ok, recently my main xp HD crapped out on me.... DMI pool error.... resetting the CMOS didn't really do anything to fix it... also disconnecting every item and booting would not get past the BIOS splash screen.... windows xp cd was used to try to reformat and re-install, which it did, sort of... it would crap out on the install at 90% and not be able to install SPTIP.DLL..... everything else would install fine... on reboot, nothing.

now today i use a different xp disc (one used to install it to begin with) and it wont format the drive... it can create a partition but says this partition is not one that windows recognizes, please format it in a compatible file format.... (it had reformatted the other day perfectly fine)

it doesnt even give me the option of formatting it in ntfs....

finally i went to the repair options and formatted it the 'hard way' FORMAT C: /Q /NTFS which runs, but doesnt fix it....

but i have a win 2k install on a seperate drive which i am on now, it boots up fine and lets me reformat it inside windows NTFS just fine....

now.... how would i go about putting windows on this drive again? and what can i do to possibly prevent another DMI pool error?

i think it was caused by uninstalling Norton, but the initial reset was flawless and only produced the error the next day on boot.

8/2/2007 9:17:30 PM

anyone? anyone?

8/3/2007 12:03:19 AM