I've formatted my main drive so that I now only have MS-DOS (I think). I have a Windows 2000 disk to put in, but my laptop isn't recognizing it. What do I type at the C or (E) prompt to make it run the CD and install 2000 for me? I had to do this before when the d*mned thing died, and I can't remember how I did it!

Thanks for any help!
Akfsnut (on her new Apple Mac, which is infinitely better)

Have you set the BIOS to boot from the CDROM? If so, when the prompt comes type either

setup

or setup.exe

If your BIOS is set to boot from CDROM, it should start the setup when booting, but you may have to tell it to boot from the CD. There should be an option to boot from the CD or the Hard drive. If you still have problems, please post back so we can take further steps.

chris

First of all, thank you very much for replying so quickly! You're a star!

However...
I put the disk in and typed setup.exe, and it started to install it. It performed the disk check, found no problems, and then stopped.
All I get now is black screen, with
"Please wait while Setup initializes. Scanning system registry... Copying files needed for Windows setup...."
Now it sits and does absolutely nothing, displaying this message. No drive lights are on, the CDs not being read, nothing. I waited for 40 mins last night, watching it to see what it would do. Stupid me, eh.
After ejecting the CD it still displays this message, and I can't get rid of it. It doesn't respond to anything; keyboard, mouse, etc. Turning it off and on only brings it back to the same message.

Er... Any ideas how to rescue this thing I've ruined? All I wanted was Windows installed...

Thanks for your help, and thanks for reading. I'm surprised I got this far with it. Now I remember why I bought an Apple.

Does it have a floppy drive? If so, go to http://www.bootdisk.com, and download a Windows 2000 boot disk, then put the boot floppy in the laptop, turn it on, and when it gets to the "A" prompt, try typing in the "setup" or "setup.exe" commands again, maybe it will work this time. If not, you might try restarting the kaptop, and when the "A:" prompt
comes up again, try formatting the hard drive again by typing the following command:

format C:

When its finished, restart the laptop again, without the boot floppy, but just the Windows 2000 CD in it, and see if it will go thru setup.
If not post back please.

chris

Thank you thank you thank you...

It formatted fine, then loaded Windows perfectly...

Then it got to the page where you put in your serial number, and I found that my (original) copy is no longer in the original case, so I don't have it at all! Bummer!

So does anyone have an engineer's number for Windows 98? (that was the only disk i had that would load on the laptop...)

Thanks for all your help! You're a star!

Supplying you with a product key would tantamount to software piracy, which is frowned upon on this site, and just about any other help site, though if you do a search for 98 product keys, there may be a site that can help you find yours. Good luck!

chris

Thanks for your help, and the reply. I didn't realize, I don't normally have to put in serial numbers or things, all my windows stuff came pre-loaded. Thanks for the warning!

Thanks again,

Akfsnut