So I'm trying to reinstall Windows XP on a Dell XPS Gen 5 that I purchased back in 2005-2006. I have a XP Install CD from my Inspiron 8200 that I tried to use to reinstall the OS on my Gen 5 desktop. So I shut down the system, pressed F12, booted the CD Drive, it went to the OS purple install screen after loading up a bunch of shit from the CD. The problem is when I'm asked whether to install windows, or repair. At that screen, the CD just hangs and I can't proceed past it. After a few seconds, the CD just stops spinning and I can't even exit the screen with F3. I can still shut down the system manually by pressing the power button though. I know the CD is not the problem because I tested it and it worked fine on my laptop. I also tried removing all the external stuff from my computer, from the audio devices to the mouse and even the monitor, the problem persisted. Also tried reinstalling original drivers, didn't do anything. My next idea would be to reformat the harddrive and try again, or update motherboard BIOS.
try different ram or try 1 at a time as ran into that on a hp last winter. thought it was a bad hard drive but still had that problem so changed the ram & windows loaded alright.
