OS issues

[Bronto]

I am currently building a new machine and I really could use some help.

I have a Dimension 8100 given to me by my girlfriend which I will be using for this project. It's fault was a lack of memory, which I upgraded to 1gb. This caused the machine to demand I reauthorize Windows.    I had three days to comply. The girl knows nothing of where any of the materials she had when she bought the computer are, and I had to leave town for a few days anyway. Point being, now I have a computer with, apparently, no functioning operating system. And I don't know what to do next.

I admit, this is my weak point. I think I have built a pretty solid and different machine from the ashes of the previous one (which proved to be too lightweight) but I have no idea what or how I should go about installing a new OS on this thing.

Here is my progress so far. I realize it is still in a crude form but I intend to put much more work into it's appearance. I would be happy to list components I have for this as well as take any additional pictures if it will help someone sort of guide me through getting an OS working on this thing and getting it operational again so I can start wiring it. Thanks for reading!  

[HaRuMaN]

Does the computer have the XP sticker on it anywhere?

[gryhnd]

You might find that there is an OS recovery partition. When you boot up you may see an option in the POST screen that says something like "F10 for Recovery".

[Bronto]

Does the computer have the XP sticker on it anywhere?

The case has been discarded, sadly.

You might find that there is an OS recovery partition. When you boot up you may see an option in the POST screen that says something like "F10 for Recovery".

It doesn't seem to recognize the disk whatsoever at the moment. I am presented with:
Primary hard disk 0 not found
Primary hard disk 1 not found
Secondary hard disk 0 not found
Secondary hard disk 1 not found
Strike f1 to continue, or f2 to enter setup.

In setup, I have set the primary and secondary devices to AUTO.

I spend all this time and effort building this thing, which worked FINE until I put ram in it, then I get to deal with this. Very frustrating, mostly because I don't understand what I need to do just to get it running again - a seemingly simple task for anyone but me. Very frustrating.

[HaRuMaN]

Does it work again if you take the RAM out?

Your RAM may be incompatible with your mobo... or maybe your mobo just needs to be flashed to the latest bios. 

[Bronto]

Does it work again if you take the RAM out?

Your RAM may be incompatible with your mobo... or maybe your mobo just needs to be flashed to the latest bios. 

I should flash the bios, and I have downloaded the latest one. It's an .EXE sitting here on this desktop of this computer. Frankly I have no idea how to install it. I have a bunch of additional devices though - a salvaged the floppy bay and two CD drives from the XP box before I discarded it, and have a DVD reader here I could use as well. bios won't recognize the DVD drive or won't boot from it maybe unless the bios is ugraded? Am I working this out correctly?
-----
The ram tests and works fine, and XP recognized it (as a "major hardware change" and that's when it prompted me to reregister XP).
I have another computer (my day to day computer) that had XP on it and I recently upgraded to Win7, so THAT case still has a product key sticker for XP on it, but that computer didn't come with a disk when I purchased it (it was an OEM install - another process that baffles me).

[Bronto]

I'm more of a pinball repair guy and... less good with software. 

[abispac]

I'm more of a pinball repair guy and... less good with software. 

i would say ,check for any ide loose cables, tigh them up, then you could unplug all power suplys from inside the motherboard and take the battery out for 20 min, after 20 mins, hook everything back up, setup your pc, and if windowsb boots, youll be on your way, if you need an original serial number, just pm me i woul give you 1 for free as i got tons.... good luck

[Bronto]

i would say ,check for any ide loose cables

The cable was in fact loose. I should have checked that, I have been removing it frequently and got sloppy. It won't happen again.

[Bronto]

At any rate, it still demands I activate windows, but when I click yes it says it already *is* activated, then goes back right back to the logon screen. When I say no, it also goes to the logon screen. In short, I can't logon to XP.

I would like to just nuke the whole thing and start fresh on a bigger blank hard drive than this one frankly. The drive with the malfunctioning copy of XP is only 40gb and I have a perfectly good 160 sitting here with nothing on it. My last request here is for a little direction in doing this. All I have is this official Win7 DVD, no other operating system install disks. Wouldn't it be better to run XP on the 8100 anyway? Can I install a new copy of XP on a different drive from the one I already have and boot from that then put in a new activation key? Am I over thinking this?

