*sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

[charvelguy]

Ok, I'm getting a 'invalid system disk' when I turn this thing on. It's a Gateway I bought with no operating system but a code. I have win 2k,(as files stored on a fuctioning system) but I need to make disks to get this into bios so it'll read a cd, and then I need to know how to load an OS and what files will need to be read onto a burned cd.
I have some computer skills, but also an occasional overbearing desire to let my stress level take over an smash this thing.
So if you can offer a computer invalid some specific walk thru's, I'd appreciate it.

[diablomozart]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

you should be able to enter your bios without it ever trying to read a disk at all...a lot of companies try to hide where to get into the bios with fancy title screens...(mine is f2 as the computer is checking for drives, keyboard etc...)...once you get into bios you will have to go to your drives settings and change the order of the drives from which it boots...as for getting a system disk?...only gateway can help you with that i think...you stated you dont have a win 2k cd, and that's the only other option i see...you didn't perchance make a backup bootable disk did you?...d.m.

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

You need a Windows 2K Installation/Setup CD. You can't copy your old system onto CD and then replace it onto your new drive. It doesn' work like that.

With a few products, Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, Partition Magic, etc... you can copy your old system drive image onto your new one, but if the hardware isn't nearly identical you might have a bunch of compatibility issues and conflicts that would make any serious Tier 2 or Tier 3 support guy cringe, and could mean complete instability, crashes, freezes, hangs, etc...

What you need to do:

1) Get a OS installation CD... i.e. W2K, W95, XP, NT, whatever....

2) Start your machine, hit < del > delete key when it says to access the system bios.

3) Select Advanced BIOS Configuration and select drive to boot from (the CD drive) select allow bootable cd (or similar, if option present).

4) Place OS Installation CD into the drive, hit <ESC> to go to the main BIOS menu, select SAVE AND EXIT.

5) Boot from CD and it should bring you to an installation setup screen.

6) Follow the directions from there.


The only way to transfer a functional copy of NT/W2K/XP OS from drive to drive and transplant to another computer is with one of the above mentioned software packages. And what you'd need to do is remove the hard drive from your new computer, place it into your old one, and either mirror or move the active partition to the new drive, and then place the new drive back in the new computer...

Perhaps you could put your old drive into the new computer, but then you would need to go into the BIOS and configure which drive is your primary boot drive...

[charvelguy]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

well, as soon as I turn it on.. I get the invalid system disk message. I can make a win 2k system disk as I have win 2k...but I'd need to know the order of the boot disk to get the system to boot the Hard disk then Drive A and then CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

Ok...how can I make an OS install cd. If I have Win 2k on my system but it's not being used, can I make an install cd? what files would I need first to get it to bios?
(did I hear sirens?)

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

well you will need to know which hard drives are on which channel.... 80g on SATA1, 40g on IDE2, etc... The optical and floppy drives are most likely on seperate controllers and will be indivdually specified in your bios.

Boot order should be Floppy (disabled) Primary Drive (usually SATA1 or IDE1) and then CD/DVD...

Arrainging it so CD/DVD is master might cause that invalid system error if you don't have a valid boot disk in it.

I'm a bit confused as to whether you're moving your old primary drive to the new computer, or just trying to move the active boot partition from your old computer to the new one...

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

Okay, I reread your first message and got this:

You have W2K on your existing machine. You're trying to copy a system boot CD onto your new machine (not a restore or installation CD) to get it to boot, and then to copy over files from your old system to your new one?

It won't work that way. If it will, it's more hassle than it's worth. A program such as the ones I listed above are necessary for copying and transferring a functional operating system from one drive or computer to another.

[charvelguy]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

The system I'm typing on now has WinXP Pro...were not going to use WINXP on the computer I'm refering/asking about tho.. which is the Gateway.
I have bought this other system that has the reg key code for Win2k on the side, but I can't access anything on it. So in light of trying to resolve the problem, I downloaded Win2k startup files (as well as the whole version if I need it)

would the system read 'invalid disk error' if it was clean and no OS was on there? or do I have a corrupted disk or bios?

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

Oh, so the computer is supposed to have an OS preloaded?

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

Wait... so this computer with the registration key on the side is used?

[charvelguy]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

YES, it is a used system I bought from a local vendor, they were supposed to load the OS on it for me but did not..so do I need to make a boot disk from these files I downloaded? It seems the files are corrupted or not present.

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

IF there is no OS preloaded, or if the system was used and primary drive was formatted, you will need to install the OS fresh from a new installation/setup CD.

[charvelguy]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

uhh, well, not to be a hypocrite but, can I make this install cd since it was supposed to have WIN2k on it already?

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

Can you make it? No. You can probably download it and burn it to cd though.

[xenophobe]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

I have to go to bed now, but you should just take it back to the local place and tell them they forgot... let them do the work. lol Good luck!

[charvelguy]

Re: *sigh* computer woes...guru help wanted

ok.. this is where it gets sticky..I've already DL'd it...and burned it onto a CD-R, but it still doesn't read..
since I'm new to cd burning, do I need to format it a certain way to read in the disk drive?