[DenChm]

Hi Im new to this web site and would appreicate any help I can get. I can't reinstall window's on my laptop It's a Dell and it's really not that old. Here is what the screen says:
Thank you so much

[zabusant]

Hi!

Was there a particular reason why you reinstalled?
Run CheckDisk from the recovery console (just boot from the cd, select R and type in the command chkdsk /r).
Are you using the original disk that came with the PC?

[DenChm]

Yes because when I turned on the computer the blue screen was there and I couldn't do anything so I tried to reinstall windowsxp and the blue screen showed up again. I can't boot from the original CD that came with my system OR the HD. I can't do anything to get that blue screen off. I really have tried EVERYTHING????? Please Help
Thanks D

[zabusant]

Do you maybe have an USB floppy disk drive or could borrow one?

If you could, you could use the w2k boot disk and check the drive - and it should "bypass" th ntfs driver issue.

[DenChm]

No I don't have a USB floppy disk drive, where could I get one from??

[DoubleHelix]

Are you sure the computer is booting from the CD? Did you change the boot order in the BIOS or select the CD drive from the boot menu?

[DenChm]

Yes it's booting from the CD and I have tried to boot from HD also. Blue screen keeps popping up and I am stopped dead in my tracks.

[zabusant]

Yeah, I know exactly what you're going through. I had the exact same issue but I had an USB floppy drive, so I booted from the w2k boot disk and ran chkdsk (or is it scandiskk in 2k?, really can't remember). And it fixed it.

I guess the solution lies along the same lines for you as well. We just need to find a bootable cd, that will do the job. I will google around and let you know if I find anything like that, but right now, I don't know of such a tool, since I have my PC's backed-up and if there's a problem which I can't easily solve, I usually just format the disk and restore the backup.

EDIT: I guess you could try Bart PE.

[DoubleHelix]

It doesn't make sense that you'd see exactly the same error message when booting from the CD versus booting from the hard drive. Booting from the CD completely bypasses the existing Windows installation. You wouldn't see error messages related to it. I really don't think you're booting from the CD.

Are you using the computer's restore disk? Full retail disk? A copy?

[DenChm]

Hi
I looked at the site you suggested and it’s all foreign to me. I’m afraid I’m not that educated in computers to try something so complicated. It just seems odd to me that a blue screen could be stopping me from reinstalling windows xp and there would be a simpler solution to my problem.
I’m just perplexed by the whole thing.
I did notice something that I haven’t made you aware of is when I reboot from the CD window’s starts up with the window screen and then in the back ground I briefly see another blue screen but I can’t read it and then it goes to the black screen to restart windows and the process goes on and on until I put the CD in and then it loads the CD and asks me if I want to reinstall windows or repair. When I choose either reinstall or R the blue screen appears that I attached and that’s the end of the story. I’m stuck and frustrated!!
Where does the answer lie??
Thanks

[zabusant]

Originally Posted by DoubleHelix

It doesn't make sense that you'd see exactly the same error message when booting from the CD versus booting from the hard drive. Booting from the CD completely bypasses the existing Windows installation. You wouldn't see error messages related to it. I really don't think you're booting from the CD.

Are you using the computer's restore disk? Full retail disk? A copy?

Well, I think the partition is corrupted. But it is only when the ntfs driver is loaded (HDD or WinXP disk, doesn't matter) it reads the partition and stops ("reads" is an akward term, but I can't think of a better one). If you do not load the driver (chkdsk does not need ntfs.sys to run), it will not BSoD. That's it.


DenChm:
Oh, so you are trying to reinstall? Would you be fine with formatting the drive? Because that would solve the problem easily. (if it is what I think it is)

[DenChm]

Yes it's the original CD that was I recieved when I bought the laptop. It won't boot from the CD honest!!!

[DenChm]

Yes I would be fine formatting the drive. How do I do that zabusant?

[DenChm]

Hey I just tried to start windows and I pressed F8 and I am seeing 2 installed xp's on my computer. I can't start either one of them. Is there anyway I can delete one of them or both of them??
Maybe window's won't reinstall because there is no room on my HD. Is that possible??

[zabusant]

Formatting will delete EVERYTHING on your disk. (just a fair warning)

Well, I suggest using GParted. Download this and burn the image to a cd. Then boot from this cd (like you would from a windows cd) and at the menu select the first option (Gparted live...). While it's loading it will ask you for some input (selecting language...), just press enter each time to keep it default.

When it loads and scans the drive (might take a couple of minutes) click on the partition on which windows is on (probably the whole drive in your case) and click "delete". Select the empty space (the gray space where the partition was before) and click "new". Change the filesystem to NTFS and it should also say "create as primary partition". Click ok. You should now have 2 "pending operations". Click Apply to finish the job. After it's done, you should have a fresh new partition and can start reinstalling windows. That's it.

If you have any questions during the process, just ask.