How to Clean Install Windows with non-bootable Windows CD

Drive letters can be different in boot mode than what they are in Windows, so XP might boot up as C if you install it to another lettered partition from boot. Normally there aren't letters there if you are truly installing from boot.

Did you try writing the XP ISO installer using the tutorial I linked for you?

Is it possible you could install to a separate HD with the WIn7 HD unplugged as this is the easiest way to Dual Boot. After install plug back in the Win7 HD, set it first to boot in BIOS setup. Trigger XP HD when needed using the one-time BIOS BOot Menu key.

I've aborted any dual boot install attempts until I resolve my boot problem in Win 7.

The partitions have been relettered and the system won't boot.

I attempted the fix on the following link without success:

Bootrec.exe Tool - How to Use in Windows Recovery Environment

I've got to do some type of repair on my current Win 7 boot path.

See my other thread in this section.

Regards

Mark Partition Active (using Method Two) the 100mb System Reserved partition (if you have it) or C, then run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times.

You'll notice in Diskpart the partitions are unlettered. This is because drive letters are often not correct when viewed from boot.

When I get to list partition, I get the following:

Partition ###, Type, Size, Offset
Partition 1, Primary, 100MB, 1024KB
Partition 2, Primary, 465GB, 101MB
Partition 0, Extended, 465GB, 465GB
Partition 3, Logical, 465GB, 465GB

My disks are in Intel RST RAID-5.

I selected partition 1 and then typed active.

I'll reboot and then run the windows repair three times.

Thanks

The RAID could complicate repairs. We see nothing but problems with RAID here. These repairs work 9 out of 10 times otherwise.

When XP is installed or mostly installed it steals Win7 boot until Win7 is restarted using the steps I have you. Then install EasyBCD and add XP to a Dual Boot menu. However it seems like XP didn't finish install, just stole the boot as to be expected.

I would find a USB stick install method which works to complete XP install, to a separate HD if at all possible to make it much easier. Pay no attention to the drive letters shown in boot mode. I would also delete any partition you created for XP and use its booted installer to create and full format its partition.

There are many methods in the search results to try to create xp flash stick installer - Google Search.

With that many drives I would try to find space for XP on another HD, installing it there with all other HD's unplugged. This keeps each OS independently bootable via either the BIOS boot order or one-time Boot Menu key, and avoids many problems.

I was running Win 7 (single boot system) on the RAID-5 (three 500GB SATAs) which showed as the C: and D: drives at 465GB each. I was using the fourth 500GB SATA, non-member RAID disk, as the storage for Windows backups and disk images. I felt data secure with that arrangement. I want a separate disk for the backups and running the Windows Backup with image once a week only gives about three weeks of capacty on that 500GB SATA. So, I'm not inclined to share that drive with a Win XP install. And, I don't want to give up the RAID-5; it's a proven safety net. I've had one drive fail and it was a non-issue. I just subsititued my fourth SATA/backup drive into the RAID-5 like changing a light bulb. I wasn't using the RAID-5 D: drive for anything, so after my disappointment with Win 7 XP mode, I thought that it would be perfect for a dual boot install of XP. If I've got backups and images of C: and D: then I'm not too concerned about problems.

This dual boot attempt was my first attempt and I was doing it to see the issues I would face. When my fourth drive arrives from Seagate, I'm going to do a clean audit install of Win 7 and all programs and then get a good image for future reinstalls before I create the user accounts. Then, I'll do the dual boot install again with all data backed up on the fourth SATA drive and image that disk as well. If anything craps out or bogs down due to whatever, I'll just use the images to start over with a fresh clean install.

Regards

The solution to the original issue on this thread is to burn a new bootable copy of the Win XP CD.

Regards

PS - Installing Win XP with a non-bootable CD and using a bootable floppy to start the install is a method that will likely fail during the Win XP install when the system attempts a reboot after the initial files are copied to the disk. The system won't be able to restart and continue the install if the CD is not bootable.

In the attempt to use a bootable USB flash drive to install Win XP, the system initially booted off the USB flash drive, but demanded a CD be loaded after the start of the install to continue the install process. I don't know the cause of that issue.

Regards

Try another USB flash method. There are quite a few in the search results I linked for you.