recovery console prompt when installing xp, xp will not setup

[mslaw]

hi, i'll try to provide as much information as i can but i apologize if i leave things out in advance. i'm trying to install winxp professional. i do not know the specs of my hardware. i'm running a computer that's about 3 years old.

i was originally running win ME and wanted to upgrade to 2000 (pro). it would not let me upgrade and the clean install option wouldn't work either (would ask me for admin password, then which windows i wanted to install (1), and after i pressed return, it would give me the c:\> prompt and nothing else)

so, thinking that i needed to do a clean install, i reformatted my hard drive. i created a startup disk, and formatted from DOS (format c (EDIT: on suggestions from users, i did the fdisk partition, and it was successful, but it did not fix the problem)

so i asked my dad and he tells me to change the BIOS setting to first boot: cdrom. i run the setup from the cdrom and i get a BLANK blue screen with text on the very bottom that says "setup is loading files" indicating that win2k is setting up. (please note! i never see a screen that says Welcome to Setup with the three options of setting up, recovery, and quitting)

after it shows the process (extracting the files), the text reads: starting windows 2000.

what happens next is that i get a blank DOS screen that says:

The recovery console provides system repair and recovery functionality. Type EXIT to quit the recovery console and restart the computer
C:\>

and nothing happens after that.

i try this with winxp pro. same thing. as i understand it, i should not encounter this message.

so what happens now is when i turn on my computer, i don't have ANY operating system on it. it used to prompt me for a system disk, but now i get the message: NTLDR is missing. is there another way i can go about the installation??

somebody suggested autoclave (http://staff.washington.edu/jdlarios/autoclave/) but i'm really not sure if that has anything to do with my situation here.

i get the impression that this is a very uncommon problem, as i've been searching google for solutions the entire weekend and have not come across anything. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[sp_100]

Usually, boot disks are NOT needed for Windows XP installation. Did you try booting from Windows XP CD?
Please see How to install or upgrade to Windows XP for more details.

Good Luck!

[puu777]

the command to run windows XP setup in DOs is
you have to be at your cd rom drive prompt first
and then type in winnt.exe
if you use setup.exe it will not work
but the setup will run very slow if you not load smartdrv first
smartdrv file you can get it from windows 98 or windows me CD
but it more easy to run setup for XP from boot to the windows XP CD itself

Good luck!

[puu777]

are you trying to install windows XP or windows 2000 pro?
if you try to install XP
when you can boot to windows XP CD
get to the first screen press Enter not R to go to recovery console
but it seem like the boot disk you donwload is just let you boot to recovery console nothing else

[mslaw]

Originally Posted by puu777

the command to run windows XP setup in DOs is
you have to be at your cd rom drive prompt first
and then type in winnt.exe
if you use setup.exe it will not work
but the setup will run very slow if you not load smartdrv first
smartdrv file you can get it from windows 98 or windows me CD
but it more easy to run setup for XP from boot to the windows XP CD itself

Good luck!

hi, whether i boot with the cd or the bootdisks, the same problem occurs.

but i will try winnt.exe.
you've been the only person to suggest anything useful all day! thank you, i will try this when i get home.

[mslaw]

Originally Posted by sp_100

Usually, boot disks are NOT needed for Windows XP installation. Did you try booting from Windows XP CD?
Please see How to install or upgrade to Windows XP for more details.

Good Luck!

yes, that is the first thing i tried.

[dorkishextreme]

A couple questions:
Did that previous suggestion help?
If not,
After formatting did you run fdisk to create and activate partitions? It shouldn't be needed for the XP or 2000 Clean install.
Are you sure your install disks are good (not just update disks, etc.)?

[mslaw]

Originally Posted by puu777

are you trying to install windows XP or windows 2000 pro?
if you try to install XP
when you can boot to windows XP CD
get to the first screen press Enter not R to go to recovery console
but it seem like the boot disk you donwload is just let you boot to recovery console nothing else

i tried BOTH. i would be happy to get either of the systems to install because currently i'm without an operating system.

i don't type R to go to recovery console. the recovery console thing is just a message that appears, followed by the prompt c:\

i have both the setup cd's for win2kpro, winxp pro, and the boot up disks for both. i've tried only booting from cd with the cds, and booting with the disks first, and i still encounter the same problem.

