XP on new hdd in factory vista laptop

hp g50 laptop
attempting this but cannot get laptop to boot from xp disc
i get the HP setup screen with f2 =bios, etc, then i get a black screen with immobile blinking cursor
yes boot order has internal cd/dvd drive as first on list

any ideas?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if your new laptop has a non-native sata controller, and xp is unable to load because it cannot see a drive. Chances are, you may need to load the driver from either a usb drive or a floppy, or better still, slipstream the driver and anything else you may need into a new XP installation disc.

Plenty of info on how to do it, all on the interweb. And building updated slipstreamed versions of OS install discs you own, is perfectly legal, and a smart move all round.

ill give that a shot

Do you get a really loud beeping noise if you hit any of the keys?

Also, can you open BIOS?

If it works, let me know what you ended up doing, I used to have an HP Dv5t, and this exact same thing happened to me while trying to switch to Win7, I had done so successfully at an earlier date, but this time when I did it, all I got was a Black Screen after the HP logo, and a little blinking - in the upper left hand corner.

If I hit any of the keys, all that would happen was this loud high pitched beeping noise, which is why I ask.

yes this is exactly what i have happening at the moment

If you find a fix, I'd love to know.

This happened to me three separate times with my Dv5t, the first two times it happened, it was right after I had tried to install Win7, and it just passed the "Restarting Computer" phase, thing is, after the Restart, that happened, with the strange thing being that I HAD installed Win7 correctly on this Laptop before, and I knew how to install it.

I would say, after this new addition to the info you've given, that there will undoubtably be an FAQ about this issue on your manufacturer's website.

If it has happened to 2 Guru users, then chances are it has happened to many more people with the affected systems. Check with the manufacturer, and if you get no love, put in a support ticket with them.

Make sure you've got what you paid for, and this includes service and support.

The problem is, its happened to quite a few HP Pavillion users so far, especially on the Dv9 series, and its still not even on the FAQ after a quick check through of most of the Dv models.

What seems to happen is, if you try to install a new OS, sometimes it will just go wonky, and rather then actually finish the install you just get a blank screen that beeps at you from time to time when you hit keys, but otherwise has no BIOS, or anything really. When I sent it in the first time, they sent it back with a list of things that had to be replaced, and it was basically everything in the thing, which leads me to believe they have either no idea what the problem is, or somehow, trying to put in a new OS, is a means to fry the Hard Drive, Mobo, Processor, PSU, Video Card, etc.

And if you actually try to call support, or get them to help you, its almost a nonfactor, especially if this happened to you once already, the first time it broke, they tried pinning the problem on me, and saying I was the reason the product broke, but would be willing to take a look at it, just in case. The second time, they accused me of deliberately messing with their hardware, and charged me to get it fixed, and this last time, they basically told me they just canceled my warranty because I'm obviously tampering.

Out of curiosity, how would I install the Drivers off the USB? Going to give that a try, and have the Driver I need on my USB, just have no idea how I would get my Laptop to open it, install it, or anything else.

During your installation you will be prompted by Windows to add them. You will receive a message such as "Press f6 to add driver from floppy disk" When you receive the prompt, press f6. Once u press it, it will ask you to browse to directory containing required files, at which point you simply navigate to the usb drive and select the *.inf file, which should be about the only file you can see there. Windows will then load the driver and continue on with the installation.

However, if you've previously had successful installations, from the same install disk that you are currently trying to use, then it's obvious that either the driver isn't your problem, or that the hardware really doesn't like the default driver that Windows is trying to load, which is also unlikely, as you state that you've had a successful intallation previously.

Another issue, and one I had a few years ago, is an installation disk with one or more corrupted files that windows is not able to load. Generally however, you will be notified by Windows that *.* file cannot be copied. Regardless of receiving the message or not, I would certainly try to install from a new copy of the install disk. MAKE SURE that it is exactly the same version as you have already, or your product key will not work.

One last point, given that both of your laptops are from the same manufacturer, and relatively close to each other in age, there's also the crap factor, i.e. it is a quite common occurrence for a manufacturer to receive an entire shipment of faulty hardware, such as HDD etc, then of course, you see everyone reporting the same issue. This happened to Asus with the first run of nforce1 chipsetted mainboards they released. Evedryone was having the same crash errors doing the same things, constantly. It turned out that the fix was as simple as a bios update, which is another option to consider: Make sure your bios is up to date with the latest version offered on your manufacturers website.

I sincerely hope that some/any/all of this helps. PC's, especially laptops are miraculous in that given the millions of parts from millions of suppliers, it's amazing that any of it ever works.

the machine does not attempt to boot from disk it goes direct to black screen with cursor after the setup screen (press f2 for settings, f1 for system info, etc).
wonder if i install xp to the hdd in a diff machine then swap it over what would occur...

I use Nlite to slipstream XP installation discs when I need to "downgrade" from Vista to XP - works pretty well and they have good tutorials on their site too.

Are you using an actual XP disc or is it a burned copy? It's ok to use a burned copy as long as you have a legit key, but maybe your laptop's drive is having problems reading it.

Will it boot off other discs?

If you install XP to the hdd in another machine, it will, of course, install the drivers needed by the other machine. If the other machine is similar to yours - if they are both Core 2 with Intel graphics for example - it may work. XP would just find the new devices when you put it in your machine.
If they are very different though, your laptop may crash when it tries to boot.

Edit - My best suggestion though, is that you simply leave Vista on it. In spite of all you may have heard about Vista, there's not really any good reason to downgrade it to XP.

If it were me, before I went any further, I'd run This.

wipe the HDD (really wipe it), then try the install.

/edit
read your warranty before running an application like that, it WILL WIPE YOUR HDD CLEAN, Possibly voiding any existing warranty

its out of warranty anyway, used
previous owner chose to delete the partitions off the hdd drive before selling
ive got several different xp discs, including slipstreamed sata one for ich8/9, but this has the amd rather than intel setup -
and i have removed hdd and tried booting and it still will try to boot from cd

Update:
got xp in it - happened to have a dual core amd based desktop so installed xp on the hdd in that machine then switched it over.
however the dvd drive is shot i think it got stepped on or something lol the metal is all bent up -

so the new question is where is a good place to get laptop dvd burner from? tiger and newegg do not seem to carry them. . .

This is an internal laptop drive:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16827118034

That drive has a "standard" form factor (size, shape, connection), but the problem is, not every laptop uses the "standard". For example, that drive won't fit a laptop that uses a "slot load" drive, and it may have difficulty fitting in an ultra slim laptop, or one that has a particular shape to the drive door.

Your best bet is to get an external unit such as http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16827151186

Note - Newegg.ca - Prices in Canadian dollars

note to all -
do not do this, keep vista or get vindows 7, what a pain...

lol side note-
just did clean install of xp on a Compaq evo n1000v -

actually had to install win 98se first as it would not install xp on the blanked hdd so, something to try if you have win 98 laying around

The XP must have been an Upgrade version. You don't usually need to actually install a previous version of Windows though. Normally, it only requires that you put the Win98 (or w/e) disc in the CDROM drive at some point during the install. (I think you may need to make sure the drive is formatted too.)

i think it was an issue with a factory hidden partition on the hdd
my xp is a volume copy i have used on 10+ pcs