Looking For Help Installing Windows On My Laptop.

[Richb2004v2]

I'm looking for someone in Ban Chang to help me out with a simple PC issue. I need to know how to install Windows Xp or 7 on my laptop. I play around with Linux which sometimes leads me to need to do a fresh install of Xp. I have bought the disks locally but can never seem to get it to work. It is easy to take it to a local IT center and have them do it but I should really be able to do it myself. I followed the simple instructions on the disk this time but at the end my machine was doing nothing at all. It's driving my mad! Any help appreciated.

[Tywais]

If you don't have any help getting someone to tutor you on the install here is a step by step guide for XP. How to install windows XP. The procedure is pretty similar with Win7.

[Richb2004v2]

Thanks for that. I remember those screens from previous successful attempts to reinstall a long time ago. Those screen do not appear on recent attempts. Maybe the 'back up' disks I have that are also full of other things are not helping the process.

[H2oDunc]

The trouble you are having I think is down to the boot selector in the BIOS. This tells the computer where to look for the operating system. You need to go into the BIOS menu as you boot up the computer and change the boot sector to look in your DVD drive first. You entr this menu by pressing escape or delete or another key depending on your computer. It normally flashes which key to press on boot. Exit and save changes then re boot your computer making sure the installation DVD is in the drive. Once the DVD has loaded you then need to change the boot sector back to your C drive. It will then install windows and all you need to do is simply follow the on screen instructions which are fairly idiot proof

[Richb2004v2]

The trouble you are having I think is down to the boot selector in the BIOS. This tells the computer where to look for the operating system. You need to go into the BIOS menu as you boot up the computer and change the boot sector to look in your DVD drive first. You entr this menu by pressing escape or delete or another key depending on your computer. It normally flashes which key to press on boot. Exit and save changes then re boot your computer making sure the installation DVD is in the drive. Once the DVD has loaded you then need to change the boot sector back to your C drive. It will then install windows and all you need to do is simply follow the on screen instructions which are fairly idiot proof

Thanks for the help. I have the machine already set to boot from the DVD drive and the USB, which is how I use my bootable Linux pendrive and try out Live CDs. I actually got to the point of the Windows installer asking me to select the portion of the hard drive to use. It looked like all was well but after the install had seemingly finished the system was useless. When I restarted expecting to have XP I was asked to do a repair which then did not work. I ended up with no OS at all. I retried several Windows disks to do a further install but could achieve nothing. At that point I reinstalled a Linux OS which is extremely simple to do. However I really need XP or Windows 7 for a few things. I'm taking it to an IT guy and will stay while he does the job.

Thanks anyway.

[steve187]

where are you richb?

[Darrel]

I actually got to the point of the Windows installer asking me to select the portion of the hard drive to use. It looked like all was well but after the install had seemingly finished the system was useless.

Windows needs a fresh partition to install correctly. When you get the screen asking for the partition location you must select the option that allows you to delete the partition(s) and then create a new one(s). Windows will then install normally (assuming it isnt some pirated version).

Set your BIOS to boot from DVD, USB and then 1st hard drive.

Then you can run your live Linux distros with no difficulty from DVD or USB drive as these will not affect the boot structure. If you DO want to permanently install Linux as a dual-boot with Windows then the distro webpages have instructions as to how to do this.

[Richb2004v2]

The Thai IT tech came around today. He got the install started. He seemed to do exactly the same as me except I think he might have done something in the BIOS. He speaks very little English and I speak very little Thai so I don't know if he did. Anyway the installed as per normal. The problem is that there are many drivers missing now. Even though I have the Samsung driver disk it's not having it at all.Using the 'Add Hardware' option it seems to see the devices but fails to load. I think I will try Windows 7 as the driver disk does say 'for Windows 7' in it. The problem then is that my Netbook isn't really powerful enough to run 7. I remember now the reasons I switched to Linux!

I'm 3km outside Ban Chang in Neang Krapok, heading towards Map Ta Phut.

[Tywais]

I think I will try Windows 7 as the driver disk does say 'for Windows 7' in it. The problem then is that my Netbook isn't really powerful enough to run 7. I remember now the reasons I switched to Linux!

I am running Windows 7 on my MSI Wind U100 netbook with no problems. You do need at least 2GB of memory to get reasonable performance though. I find the performance, if sufficient memory, running Win7 on the netbook better then with XP - Linux somewhat better still.

Have you looked at using virtual machine (such as VirtualBox or VMWare) under Linux or Wine to run your needed Windows applications?

[Richb2004v2]

I think I will try Windows 7 as the driver disk does say 'for Windows 7' in it. The problem then is that my Netbook isn't really powerful enough to run 7. I remember now the reasons I switched to Linux!

I am running Windows 7 on my MSI Wind U100 netbook with no problems. You do need at least 2GB of memory to get reasonable performance though. I find the performance, if sufficient memory, running Win7 on the netbook better then with XP - Linux somewhat better still.

Have you looked at using virtual machine (such as VirtualBox or VMWare) under Linux or Wine to run your needed Windows applications?

My Samsung has only 1Gb Ram. I have now installed Windows 7 and seem to be in an even worse position. In Windows 7 the DVD drive is not even recognized and even though I am hard wired to the net there is no driver to connect! Even the mouse does not work on Windows 7! I don't know where to go from here other than take it and leave it at the IT shop for him to sort, which is not what I wanted to have to do.

Prior to my attempt to install XP yesterday I had Ubuntu netbook running brilliantly. Everything was working, other than my brightness adjustment, and it was all so easy to set up. I did install Wine but couldn't figure how to use it. Also I assumed that because I couldn't fathom XP in the normal fashion I would have the same issues under Wine anyway.

I can't believe that this should be so hard to do. I can only assume it is because I have a copy version rather than an original.

[steve187]

what netbook do you have/

what version of windows 7 do you have installed?

[Richb2004v2]

what netbook do you have/

what version of windows 7 do you have installed?

It's a Samsung NB28 plus. Looking on the net there do seem to be issues with drivers, which is maybe why it was cheap.

In the end I installed XP. Windows 7 Ultimate was not recognizing anything, not even USB sticks which made it impossible to try to install drivers. My XP install works in all ways other than the wireless connection. I've tried the driver disk and finding drivers online and installing them but it just isn't happening. However I now have it dual booted with Ubuntu which works fine in all regards, so I can get on the net and still use XP for my Windows only study disks.