BleepingComputer.com: Need Recovery!!

Recently, I tried to update my windows XP OS to a windows 7 OS. Apparently, my computer is not capable of running windows 7 (according to HP tech support) because my computer has been running incredibly slow and not cooperating with me ever since I upgraded. I downloaded the system online, as my computer's disk drive does not work, but now I guess I need to go back to windows xp or windows vista. How can I do this?! I can't even use my computer -- it's in safe mode right now. Help me please!

You will have to boot off your Windows XP or Vista installation disk and perform a clean install. Depending on which you want, (XP or Vista) that is the disc you should boot off of.

You cannot simply revert back to XP unless you have a backup image saved (I'm guessing you don't).

You should have done your homework before jumping to Windows 7. Many older computers are not capable of running Windows 7, not only because of their age, but also because there are no Windows 7 drivers for them. If you have a slow processor and less than 1GB of RAM, you should not be trying to run Windows 7 on that computer.

Wait, did you say your optical drive does not work (aka CD drive)? If so, you will have to buy or borrow an external optical drive that plugs into a USB port. Newegg is a popular place to buy online. You can also visit your local computer/office supply store, and see if they have any. I don't recall if Wal-Mart carries external optical drives or not. I know Best Buy does.

so if I purchase a windows xp disk I'll be able to reboot my computer? is that all I need?

Does your CD drive work?

And do you not already have an XP disk?

I can repair my disk drive I suppose, but I don't have the recovery disk

To perform a clean install of XP, you will need a working optical drive (like I said, you can buy an external if your internal does not work) and an XP installation disk with a valid, unused product key.

If your optical drive does not work, either repair it or replace it with an external (buying an external will be cheaper unless you repair it yourself).

If you don't have an XP installation disk, you will have to buy one.

okay, i was able to get something going but when it opens up the installer, i can't click 'install'
here's a screencap:
http://i40.tinypic.com/4h8jkl.png

You cannot run the Setup from inside Windows. You must boot off the installation disk and perform a clean install.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307

Anymore questions before you kiss Windows 7 goodbye?

Yes, I'm sorry. I'm just confused. How do I do a clean install exactly?

I apologize for not giving full instructions to begin with. My bad.

If you have not backed up your personal files, please do so now. Any documents, photos, videos, etc...on the hard drive will not be saved during the clean install.

If the computer you are about to do the clean install on is the computer you are using to view my instructions, it would be wise to print my instructions before performing them as you will not be able to read them otherwise whilst the clean install is happening.

Insert your XP installation disk into your optical drive.
Shut down the computer.
After shutdown, press the power button.

As the BIOS screen flashes, you may see something along the lines of:

Press F2 for Setup
F12 for Boot options

F2 should take you into the BIOS. Note: not all computers are the same in this regard. Some computers require that you press Delete or Esc to enter the BIOS. If you miss it and Windows starts to load, just be patient while Windows boots. After Windows boots, shutdown and try again. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT do a hard shutdown while Windows is booting. This could render your system unoperable. Like I said, if you miss pressing F2 and Windows starts to load, just be patient and try again.

Once in the BIOS, look around for something referencing Boot. Change the boot order to have the optical drive at the top of the list. Look for Save and Exit.

After exiting the BIOS, you may be asked to "Press any key to boot from CD..." The space bar is a popular choice (but any key will do).

After the XP installation loads, it should be pretty intuitive from there. It's been a while since I've installed XP, but you should see the same screen you saw before (this time the Install option will not be grayed out). Chose where you want to install Windows, agree to the service agreement, etc...

After a while, the system will reboot to finish installing XP. You need to go back into the BIOS and put the boot order back to the way it was (hard drive first). If you do not, the system will boot off your XP disk again, and you'll be faced with the installation screen again. If this happens, just shut down and try again. DO NOT remove the XP disk from your optical drive until the installation is completely finished (i.e. you get to the Desktop of XP). After the first reboot (there may be more than one), just continue to allow XP to finish installing. Eventually, it will ask you for a username, etc...

If you have any problems or questions about any part of my instructions, feel free to ask. If something was not clear or you could not perform a step, please let me know and I will do my best to advise.

while it was installing, it want able to install certain files and now when it reboots to finish installing, it says it cannot finish installing. I can't get around this. everytime I turn on my computer it just reboots setup..

Did you perform the following step?

keyboardNinja, on Apr 1 2010, 10:13 PM, said:

If your BIOS is still set to boot off the CD, the Setup can never finish. You must change the boot order in the BIOS to have the hard drive first. Then setup should continue.

Which screen is the BIOS screen? I press F2 but nothing happens..

This post has been edited by UmmGeri: 02 April 2010 - 12:13 AM

keyboardNinja, on Apr 1 2010, 10:13 PM, said:

A typical BIOS looks like this:

okay. I'm in BIOS under boot. What exactly do I do? it says:
1st Boot Device [floppy group]
2nd boot device [cd rom group]
3rd boot device [hdd group]
4th boot device [network boot group]

floppy group priority [not installed]
cd rom group boot priority [hl-dt-stdvdrr]
hdd group boot priority [wd2000js-]
network group boot priority [not installed]

what actions do I take?