Formatting inspiron mini 1010 w/ssd

Hi skysurfer2501,

The reason you are getting this error message while trying to install the operating system is because there are errors in the hdd. We have to correct the errors first and then install the operating system.  To do that,  please follow the below steps.

To run the Recovery Console from the Windows XP CD-ROM, use the following steps:

Boot the computer from Windows XP CD-ROM.

At the message ‘Press any key to boot from CD’ please press ‘Enter’.

When the ‘Welcome to Setup’ screen appears, press ‘R’ to start the ‘Recovery Console’.

If you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If an Administrator password is not set, just press Enter.

At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, ensuring that you press ‘Enter’ after you type each line.

All commands that are to be typed in the command prompt are in BLUE for clarity of content, and pressing Enter is required for executing each command at the Recovery Console.

cd \ (Enter)

c: (Enter)

chkdsk /r  (Enter)

Once you press enter after these commands, the system will start checking the HDD. This process will take some time. Once it’s done, the system will restart. You can then format the HDD and reinstall the operating system. Before you start the process, please back up any important files or folders since reinstalling the hdd will wipe the hard drive clean.

Thanks and regards,
Senthil S
#iworkfordell.

Okay I tried this several times and each time the chkdisk program said that it fixed errors on the hard drive and when I tried to boot from the cd rom to format windows the windows installer would again find a corrupt file and terminate

I am really starting to bang my head here...

Another thing to note:  When I get to the part in the installation where I have the option to delete a partition windows tells me that I cannot delete my partition because files necessary for the installation are located on that partition.

So I tried to use the command prompt from the recovery console to delete the partition using delete :c

and it told me that access is denied for the following files: Boot.bak boot.ini dell.sdr NTDETECT.COM ntldr txtsetup.sif

Okay, now I have successfully reset all attributes of each of those files using attr -r 'file name' and when I use the command delete c: it appears to work but when I open partdisk to look at the partitions my c: partition is still there and when I try to delete it from diskpart menu I receive the same message: unable to delete partition because filess necessary for the installation are located on the drive.

Unfortunately it says NTLDR is missing when I try to boot from diagnostics

Hi skysurfer2501,

I am sorry for my delayed response. As per your post, the ‘C partition’ is still available in the system. I also understand that you have performed several steps but you still are unable to delete the partition. This may be an issue with the HDD. So please run the hardware diagnostic to check if the hardware is working as designed. To run the tests please follow the steps below.

Turn the computer off >restart the computer

 At the Dell logo screen, start tapping the F12 key a few times until you see the ‘One Time Boot Menu’ appear.

 At the one time boot menu, press the down arrow key to highlight ‘Diagnostic’, then press Enter to begin the PSA diagnostics.

 If the test fails, please make a note of any error codes listed.

If there is no problem with the hardware and the test passes, please try HDD debug. You can follow the steps below to perform the same.

Boot using windows XP CD/DVD

Choose “R” (for recovery console) at the welcome to setup screen

Ensure that the current Volume is C:\ and type mkdiskraw 0 (0 for 1st HDD and 1 for 2nd HDD)

Restart and continue with OS reinstall.

I hope you find this useful.

Thanks and regards,
Senthil S
#iworkfordell.

the bios is updated to ao7 the hard drive is set for the first bootable device in bios so I believe that I may have corrupted the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files when I reset their attributes... I guess I should have read about them before I made changes

Hi skysurfer2501,

I understand that you have performed several steps but you still are unable to delete the partition. I would recommend you to perform the HDD debug, which I have mentioned in my previous post. Performing HDD debug will erase all the data on your HDD.

For further assistance please do reply.

Has this issue been resolved? I've installed a new hard drive on my mini 1010 but can't install Win XP from bootable disk. I'm making notes on what to try once I get home and have my1010 in front of me.