[Induk2]

Hello. I have a Compak C-714NR laptop (P/N GR983UA#ABA, 1.46 GHz Intel Pentium dual core processor T2310, 1536 MB DDR2, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, SATA 320GB HD, with preinstalled Vista Home Premium that I didn’t like. After the original HDD crashed I replaced it by a new one (Samsung 320GB, HN320JI, 5400rpm SATA 8MB Notebook HD), and decided to clean install WinXP Professional SP2. Next I’ve formatted the new HDD. When rebutting with the XP installation disk I get:
“Press any key to boot from CD…..
NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart”
From the same CD I’ve already installed Win XP on one of my desktops without any problem. So it is not corrupted. By the way, I’ve found and downloaded “fixntldr” containing files: boot.ini; NTDETECT.COM; NTLDR;winnt.ini; winxp.ini, that are seem necessary but I’ve found no way to use them. Of course I’m working from my desktop PC.
I can't imagin what could be wrong and what the next necessary steps could be. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Riskyone101]

Hello and Welcome to TSF,

Enter bios press F10 right after laptop turns on

Set boot order to:
CD/drive rom
Floppy
harddrive
other devices (optional)

 

[blah789]

Booting from the CD is only the first step. You'll have other hurdles, like the SATA hard drive, and drivers.
http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service...47626+1243551967965+28353475&threadId=1187702
may help.

 

[Induk2]

Hello guys, Riskyone101, blah789. Thank you very much for your time and effort.
Still I’ve already boot order set to CD/drive rom first, and Native sata mode disabled. I’ve also the library of drivers prepared, the sp31075.exe included, although downloaded to my desktop PC, as I can’t boot up the notebook.
The “fixntldr” also was downloaded to my desktop PC. So how to use this preparedness to boot my notebook from the WinXP CD? Thank you.
I haven’t yet posted my reply but discovered the nlite. I have yet to get how to use it. But in any case it seems not possible to integrate nither the content of the ‘fixntldr’ nor the drivers *.exe files with the nlite. I’ll try my best and report the progress. If you have experience I'll greatly appreciate if you prompt me. Thank you.
Sorry I don’t see this yesterday’s reply so I’ll post it now with some extra. As the nlite doesn’t really except *.exe files of prepared drivers I couldn’t even manage to integrate neither the SP36492.exe – the Intel Chipset Installation Utility for ICh8, nor the ‘fixntldr’ that the notebook insisted to need. The only Sp32105.exe I managed to integrate solved no problem. I really need some help. Thanks in advance to everybody who helps. It will be fully appreciated.

 

[Riskyone101]

When you disables native sata mode, what is showing there also?

 

[blah789]

Getting your drivers on the CD isn't particularly important IMHO (except maybe for SATA drivers if you really need them). SP3, and perhaps some essential updates, that's all you need.
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/ could have more help if you really have time to kill (just modify the nLite build folder accordingly).
Are you able to boot from the CD yet or not? What is your boot order? On some HP models you could have "multibay device" for your optical drive (meaning it's a bay that could be replaced with an optical drive, a battery, a floppy, etc.). You should put your hard drive last in the boot order. If you can boot from the CD, just proceed with setup. Worry about nLiting later.

 

[Induk2]

Hollo Riskyone101, blah789. I apologize for my mistake. The notebook hardware is OK and boots from CD properly. I can't make it boot from Win XP CD. I think also that perhaps the XP CD has all the necessary drives for XP except may be the SP36492.exe – the Intel Chipset Installation Utility for ICh8, and the ‘fixntldr’ - loader. Of course I cannot be sure. Can you advise me the next step please?

 

[blah789]

When it says "press any key to boot from CD", did you press a key (enter, space bar, whatever)? If yes, then what happens next? And are you certain the hard drive is set to last in the boot order in the BIOS, and that SATA native mode is off?

 

[Induk2]

Yes I did. Yes I certain and native mode I made off.

 

[dai]

what options does it offer along with native mode

 

[Induk2]

The optios are: CD Drive - first,C Drive - decond

 

[dai]

your looking at the wrong place
click on the sata listing and post what is in the dropdown box

 

[Induk2]

Hello, all guys. I'm greatly sorry that practically I've failed to downgrade the notebook. As it is already absolutely necessary to use it, and I have no more time to waist I had to reinstall the Vista. Still I'm sure to return to the question of downgrading some time later. So I really appreciate your participation and your efforts thank you, and wish everybody good luck.