saw a blue screen of death!  Luckily I still had the old ACER install disks.  These installed fine, but would not boot on the other laptop but ................worked when I swapped the drives around!

Thanks for all the help along the way guys

BTW the CD/DVD drive is working (sometimes) but still does not show up in the BIOS.  Weird

[Jim]

BTW the CD/DVD drive is working (sometimes) but still does not show up in the BIOS.  Weird

That means its not working

[account_inactive]

Then why is it working now?

[Jim]

Ok, when I say not working, I mean faulty, which is probably why its not been picked up by the bios

[xelaxela]

you could try flashing your bios but i would reseach using google and make shure you understand what your doing first