Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 22

Thread: Upgrading '98 O/S on laptop to XP problem

  1. #1
    dodgy368's Avatar Poster
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    West Londinium
    Posts
    1,056
    A friend asked me to put xp on an old laptop running 98(not SE), not a problem I thought, took it home and put an xp disc in, the drive spins up and then stops, so I right click and explore d drive and get "not ready reading drive d", have tried xp discs that I know work but still no joy.

    Any ideas???

  2. Software & Hardware   -   #2
    Barbarossa's Avatar mostly harmless
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Over here!
    Posts
    15,180
    Faulty drive?

  3. Software & Hardware   -   #3
    zapjb's Avatar Computer Abuser BT Rep: +3
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    3,606
    Ok it won't play the disk. Will it boot from it?

  4. Software & Hardware   -   #4
    How about after running a lens cleaner disk? You wanted one anyway, right? make your buddy buy it for you. Also pick up a can of compressed air and open the tray and blow that thing out before you run the disk. Also you can try the old uninstall the rom drive from Device Manager to sort out and driver bugs after a reboot.

    By the way, if you get the rom drive sorted out I should warn you, I have upgraded over Win98 to XP and I ended up formatting out and installing XP by itself. The resulting OS was so slow and buggy I had no choice. You can go back to 98 after you install XP but your better off saving data (external drive?) and formatting to a clean install for the best results.

  5. Software & Hardware   -   #5
    Virtualbody1234's Avatar Forum Star BT Rep: +2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    10,763
    Definitely fresh install!

    What are the specs of this laptop?

    Is it even able to run XP adequately?

  6. Software & Hardware   -   #6
    You might be better off with windows 2000

  7. Software & Hardware   -   #7
    dodgy368's Avatar Poster
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    West Londinium
    Posts
    1,056
    Thanks for your suggestions guys.

    Damn thing has a virus, will have to sort it at the weekend.

  8. Software & Hardware   -   #8
    peat moss's Avatar Software Farmer BT Rep: +15BT Rep +15BT Rep +15
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Delta B.C. Canada
    Posts
    10,547
    @VB
    @Accat13

    Ya my thoughts too as I'v just done just that on two computers I repaired for friends . Whats funny is Win 2000 pro had all the drivers on a fresh install .

    Computers for their parents to just go online and e-mail , A P4 2.0 and P3 800, my problem was memory mismatched pc133 memory but Win200 was very forgiving and both are 512 mb . Hey want a new computer ,buy it .

  9. Software & Hardware   -   #9
    dodgy368's Avatar Poster
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    West Londinium
    Posts
    1,056
    Def need help now, pretty sure a virus is blocking anything I try.

    CD drive will only recognise retail music cd's.

    Any other disc is not recognised.

    Operating system is 98.

    Have tried 98 boot disk with no joy, it will not let me format the drive.
    HELP!

  10. Software & Hardware   -   #10
    I'm fairly certain the problem is with your drive. Since you say you are having this problem also at boot where its very unlikely that a virus is messing with it. I have had the same problem with many older drives. The first signs of failure are that it will play only some discs. This has to do with the lasers ability to focus. I would try a lens cleaner and a different drive (external?) to narrow down the problem.

    If you have no way of doing any of that, I would take the laptop hard drive out, stick it into a desktop with an adapter and install there. Then put it back into the laptop.

    ciram

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •