New HD, old computer. plz help...

ericsinsideoutericsinsideout
edited July 2011 in Hardware
Hi, I'm new to this forum, and I saw some good help being passed around so I thought I'd see if anyone could help me out.

I have an old Dell "Dimensions 4800" and it's mostly stock aside from upgraded ram and a secondary HD. My primary C drive finally quit on me after almost a decade.

I picked up a new Seagate Barracuda to replace it, but the problem I'm having is I can't get my computer to boot from the cd drive to install the drivers for the new HD so I can eventually reinstall XP.

I've seen the "got a problem, check here" thread and followed the instructions for resetting my BIOS which got me only so far...

Please help me before this computer makes me rip out all my hair.:mean:

Comments

  • ericsinsideoutericsinsideout
    edited July 2011
    and just to add to the complications, I can't find the correct boot disc...
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited July 2011
    You can't install drivers until you have an operating system. A new hard drive generally doesn't need drivers anyway. Any XP boot disc should work. It doesn't have to be the original Dell XP CD. Just go to the dell website afterwards and download any additional drivers needed.

    Even without a hard drive, you can get into the BIOS and set the CD-ROM as the first boot device, and the IDE hard drive second.
  • ericsinsideoutericsinsideout
    edited July 2011
    thanks for the reply, I managed to get the boot order right any everything, and to correct my previous post, I have the driver disc, but I don't have a windows boot cd. I contacted dell and they're sending me one free of charge, but it includes all of their bloatware that I'd rather not have.
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