I recently bought a laptop from someone in the street and that was a mistake. I only paid 200 dollars for it but when I start it up it wants a username and password. I tried to install a fresh copy of WinXP and It can not copy all the files.
I do not know what to do. http://h50025.www5.hp.com/hpcom/hk_en/11_28_147_835_2402.html
Hello there,
Ok I'm assuming you don't really care about any files that were stored on the laptop when you bought it. I'm also assuming that there's no actual hardware defects.
That said, it looks to me that you should do a low level format and probably reset the partition table before that.
This could go on for long but I'll try to give you a quick way here and hopefully you'll manage solve your problem, if not let me know what happens.
Bootup using the XP setup CD and go through the steps as you did in your previous attempt "to install a fresh copy of WinXP" except when you reach the part where you're supposed to choose the drive/partition to install to.
At this point highlight each available partition one by one and hit D on your keyboard to delete the current partition(s) - remember, I'm assuming you don't care about the files currently stored there.
When done, you'll have only one line saying "unpartitioned space" and the size of it. highlight that and hit C on your keyboard to create a new partition (use all available space when prompted - unless you'd like different partitions then do it as u see fit).
After you finish that, you'll be prompted to choose a format option. Make sure you don't choose "leave the current file system...." or any of the options ending with "(Quick)".
This leaves you 2 options, either will be ok but I strongly recommend choosing the option for NTFS unless u have a specific need for FAT32 (if u don't know I believe it's safe to go for NTFS).
Once the formatting is done the installation process should continue without any problems (hopefully).
Good luck.
Ciao for now
That is excatly what I did and at the point it says gathering files to be copied there are files that can not copy. I have to press esc to skip the file and some of those files are the ones that I need. I had similiar problems with Compaq before. They must have this bug in their hardware that prevents any other Software that did not come from them directly to install properly.
Is there anything else I can do?
Hmm, I'm not sure where to go from here. But one last thing, if you have access to another XP Setup CD (from a friend or something) then try that cause the only thing I can think of now is that your CD might be the cause of the problem or even the CD-ROM drive of the laptop.
Anyway, I'm sorry I can't help any further, I hope someone else sees this and offers better help :)
Ciao for now.
replace the hard drive with a new one.
thats the next option.
Try a second copy of XP or 98 or Linux LiveCD....
It sounds like your install disc is buggered up...
If it did work for you at one point in time... Try cleaning the CD...
FYI...
Bad Karma to buy stolen goods...
Take it to the police, hand it in, give as full a description of the person who sold it to you as possible, and sit back reflecting on your stupidity.
Discontinue asking for assistance with stolen goods on reputable forums!
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