Thanks to all the help you guys have given me, my ps is up and running fine. What boot disk should I make? I clicked on My Computer then D floppy drive and from there made a Ms-Dos Start up disk.
I also made a system restore point.
1. What else do I need?
2. Can I use this disk for other computers with win XP on them? Thanks
there is a 6 floppy xp setup that you can use if for some reason you cannot boot from your cd drive. this is only the setup files after which you will need your xp cd to continue.
xp disks can be used on any computer as long as you know the product key of that computer. the key is on the machine; not the disk.
of course cd's must match the os: i.e. pro or home & probably wont work on OEM's
I have the 3 CD,s that came with this mechine. I've always heard people say make a boot disk from your pc when it's up and running, you may need it later. Do I?
the XP Cd is a boot cd. You can also use the floppies Jephree mentioned. Back in the golden oldies, a boot disk was 1 disk...now with XP and other NT derived works, its too big for 1 disk.
Just in case purposes. Just in case your CD Rom doesnt work correctly and you need to access the HD because that isnt bootable...
From my experience with XP and 2k, if the HD is not bootable and the CD is not bootable...you might as well forget the paddle and bucket...you ship has sunk too far.
"the 3 cd's that came with the machine" are most likely all you need.
they would be some type of recovery or factory restore disks.
(each OEM handles this differently).
the option you took in XP to Create a MS DOS Startup diskette:
the XP boot disk is great if you want to boot to a command prompt.
This is a minimal disk - boot files and command.com, but if you add the
files for your BIOS flash it will do the job.
Comes in very handy for flashing BIOS, for example.
If you go to My Computer, right click the drive and take Format, there
is a box for 'MSDOS Startup disk'