Trying to format dell pc running XP.

[poor00paddy]

Hi Shane, it's been a few years but can I avail of your knowledge and expertise again, please ?

I am attempting to format my 12 year old Dell pc, running XP,... clean format.

 When I get to the page I need, which is:

 "To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3"

 I get the message: "Windows XP is not completely setup on your computer. If you quit setup now, you will need to run setup again to setup Windows XP.
 To continue setup press enter To quit, press F3"

 Clicking on Enter takes me back to the above page, while F3 restarts my pc.

 I have all, but one, of the original discs and I ran them again hoping that would solve the problem without success.

I can access the net from my downstairs pc, wi-fi, running Windows 10 but can't open any of my browsers. I do this with the help of a dongle and wi-fi adapter.

I appreciate any help you can give Shane.

Thank you,
Cheers.
Tom.

[jraju]

Hi, are you able to boot up to the windows xp at present. If boot fails then, you have to format it totally to install afresh. if you, format totally, then there should not be any error when installing xp. it is having small data and if error comes, that means  that you have tried thro cd and could not boot up after format has been done.
                        Try to create bootable cd using imgburn, and if there are scratches in the xp cd, try to clean it with cotton nice  on the surface and then retry it. using of cd gets wear and tear and the cd is not that much dependable. try to disk copy or the bootable.you could also try to burn the cd with downloading from msoft site, if the download is available which would be better , and will have all updates and everything .
                         you could validate with the key the same.