Help!!! xps420 problem

Hello sludge123, First, you should have backed up any data that you may need later, since the x64 OS will require a format a reinstall, resulting in the loss of all the data.

There are actually four partitions on the drive, the first and fourth being hidden.

From the above information, it appears that you have a 1 TB drive and that you may have reformatted the Dell Recovey restore partition.

It is the one that is about the size of 10-15 GBs, depending on your particular system.

You mentioned inserting the CD, but are you referring to the authentic Dell x64 DVD supplied by Dell?

If so, all the drivers for the system should be on this DVD, but if you are using another x64 OS DVD, the drivers for the drive controller chipset may not be on it.

If you have the Dell x64 OS, you should be able to insert in the optical drive, and assuming it is set as the first boot device, it shloud boot to the Dellx64 OS and load the drivers for the chipset and continue with the install.

At the first part of the install, where the drives are shown, select the largest partition and reformat it and then proceed.

I should also mention that the BIOS should already have been updated to version A06, since earlier versions had some issues.

This is the proper way to upgrade from x86 (32 bit) to x64.

Hope this helps.

Hi mate and thanks for your quick reply.

All data that i needed was put on discs ie pics, music etc

\yes its a 1Tb drive and yes i think i formatted the dell recovery restore partition.

Yes the cd i put in was the dell 64os

I followed the instruction of f12 then selected boot from cd/dvd then enter then a keyboard letter. All was okay as it said it was loading windows. It then showed the 2 partitions as you have said above, and to choose where you would like windows to install to.

When the 64os cd was in place NO drivers were showing up. After kind of losing the will to live, i then thought id try the original 32os cd. That loaded okay then again asked for drivers. When i put the driver cd in, it picked up on SATA RAID drivers, 2 of them actually but again when selecting them it took me back to the screen saying that windows is unable to find a system volume that meets its citeria for istallation

The drives are showing the following

disk 0 partition 2 14.gb

disk 0 partition 3 916gb

After formatting the drive you stated, its still not doing anything. Ive clicked the button saying, load drivers. A message has then come up " no device drives were found, make sure that the installation media contains the correct devices and then click ok"

I am now completely lost.

Hello sludge123, You might try to enter the BIOS by pressing F2 at the Dell Logo screen, and not F12, and in the boot sequence order, choose the DVD drive as the first boot device and the 1 TB hard drive as the second boot device, save the settings and reboot with the Dell DVD in the optical drive.

You need to be sure you are choosing the partition 3 (916 GB) as the drive to install the OS on.

If all is OK, it should boot to the Dell x64 DVD and proceed with the install.

Hope this helps.

|Hanspuppa thanks for the reply.

ive attempted to do this again. The options in boot sequence look like this

onboard or usb floppy drive (not present)

onboard sata hard drive (not present)

usb device

Intel Array

1. onboard or usb cd rom drive.

When i restarted the pc i had bit og light at the end of the tunnel as it said it was loading windows files. I then chose language and keyboard settings etc. it then showed me the 2 drive options ie 15gb and 916gb. It will not however still load the cd and asks for the drivers.

Both the bios ao6 and intel chipset have been downloaded onto disc but when the disc is in situ and searches for the drivers, nothing can be seen!!!!

Hi pal. The disc i have is red and has re-installation dvd windows vista ultimate 64bitsp1 on it. I have just done as you recommended in the post above and repowered pc. The cd/dvd is first, then sata hard drive (even tho it says its not present!) Windows loaded the files.Language and keyboard settings done. Accepted licence terms. Chose partition 3 to load up to and then a message saying "this computer hardware may not support booting to this disc. Ensure the discs contoller is enabled in BIOS Menu"

hello sludge123, It appears that in the BIOS under Drives, you may not have the port for the 1 TB drive enabled. I would double check this setting.

The Dell Vista x64 DVD I have is green and not red, so I am unsure whether yours is the same or not, although it very well may be.

Hello sludge123, You might try to enter the BIOS and in the Drives Section make sure the ports for the Onboard CD\DVD drive and the Onboard SATA drive are enabled. All the other devices can be disabled.

This (onboard sata hard drive (not present) suggest that the port for the SATA hard drive is not enabled in the Drive Section.

If you do not have a floppy drive, disable this option.

Then go to the Boot Sequence Order and make the Onboard CD\DVD drive is the first boot device and the Onboard SATA hard drive is the second boot device.

Are you using the authentic Dell x64 DVD disk for your install?

If you are not, the chipset drivers must be on the disk you are using or the drives will not appear as they should.

Hope this helps.

Hi pal.

The disc i have is red and has re-installation dvd windows vista ultimate 64bitsp1 on it.

I have just done as you recommended in the post above and repowered pc. The cd/dvd is first, then sata hard drive (even tho it says its not present!)

