Tom's Hardware > Forum > Windows XP > Windows XP General Discussion > Trying to get rid of preinstalled Vista, but no luck....

Trying to get rid of preinstalled Vista, but no luck....

Forum Windows XP : Windows XP General Discussion - Trying to get rid of preinstalled Vista, but no luck....

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
vsdagama   08-02-2009 at 10:34:59 AM

Hey

I have a laptop with vista preinstalled on it, Acer Aspire 5920G that would be.
It also has a lot of junk from Acer installed on it, and I want to get rid of it.

So I want format everything and install a fresh windows xp on it

I have a working Windows XP cd (used it multiple times)

But when I boot from the CD and I select the options: install windows xp or repair windows xp, I get an error on both:

The setup couldn't find any harddrive devices (badly translated from my dutch OS, sorry)

Please install something that the manufacturer gave you

Press F3 to exit setup

So it isn't working :S, he can't find my HDD?

Could anyone tell me what to do? I'm pretty stuck right now :p

Thanks!!!

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
pat mcgroin   08-02-2009 at 04:09:00 PM
- 0 +

Try to boot into the recovery console or a command prompt.
While there type
format c:
and I think it will work for you.
It has been a while since I have done it but Im pretty certain that is the way.

Reply to pat mcgroin
aford10   08-02-2009 at 07:07:58 PM
- 0 +

Some retail computers have an OS install mode in the BIOS. Might be worth a look.

------------------------------ CM HAF 932 - 300GB Velociraptor
GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-DS3R
E8500 - Sapphire 1Gb 4850
4G DDR3 OCZ Reaper 1333
 Reply to aford10
vsdagama   08-02-2009 at 08:05:44 PM
- 0 +

First, it didn't even showed the "Boot from CD" option,
I went in the (what i think is) BIOS and changed the boot order or something to the CD first

 

Now I boot from the cd,

 

This is the exact error I get (mind some translation mistakes):

 
Quote :

Setup cannot find a HDD station on your computer.

 

Make sier that the disks are activated, and connected correctly to the computer and that the hardwareconfiguration for the disks is correct. You should use a program, provided by the manufacturer for this

 

Setup cannot continue. Push F3 to end the setup.

 

I didn't see any OS install option in the BIOS

 

This is what happened when typing "format c:" in the command prompt:

Quote :

C:\Windows\system32\format c:
The type of filesystem is NTFS.
Insert the current name of the volume for station C: ACER

 

WARNING:
ALL DATA ON THE NON-INTERCHANGEABLE STATION C: WILL BE DELETED!
Do you want to continue formatting (J/N)? J
formatting 114372 MB
The systempartition cannot be formatted.

 

thanks!


Message edited by vsdagama on 08-02-2009 at 08:25:43 PM
Reply to vsdagama
number13   08-03-2009 at 08:10:58 AM
- 0 +

first you need to get the ACHI drivers for the SATA fron Acer and slipstream them onto a XP (use N-Lite) installation CD, then download The Ultimate Boot CD and wipe( write zero's) the HDD before you try to install XP on that drive, regular format wil not remover the core file and it wil not let you install XP, the drivers for the SATA so the mother board so you can see the HDD are not in the XP CD


Message edited by number13 on 08-03-2009 at 08:13:45 AM
Reply to number13
vsdagama   08-03-2009 at 01:07:09 PM
- 0 +

Sorry, I don't really get what u mean :p
Could you be a bit more specific? (don't get terms like slipstream, ...)

Thanks!

Reply to vsdagama
number13   08-04-2009 at 07:13:30 PM
- 0 +

slipstreaming is adding something(driver or service packs) to the installation disk, use N-Lite to do this, its free and you need the original installation disk, put the disk in the CD drive and open N-Lite and has a bunch of options, pick add drivers, the create the disk in ISO format, then you can use your burner program to make a new installation disk, use this disk to install the OS, good luck

Reply to number13
vsdagama   08-04-2009 at 07:59:22 PM
- 0 +

Wel for the slipstreaming part there are some problems:
1) I don't use the original windows xp cd, I use a modified ISO (TinyXP = XP with all the crap left out of it = super fast running)
2) I tried that slipstreaming thing myself, but I can't find certain maps in this ISO of TinyXP

So can that N-lite program handle this non-standard CD also to slipstream? Or does it only work on official windows versions?

It would be great if it did work :D

Reply to vsdagama
number13   08-06-2009 at 09:00:01 PM
- 0 +

if it is a installation disk that will boot at startup, it should work, but it creates the disk image in an ISO format, save it to a location and burn it to a disk

Reply to number13
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Windows XP > Windows XP General Discussion > Trying to get rid of preinstalled Vista, but no luck....
Go to:

There are 643 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.329 seconds
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them
How do I win badges?