Member Avatar for OGP_Patrick

Please HELP! :cry:

While away (wife :o ) ugraded Windows 98 with Windows XP Professional (Corporate) on old desktop (Dell Dimension XPS450), worked fine until she kept getting error messages, so she decided to load Windows XP Professional (that came pre-loaded with the Dell Inspiron 8200). NOW! I cannot even start up the desktop. During the start up mode this is what happens.

"Please select the operating system to start.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Winsows XP Start-Up

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlighted choice you want to start.

Press ENTER to choose:
Seconds until highlighted choice will start automaticall 5."

Then it goes to the next screen and shows the below noted message.

"Set-Up is inspecting your computer hardware configuration..."

It stays on this page forever. PLEASE...we (as you can tell) are not computer literate. I am AMAZED by the experts on this forum and hopefully someone can come through.

Kindest Regards,
Patrick

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mahmood-911turb

Dani AI

Generated

The symptoms described by — a two-line boot menu and the system stalling at "Set‑Up is inspecting your computer hardware configuration..." — match a common situation where a second XP setup/installation was started and left the machine in an incomplete state. correctly flagged the duplicate installations, and pointed to online guidance; below are practical, non-destructive steps and safe diagnostics that complement those suggestions without repeating them.

First, try non-destructive boot options (press F8 during POST/boot to show Advanced Boot Options). If either boot menu entry allows "Safe Mode" or "Last Known Good Configuration," that can permit copying critical data off the disk and cleaning the boot entries from within Windows (msconfig -> BOOT.INI). Before any destructive fix, important files should be copied to external media or another PC.

If neither option boots, use the Windows XP CD to enter the Recovery Console (press R when prompted) and perform disk and boot-file checks. Typical Recovery Console commands to run are:

chkdsk /r
fixboot c:
fixmbr
dir c:\

The dir output helps identify how many Windows folders exist (for example C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS.000). If two installations exist, consider mounting the drive on another machine or using the Recovery Console to rename the unwanted Windows folder (for example ren C:\WINDOWS.000 C:\WINDOWS.000.OLD) only after ensuring the correct installation is identified and user data is safe.

If setup still hangs, remove non-essential hardware (USB devices, PCI cards), reset BIOS defaults, and run a memory test (Memtest86) or swap RAM sticks; hardware faults can freeze setup during hardware inspection. If rescue of data is the priority, a Linux live CD or connecting the drive to another PC will allow file copy before any reinstall.

If a clean reinstall is chosen, use media that matches the machine’s OEM/activation method (mismatched OEM disks can cause driver/license issues).

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Member Avatar for bentkey

First of all you now have 2 copies of Windows XP installed or partially installed. I.E. a dual boot system. I would imagine, that the one you actually want is the upgrade from windows 98 because that is where all your applications and data will be. So, I suggest you try to start the setup from the XP pro corporate again(do not use the one from the Inspiron). When asked tell it you want to install not repair. When it starts to install, it will first look for existing installations. It should find both, then ask if you want to repair or install new. At this point respond that you want to repair. but you want to select the original upgrade install one that should be in c:\windows if everything was standard with your original Windows 98 install. This is called a repair install. If you encounter errors in the install, come back here with the errors and when they occured. You will need to manually remove the duplicate install, but we can deal with that later. If you don't really care about the old applications and data, you may just wish to format the hard drive and start over fresh. Once you get 2 bothched installs going, it can be tough to completely straighten the mess out. Also, did you try starting both copies of Windows XP?

Member Avatar for mahmood-911turb

I have the same problem about "setup insinspecting.....".
visit for solution

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