ok so i have an acidemic xp professional cd and i'm trying to install it on my newly built pc. it enters windows setup just fine and i agree to the licensing stuff, it states that it cannot find a previous version of windows on my hardrive, so it asks for me to load the cd, it's in there and i press enter. it then tells me that "setup could not read the cd you inserted, or the cd is not a valid windows cd". whats wrong?
ok well i've tried a couple more things incase anyone is interested. It seems like it's trying to verify the cd. It's a full hologram disc and it's not an update. my dvd/cd drive has power and spins, it also reads the cd some or else i couldn't get as far into the set up as i have. but still to make sure i switched it out with a cd drive from an older computer that i know works. nothing same problem. there was one tiny barely noticeable scratch so i thought maybe that was the culprit. so to find out if there were any damaged sectors on the disc I tried to make an exact copy of it. the copying process went without a hitch. This tells me the cd's information isn't corrupt from scratches. But still i tried my newly made copy and i still have the same problem. I am completely and entirely stumped. I have no idea what the cause of this is.
you have to make sure your computer is set to boot from CD in the BIOS setup, also you have to 'press any key to boot from CD' at that screen.
It sounds like you have an upgrade copy - you'll need a Win98 or Win2K CD to insert when it asks you.
"it cannot find a previous version of windows on my hardrive, so it asks for me to load the cd" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Professional-Upgrade-Student-SP2/dp/B00061I94C
well upgrade cd's should say upgrade or update on them right. mine doesn't so i'm assuming its a full version.