[mslaw]

Originally Posted by dorkishextreme

A couple questions:
Did that previous suggestion help?
If not,
After formatting did you run fdisk to create and activate partitions? It shouldn't be needed for the XP or 2000 Clean install.
Are you sure your install disks are good (not just update disks, etc.)?

hi, i have not tried to run the setup in DOS with the winnt.exe prompt yet.

no, i did not run fdisk to create partitions after i formatted my hard drive. =( how do i do that?

i am trying clean installs (because at this point, i don't have a choice. i've erased all the operating systems from my hard drive) yes, my install disk are not just update disks.

thank you so much for your help.

[s7p9a2m4]

Something is haywire. Windows is not that hard to install.

Try erasing the entire hard drive with something like Dariks boot and nuke or Eraser. Then boot from the xp cd and start a fresh install. Sometimes remnants of the setup files remain causing errors.

If that dosn't work I would take a hard look at that hard drive. It might be a good idea to test it with a tool available at the manufacturer's website.

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/download.html

[puu777]

you have to try to be able to boot to windows XP CD if you get it right you will not see the recovery consloe screen with the C:\
if the BIOS already set to boot from CD rom
put the XP CD in the drive and then then PC off wait 10 sec
turn it back on again
right after you turn it back on start tapping any key right a way
it will boot to the XP CD if your XP CD is not the burns copy
because XP CD is bootable you just have to get it on time
if that not work after you run fdisk make a new partitons format it
and then run smartdrv.exe first
if not you will looking at copy file screen for about 5 to 8 hour
after run smartdrv go to you cd rom driver and then go to i386 folder in the xp cd and the winnt.exe file is in there just run in setup will start to copy file
good luck

[puu777]

try to not use the third party software to format the hard drive
or use drive over lay software windows XP doesn't like that very much
it will give you a odd problem later

[mslaw]

Originally Posted by puu777

you have to try to be able to boot to windows XP CD if you get it right you will not see the recovery consloe screen with the C:\
if the BIOS already set to boot from CD rom
put the XP CD in the drive and then then PC off wait 10 sec
turn it back on again
right after you turn it back on start tapping any key right a way
it will boot to the XP CD if your XP CD is not the burns copy
because XP CD is bootable you just have to get it on time
if that not work after you run fdisk make a new partitons format it
and then run smartdrv.exe first
if not you will looking at copy file screen for about 5 to 8 hour
after run smartdrv go to you cd rom driver and then go to i386 folder in the xp cd and the winnt.exe file is in there just run in setup will start to copy file
good luck

hi, i did the fdisk partition successfully, but that did not fix the problem.

my computer is able to boot from cdrom, so that is not a concern.

when i boot with cd, i get a blue screen that is blank, except at the bottom it says "setup is loading files" and shows the files that are extracting. then, after all the files are loaded, it says "windows starting" but never starts, and instead takes me to a blank screen with the recovery console message.

how do i run smartdrv?
do i turn on the computer and boot to cdrom, or use a startup floppy ?

when i boot up my computer without a startup floppy or a cd, it will not boot up and i get the message: NTLDR is missing.

thanks for your patience.

[dorkishextreme]

Sorry to hear that the problem is continuing. I'm not so sure how helpful my advice will be, as I'm just learning this stuff. With that disclaimer, here we go...

As I understand it, before an OS can be loaded, the harddrive needs to be prepped by running fdisk from the boot/disk, and creating partition(s). Not only that but the partitions must be made active. Once that's done, formating the partition is required. From my experience, it doesn't matter if you initially format in FAT as when you install the 2000 or XP OS it will make you reformat the drive in NTFS before installing.
(I used a 98 boot disk to format my drive for installation of 2000... no problem)

I don't know anything about smartdrive, but it sounds like it should be on the bootdisk/startup floppy... can you use the command prompt to see what is on the disk? ( a:>dir OR a:>dir /p to make it pause). If so, you could probably run smartdrive after you see the file name...

What happened when you tried winnt.exe? (YOu might have said it b4, but I forgot... I'll check)
Good luck

Originally Posted by mslaw

hi, i did the fdisk partition successfully, but that did not fix the problem.

my computer is able to boot from cdrom, so that is not a concern.

when i boot with cd, i get a blue screen that is blank, except at the bottom it says "setup is loading files" and shows the files that are extracting. then, after all the files are loaded, it says "windows starting" but never starts, and instead takes me to a blank screen with the recovery console message.

how do i run smartdrv?
do i turn on the computer and boot to cdrom, or use a startup floppy ?

when i boot up my computer without a startup floppy or a cd, it will not boot up and i get the message: NTLDR is missing.

thanks for your patience.

[dorkishextreme]

Are the disks you're using to install XP Recovery Disks, or original XP disks? I'm wondering if the recovery console is due to the disks you're using.