Hello

I have advised a friend of mine to boot up Windows from the CD - changing the BIOS ORDER. It occurred to me from what she told me over the PHONE that Windows was corrupt, and reinstallation was the best remedy I could think of. She is the coordinator of a charity that attempts to teach basic computer skills to the elderly. I will be visiting next week only, so if anyone does reply here, please bear in MIND that it will be a few days before I can get back with any firm results.

She has managed to change the BIOS order with the Windows XP CD in the tray, and the PC has attempted to copy the new Windows files onto the hard drive. For some reason, it has stopped at 60%.

What might be causing this, please - corrupt hard drive? - and what is the best solution I can try when I visit next week?

Thanks.

High1First of all, reinstalling Windows should be the LAST option, not the first.

Second, I don't know if she's attempting a repair install or a clean install. If the latter, she should choose the option to format before installing. WITHOUT knowing more about the specific situation, it's hard to diagnose further.Hello Allan

I'm afraid I don't know much more than you at this stage. She told me that when she first turned on the PC she got the 'blue SCREEN' so inserted the Windows installation CD in the CD drive and again got the blue screen

It was at that point that I thought a clean install would be necessary. As far as I know there is nothing on the PC and it's quite old.

After she has booted from the CD in it's drive, would it be best then to choose 'format' and not install? How would she (or I) know that the culprit, so to speak, is not the hard drive itself?

Thanks again.

High1Hard Drive Diagnostics:
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

Make sure you select the tool which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), to make the CD bootable.
For Toshiba drives, see here: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic


As for installation, as long as there's nothing worth saving on the drive then yes, she should format as part of the installation routine. Here are all the steps - you may or may not wish to delete and recreate the system partition: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348Wow!

Thank you for your comprehensive explanation and links.

I will definitely use them when I get to the centre and I'll post back to let you know how things went.

Much appreciated, Allan.

High1You're very welcome.