[Bronto]

I can log in using safe mode with command prompt apparently. I just don't know what to do next.

I am so lost.

[HaRuMaN]

If you can get a new serial, you could try this method:


      Step 1
      Click "Start" and go to "Run." Enter the following string:

      %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a

      Step 2
      Click "Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows" and then click "Next."

      Step 3
      Click "Change Product Key."

      Step 4
      You will now be able to enter the valid serial number for your Windows XP.

      Step 5
      Press "Update" and close the window.

      Step 6
      Now restart your computer. Your version of Windows XP should now be updated with the new serial number.

[Bronto]

If you can get a new serial, you could try this method:

First, thanks for your help so far Haruman and everyone.

I am in a command prompt in safe mode and can't get to the start button, and I don't know how to use a command prompt. Is there a different mode I should be starting up in? Here's what is happening, as I am experiencing it:
After f8, "Start windows normally" gives me the condition on login screen "you need to activate windows" - Yes = you already activated xp, now return to logon screen, which then request that I activate (!), and No = logon screen, and "you need to activate windows, yes or no."
Safe mode says I have to start in normal mode to reactivate.
It's like an infinite frustration loop.

[HaRuMaN]

Hmm.  I'll do some digging, see what I can find.

Catch 22 problems suck, lol.

[Bronto]

Sorry guys, I think I am starting to get annoying here. I apologize. I will try to figure this out with more research on my own before I busy up your forum any more. Thanks again for your help.

[Bronto]

Hmm.  I'll do some digging, see what I can find.

Catch 22 problems suck, lol.

I am looking at http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering_Windows_XP_Using_System_Restore.htm to see what I may be able to fix.

...Or screw up further.

[Bronto]

Update: the activation is no longer stating that I already activated then cycling to login again, it is now allowing me to input a new activation code.

I see this as progress.

[gryhnd]

I predict if you're not already bald, you will be shortly 

[protokatie]

With all the OS trouble you are having, if I were you I would just say "F--- it!" and install tinyXP. If this computer is just for your cab, then it will work just fine.

[Bronto]

With all the OS trouble you are having, if I were you I would just say "F--- it!" and install tinyXP. If this computer is just for your cab, then it will work just fine.

Does TinyXP require a product key?

[protokatie]

No, TinyXP is a pirate copy of XP that has a lot of the fat cut out of it. Two of my machine run it, and I have not yet found anything cut out of it that has affected any program I have run. (Both TinyXP machines had full versions of XP on them before,but I got fed up and just went with tinyXP). I cannot give you a link to it (forum rules), but a simple google search will reveal it (you will need to use a torrent program). I have used Rev9, but Rev10 is out, and that copy includes the full distro of XP (XP pro SP3). A LOT of people here use tinyXP for their cab computers.

Note, TinyXP has windows update disabled, you will most likely need to find your video drivers online and manually add them. This isnt too difficult if you know what video card you have. If you dont do this you will be limited to 640x480x16 colors (which sucks). This is prolly the only crappy part of tinyXP, but is easily circumvented.

[Bronto]

I'll do it. Thanks. This is all new to me.

[Bronto]

Yep, it installed quite easily. Thanks! And yep, I do have to look for video drivers now. MAME reports "proposed video mode not supported". It's always something, eh?

[TeutonicDarkness]

Yep, it installed quite easily. Thanks! And yep, I do have to look for video drivers now. MAME reports "proposed video mode not supported". It's always something, eh?

 You could try http://driverpacks.net/
or http://www.driverguide.com/

With Driverpacks.net you can also
use http://www.nliteos.com/ to combine them into your
Tiny XP.

However if this proves to be too complicated give
http://www.driverguide.com
a whirl.

[Bronto]

Things are working great now. Thank you everyone for all your help. I am looking forward to posting pictures of the finished machine here within the next couple of weeks! 

[protokatie]

Ahh good. Did you get all the drivers you needed?