Hello,

I need some help with installing xp home on a comp with no OS.

I have 2 PCs, one DELL and one HP.
I have XP pre-intalled on the dell computer and the HP came with no OS!

Unfortunately I dont have an installation CD for XP but I do have the correct and legal product key!

So what do I do in order to run windows on the HP?



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I did try using this method....
http://www.howtohaven.com/system/cre...etupdisk.shtml

but it gave me an error:

file\i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded. Error code 14

Just to verify: You built this CD from the Dell to use on the HP?

If so the HP is rejecting the Dell BIOS as it should. Like it's the wrong blood type in a sense.

The easiest answer to your question is to find a friend with an XP CD.

If that is not possible we can try to research a way around this.

Perhaps removing certain Dell specific files would work.

As a trial and error you could start by removing biosinfo.inf from the CD.

The HP does not need (nor will it accept) the Dell BIOS.


Again the easiest is to find a friend willing to lend their Retail CD. As long as you use your own Product Key this should not be a problem.

Here is another explanation:

All articles about biosinfo reference that either your recovery disc has a bad biosinfo file, or your computers biosinfo file is corrupt, or... the biosinfo file doesn't match between your computer and the recovery disc... meaning your disc thinks it doesn't belong to the computer it's trying to recover. I have searched long and hard through Google groups and I cannot find a resolution... given that you have no option to cancel the windows xp setup.

I guess I should have asked you whether you're using a full version XP disc to attempt recovery, or is it a Dell recovery disc. I assumed it was a Dell disc, since you said you have a Dell PC. There may be something we can try if it's a full Xp disc... but if it's a Dell, then I honestly don't know where to go from here.

This error is reported quite extensively regarding using Dell CD's on non Dell computers.

ahh I see that helps quite a bit.. thanks guys!

I have another hp comp at home... I guess I can try the same procedure with the hp comp!

That should give you a better chance.

Or if your other HP has a Recovery Disk it may work.

Manufacturers like Dell and HP use so much proprietary hardware and software that they make it difficult to work outside of their framework.

You could also put UBUNTU or another LINUX distro on the computer rather than windows.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

HP reinstallation disks are fairly model specific, due to drivers, applications, etc. I have a client who brought in a HP in which the boot sector and, most likely, system registry was so corrupted that it would not boot; it would just hang on the bios splash screen.

After attempting to repair Windows, using the recovery console from a OEM installation disk (he never created the recovery disks, per HP standard practice), I contacted HP online, using their instant messaging format. After creating an account and trouble ticket in the name of my client, explaining the situation, detailing every step in my attempt to recover the system and giving an approximate purchase date (it had been a couple of months over the one year warranty period), I requested that they send me a reinstallation disk. To my amazement, they did so...and at no cost!!

Take note: you have to jump through hoops to navigate HP's site (no small task which I'm sure is intended as a vetting practice, on their part); it doesn't hurt to demonstrate that you are competent in trouble-shooting and isolating the issue by explaining, in proper terminology, what steps were taken up to the point of contacting HP's tech; and most importantly, be polite to the on-line tech.

Good luck, I hope you fare as well as I did.

KDawg

I very much endorse Jephree's suggestion of giving Ubuntu a spin. You can download and burn the Desktop CD and run it Live, which means you can test drive it without formally installing it on your system.

Personally, I like Ubuntu, and use it to give new life to older Windows machines that I pull out of service.