Hey, I have two Compaq nx7400 laptops that I'm trying to re-install with a good copy of windows xp home. The laptops are exactly the same.

I will start setup, the boot cd will run fine, but then I get an error message saying that it "cannot find the hard drive" and will stop installation. There is NOTHING wrong with the laptops, as they function well, and nothing wrong with the boot cd, as I have used them previously.

Can anyone give me some advice please?



EDIT: Please excuse the misspelled "Compaw" in the title, wasn't thinking.

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?admit=109447626+1228585000936+28 353475&threadId=1085832

Thanks SWATFAG, I just spent the last five hours trying to get this crap right, but it finally worked. Here's what I went through:

1. Would start to install windows, but windows couldn't recognize the hard drive.

2. Got the drivers, but learned i need to write it to a boot disc.

3. Wrote the boot disc, but learned i had to write it as an .iso.

4. Burned it as an .iso, but learned the boot disc had to be on a floppy disc.

5. Went to office depot and got an external floppy drive, but learned that the current 5 floppy discs I had were corrupt.

6. Went back to office depot for floppy discs, but when i plugged them in, then the SATA drivers couldn't recognize them.

7. Had to disable two floppy drives to make the current floppy drive work, but once I did that, the compaq nx7400 initially wouldn't recognize it.

8. Once the computer recognized it and started installing, I got the blue screen of death twice and had to re-do my shit.

9. It worked.

Again, thanks swat, couldn't have done this without you.