Problem reinstalling XP on C521

Question

I didn't really know where to put this as it is concerned with a few areas, but as my end goal is to get XP reinstalled I suppose this section is best. What i'm trying to do is reinstall XP onto this DELL C521 PC. It had Windows MCE on it originally but I removed that and installed Fedora core 6 in an attempt to set it up as a server. I had the USB incompatibility problem that is known for the C521 when running the linux kernel. The advice I read on these forums advised me to flash the BIOS to version 1.4, the latest one for this machine. I've since decided to give up on the idea of setting up a server on this PC and want to reinstall XP. This is where my problems start. I hit F12 at post, select 'boot from the CD' with the XP MCE install CD in the drive. The screen displays 'press any key to boot from CD' after I press a key the screen flashes up 'loading configuration files' then goes blank. At first I though it was the CD, so I tried a retail XP home CD, XP Professional CD, another DELL Dimension XP home CD and a slipstreamed XP cd with nvidia NF430 drivers on it. Finally I got it to load into Windows 2000 setup, but I don't want to use windows 2000 and I didn't wait, but i'm guessing it wouldn't pick up the SATA drive in this PC either. So any advice? What could be causing this machine to not boot from the XP CD? My ideas are that it could be the SATA DVD drive, but I can't replace it as there are no IDE connectors on this motherboard. I also think it could be the BIOS update is causing the problem but I don't have a reason why it would. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

reedm30 · Answer

Hi, I was online in the Dell Community and just happen to come across your posting about having problems with Microsoft XP. My computer came with Microsoft XP and I decided to use it one night and it kept asking for the Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 disc. Then it asked me to find STDP11N.MSI in one of the folders. This folder doesn't exist on my computer as far as I know.  So, I reinstalled the program as I was told and I still can't use my Microsoft because it's asking for the 25 Digit Product Code and then it says that the code is incorrect.  I've talked with Dell Customer Service and Tech Support. I being told to speak with Software Support which wants to charge me $79 to probably tell me to purchase a new copy of Microsoft and that problem will be fixed. That's absolutely ridiculous. So, the problem that you're having I'm not surprised. Dell honestly I think that know about this problem with there computer software and doesn't want to help remedy the problem. They want you to have to purchase more software from them. But, I will never spend another dime on anything with the Dell logo on it. I can't help you with your issue and saw that you have a little bit more advanced knowledge of computers than I do. My individuals with this problem need to be seek out outside of the Dell Community because Dell is making money off of an issue that they know exist. In the age of Blogging and being able to create your own website the actions that Dell isn't taking to fix the problem that they know exist isn't wish for future sales of their products. I hope you can get your problem solve........Peace!

simpswr · Answer

Is your keyboard USB? . . if so, replace it with a PS/2 keyboard/mouse for the installation.  XP will not always recognize usb devices at this stage of the installation.

simpswr · Answer

Did you use the product code that is on the CD wrapper? . . you do not use the Product Code that is on the side of the pc . . that is for the Operating System   BTW . . not nice to hijack another thread for an unrelated issue

leimrod · Answer

ah and in that lies the rub... for DELL where nice enough not only to remove the IDE connector from the motherboard but also the PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors. So i´m left with having to use only the USB keyboard.

Last night I though it might of been a problem with the onboard graphics so I tried a low profile PCIex card and still no go, it gets to the same point then the screen goes blank. This is really frustrating, its taken me days to fix something which should of taken an hour.

My only option now is to try and boot up from the XP floppies, but then theres the problems of drivers for the chipset... man this is a headache.

Does anyone else have any other ideas on how to get the DVD drive on this pc to boot up from. It seems weird it can boot from windows 2000 and 98 cd´s which dont have drivers for SATA DVD drives, yet it cant boot from the DELL XP CD????

simpswr · Answer

On the systems without ps/2 connections, A couple of the USB ports are active at boot . . you might have to experiment with which ones . . usually the upper most ports.   You can also go into BIOS ( Setup) and enable legacy USB

leimrod · Answer

Ok just as a conclusion to this i finally got XP to boot into the install CD. I guess the linux install was stopping it somehow. So I dban´d the drive to wipe it then booted into the install CD and its working fine now. Tnx everyone for the help.

Windows General

Was this post helpful?