Windows loaded the files.Language and keyboard settings done. Accepted licence terms. Chose partition 3 to load up to and then a message saying "this computer hardware may not support booting to this disc. Ensure the discs contoller is enabled in BIOS Menu"

Hello sludge123, Are you saying that you have two 500 GB drives confiqured in a Raid0 array that would show up as a 915 GB drive?

It appears this is what you have. If it is, you will have to set up the Intel Raid Controller Utility and make the two 500 GB drives as a Raid0.

Since you already mentioned you have your data backed up and reformatted the Dell Rcovery Restore, I would boot the system, and when the Intel Raid screen appears, press ctrl and I at the same time to enter the Raid Configuration Utility.

Once there, I would remove (delete) the current Raid array and create a new Raid0 array with the two 500GB drives.

Once this is done, reboot and re-enter the BIOS and make all the settings as mentioned earlier.

With all the formatting and different settings, you may have corrupted the Raid0 array, so it would need to be rebuilt.

With the information you have provided, I suspect this is where the issues are being caused.

Give this a try and see what it gives you.

You do seem to be gaining on it.

Umm ok.

under the BIOS drives it shows that thers 2 500gb drives, although these were not tail drives when i bought it if that makes sense. I have the following drives

diskette drive (there isnt one) (thats off)

sata 0 5oogb controlled by raid bios( thats on) with a message of This device is controlled by raid bios

sata1 as above (thats on)with a message of this device is controlled by raid bios

sata2 pbs dvd +/- rw (thats on)

sata3 (thats off)

sata4 (thats off)

external sata (thats off)

sata operation (raid on)

Hello sludge123, Are you saying that you have two 500 GB drives confiqured in a Raid0 array that would show up as a 915 GB drive?

Ye mate - ithink so. I have some experince but not loads, so apologise for acting dumb, but appreciate your help and patience with me!:emotion-10:

Ill go try now...........

Right. Ive gone into drive configuration and is showing this

raid id 0 931gb and is bootable

physical discs

port0 465gb status disc0

port1 465gb staus disc1

Right. Ive gone into drive configuration and is showing this raid id 0 931gb and is bootable physical discs port0 465gb status disc0 port1 465gb staus disc1

This information looks correct. Now you just need to make sure the Boot Sequence is First Boot Device is set to onboard CD\DVD drive and the Second Boot Device is the onboard SATA hard drive.

Save the settings and reboot with the Vista x64 DVD in the optical drive, and the install you proceed.

No need to apologize and thanks. I am more than happy to be of any help, if I can.

I am in and out of the Dell Community Forum, so I want always reply as quickly as I would like.

OK. We MIGHT be getting somewhere now. Windows loaded, entered country and keyboard settings etc. 2 drives showed up, the 15gb one and the 916 gb one. Went to click on partition 3 (916gb) and message at bottom says "windows is unable to find a system volume that jmeets its criteria for installation" i clicked load drivers and it showed the following: local disk c local disk d cd drive:vista_sp1 ultimate with following options of boot efi langpacks sources support upgrade then in the list was boot x then all the card reader drive stuff eg, drive f g h j AM i right in assuming that one of the files in the vista sp1 cd should be chosen? i noticed on front of the dvd that it says this cd does not contain any drivers.................

The C: is the partition for the OS and the D: is the Dell Recovery restore partition, which is no longer valid. You can remove it after you get the OS installed and have only one partition with a total of the C: and D: partitions.

You must not have the authentic Dell Vista x64 DVD if it advises the drivers are not on the DVD. This presents a problem since your Vista install DVD does not have the drivers for the chipset controller for the hard drives. That is why you are receiving the error.

You can downlaod the chipset drivers from the Dell website, but you would need to burn them to a CD\DVD disk and when the screen comes up you can remove the original disk  and insert DVD that you burned the drivers to, and at the bottom of the screen there is an option to load the drivers. It should copy them and then advise you to re-insert the original Vista DVD, and the install should proceed.

Since the DVD you have does not have the neccessary drivers for the system, you will have to find a way to get them installed before the OS can go forward. It cannot recogonize the hard drives.

The Vista x64 DVD must not be a Dell supplied disk, because all the Dell DVD disk have the drivers embedded in them.

OK. We MIGHT be getting somewhere now. Windows loaded, entered country and keyboard settings etc.

2 drives showed up, the 15gb one and the 916 gb one.

Went to click on partition 3 (916gb) and message at bottom says "windows is unable to find a system volume that jmeets its criteria for installation"

i clicked load drivers and it showed the following:

local disk c

local disk d

cd drive:vista_sp1 ultimate with following options of

boot

efi

langpacks

sources

support

upgrade

then in the list was boot x

then all the card reader drive stuff eg, drive f g h j

AM i right in assuming that one of the files in the vista sp1 cd should be chosen? i noticed on front of the dvd that it says this cd does not contain any drivers.................