i found a old pc and i don't know what wrong with it it would't start up

also there "Insert BOOT diskette in A:
Press any key when ready"


what to do now

Did you find it in the trash? Does it use a floppy? If so, forget about it and put it back where it was (check local code before doing that). If not, you better provide some more information such as the model number and so forth. Maybe somebody will be able to help.

Sorry ignore this part

what are the specifications of the computer?

enter the BIOS screen and change the Boot sequence so that Hard drive is at the top

also change the floppy setting to 3.5" or not installed if there isnt one plugged in (sounds silly but our old computer would not boot because the floppy was set to 5 1/4 instead of 3 1/2)

i dont know the specifications of the pc

if i switch it then it will work right?

i try it didnt work
it show "Boot Failure"

so install the xp then when it restart the pc want to reinstall the xp again so what do i do?

you have installed XP?
and it is asking you to install it again? (or starting the process)
take the disk out and restart your computer (then insert it again when asked)

hope this helps,
Sorry if it is not what you were asking

Mike

when i take out the cd the pc it didnt work. with boot fail

it sounds like you havnt got a correctly installed operating system or faulty boot sector. The following instructions are for XP

If you have installed an o/s:
1) boot from your XP CD
2) press R to enter the recovery console
3) chose an operating system (should give to 2 options and a number for each of them, press the number that corresponds with the 'C:\' drive
4) type /fixboot press enter
5) type /fixmbr press enter
6) restart

If you have not installed an o/s or the above didnt work:
1) boot from your XP CD
2) follow the on-screen instructions to perform a clean install of xp (if you are having trouble, there is a good guide here)
3) when the computer restarts DO NOT boot from CD, if the screen saying "Press any key to boot from CD" does not go away, remove the CD from the cd tray. If nothing happens, leave the CD out and restart computer.

Hope this helps,
Mike

when i press r it only show 1 that c:\windows does that mean the pc didn't install an o/s?

now ill try the website

no, that means you have one hard drive (or 1 o/s installed)

that is perfectly normal, just cary on with the other steps.