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    I messed uP! help please

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by brainer, Mar 3, 2008.

  1. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    hello People,
    I own an alienware m9750 and it came with Vista 32-bit, i did want to install XP so i formated the drive, installed XP and then when it restarts i get a black screen :S i tried the recovery disk and after it recoveres and restart i see nothing but a black screen with the little white thing blinking :S
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  2. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    Please people this is Urgent :p
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  3. Fittersman

    Fittersman Wanna trade?

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    what are the laptop's specs?
    did the install complete without any errors?
     
    Fittersman, Mar 3, 2008
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  4. nobscot6

    nobscot6 Wise One

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    just a thought. many of us have problems with the install of xp on a vista machine as the xp disk does not have the sata drivers

    you don't mention them at all.....
     
    nobscot6, Mar 3, 2008
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  5. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    t7200,2gb ram,SLI 7950GTX, and it wasnt really a complete install, its the part when you need to restart after the blue screen copied files
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  6. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    Nobscot6 how can u fix this crap?
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  7. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    also i tried the recovery, formated and recovered and still same problem.. did something from the hardware get screwed?
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  8. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    Try in the alienware's forums
     
    JCMS, Mar 3, 2008
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  9. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    if you mean the official site, i'll die before i get an answer
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  10. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    I mean their section on this website.
     
    JCMS, Mar 3, 2008
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  11. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    oh ok... i hope nothing got a permenent Break
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  12. satdog

    satdog Notebook Evangelist

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    must be SATA drivers... can u access the bios? if u can go and see if u can set the SATA HD to work as IDE
     
    satdog, Mar 3, 2008
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  13. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    i can access the bios, but i dont see such an option to let SATA to work as IDE :S
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  14. Fittersman

    Fittersman Wanna trade?

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    im still unclear on the problem, were you able to install XP or did you boot off the cd and have it tell you it was unable to locate a harddrive?
     
    Fittersman, Mar 3, 2008
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  15. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    after the bue screen of copying files, the computer did reboot, i see the logo of alienware after that i get Blackscreen
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  16. brainer

    brainer Notebook Virtuoso

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    i meant blue screen
     
    brainer, Mar 3, 2008
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  17. Nocturnal310

    Nocturnal310 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Your Bootloader is missing most likely.. it must have gotten Screwed when u installed XP on Vista running machine.

    Download Gparted Live.. Here

    Read these two links:

    Link1
    Link2


    Anyway...if u are panicking then
    Basically it says ..... Each time you install a version of Windows, it rewrites the MBR to call its own boot loader. If you install Windows Vista as a second operating system on a PC where Windows XP is already installed, the Windows Vista boot menu incorporates the options from the older boot menu. But if you install a fresh copy of Windows XP on a system that is already running Windows Vista, you’ll overwrite the MBR with one that doesn’t recognize the Windows Vista Boot Loader. To repair the damage, open a Command Prompt window
    in the older operating system and run the following command from the Windows Vista DVD, substituting the letter of your drive for <d> here.
    <d>:\Boot\ Bootsect.exe –NT60 All

    When you restart, you should see the Windows Vista menu. To restore the menu entry for your earlier version of Windows, open an elevated Command Prompt and enter this command:

    Bcdedit –create {ntldr} –d “Menu description goes here”
     
    Nocturnal310, Mar 3, 2008
    #17