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Bella's Arcade [FINISHED]
GAtekwriter:
A few thoughts:
1. Have you gone into the BIOS and configured it to boot off the CD? (It's different for every PC, but usually involves hitting an F# key at some point or some combination of SHIFT-ALT or other)
2. One thought if you keep having problems is to download a bootable floppy image that can install a stripped down version of DOS. This will allow you to use FDISK to look at the partitions to make sure they exist and are configured properly - you need a primary partition set for a bootable CD like XP to install.
3. If the PC is booting off the PC, is it showing a white progress bar along the bottom that says "Checking Hardware" and "Copying Files" or stuff like that? If you're not seeing that part, then XP is definitely not installing and it could be a bunch of things.
4. If XP install isn't starting (#3 above), be sure to check a few simple things first - make sure your memory modules are inserted completely and haven't wiggled out. Check all the cables to make sure nothing has gotten disconnected - hard drive is a big one :) check both ends of the cable that connect hard drive and motherboard.
csa3d:
Firstly, I'm sorry to hear you have a Gateway computer. I've had very poor experiences with them in the past.
This being said, if you have any additional items like a 2nd cdrom drive or a zip disk drive or other add-ons, unplug them until you get the core system set up. Once you do, plug them back in and configure them with plug-and-pray. I remember having a similar issue and I believe my zip drive being connected during installation was killing it. Disregard if you do not any additional addons.
-csa
javeryh:
Thanks for the tips! I actually don't even know what BIOS is so that should tell you my level of sophistication when it comes to computers. I did manage to figure out the partitions though - I had one partition which made up 99% of the hard drive and then 16KB of "unpartitioned space."
I also ran a configuration diagnostic and it said I had a "blocker" program installed which wouldn't allow me to install XP. It was the "Gateway GoBack" program which allows me to revert the hard drive to an earlier point in time in case of a problem. The dilemma was that if I uninstalled it, I couldn't use it to go back in case I messed up.
I am working through a lot of scary blue screens right now... I deleted the partition which contained all of the stuff on my computer, then made a new one and selected "Format with NTFS" and that's where I'm at right now... It says "formatting hard drive" and is at around 35%. I will definitely post the results. If it installs properly then I can worry about getting MAME/MaLa on there and optimizing/tweaking performance.
And yes, I am slowly learning that Gateways aren't that great (but hopefully good enough to run what I need it to run). :cheers:
javeryh:
XP is installed...
Now on to compiling and installing MAME...
Kaytrim:
How long are you waiting on the reboot? It may be that with the limited amount of ram that it will take a while. You may also want to try TinyXP or nLite, look at this thread. I tried TinyXP on Dad's Bartop. The processor is the same as yours and it was wicked fast. Seeing that you have a full license for XP look at using nLite to slim it down then try an install on your PIII.
TTFN :cheers:
Kaytrim
**Edit, sorry didn't see the other posts on the 9th page.
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