How do I install my operating system

Okay, i just purchased a brand spanking new Compal HEL 80 wo/ and Os because i can get ( and got ) a legit copy for free. I turned it on , im looking at the setup screen at the boot menu and HDD is on top, followed by CD/DVD, then FDD then LAN. What i did was to move CD/DVD to the top (windows corporate is in the drive, which by the way, I hope is somewhat compatable to professional, I don't really know, my friend thought he could get pro but all the he had access to was corporate). Then after I moved CD to the top I turned it off, restarted with the disk in the CD drive and it went to the standard startup screen but said I had some failures:

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM

Then it says "Invalid partition table_" and then just sits there pretending i know whats going on.

I'm totally lost and could really use some help.

 

XP pro corporate, is just a volume license for XP pro. It's the same as standard pro other than it doesn't require activation, just a valid volume license key.

As for the installation. Is this an original CD or a copy made of the original iso/image (that's how most corporates get distributed, at least for me). If it is a copy, it could be the CD that's is the problem ... did you try it in another system just to check if it runs?

 

It can't just 'run' - to install on a blank HD, the CD has to be bootable. It may be possible to put a non-bootable CD in a drive and execute the Setup.exe, but that won't help in this situation.

 

I agree with Imychajluk!

The CD has to be BOOTABLE in order to install the operating systems in the BLANK HHD!

 

Make sure you're also using a version with Service Pack 2 installed already. SATA drives don't work well with Windows unless it's at SP2 or higher.

 

Whenever I put the CD into the deskto im writing this on, it pops up the auto-run and gives me the intall windows xp pro option right away. So i think its something to do with it not booting from the cd drive. maybe there is something else i have to do to get it to do that.

 

That just means it has an Autorun file on it, that doesn't mean that the CD is bootable. Bootable is an option when the CD is created. You didn't answer the question above about whether this is a burned CD or not. Most original Windows CDs will be bootable, but a burned CD may not have been burned properly to be bootable.

If it's an original CD, see if there's any way in the BIOS to make the CD the first bootable drive.

BTW - If you got a Corporate copy of Windows from your freind, it's most likely NOT legit for you to be using it, unless, of course, the company that owns the Windows license knows that you're installing it on your PC and is OK with paying MS for your right to use the OS.

 

Sounds like piracy. Most Volume License editions are sent out to IT departments to install on a company's many computers. Since you seem to have a copy of a VLK edition, have someone from that company's IT department install it. How does someone legally get a copy of VLK edition and NOT know how to install it?

 

Did you press F12 after it restarted with the disk in it? Press F12 when you see the boot thingy (I have a HEL80 and its the Phoenix one), then select boot from Disk. I don't see why there should be an error other than piracy.

 

So for all of you who tried to help. Thank you. turns out that the CD itself was bad and that I was doing everything right. Which, in the end I ended up getting a differnent copy of xp pro and everything worked out great.

 

As for the legal copy that I had. My parents got it from me from their work which they are both high-up execs so I was actually licensed by the company to use their software by their tech.