Dell 4550 dimension xp dilema

long story here.
A friend inherited a Dell when his brother died, it came with no system disk
or OS disk.
I was asked to format and make this computer usable.
I removed the HD and slaved it to my Vista machine, formatted no problem.
replaced HD and loaded up xp sp2, wouldn't take the product key supplied on
the case so I used a backup key, it worked and xp pro loaded up.
called Dell and asked for specifics on drivers and was told if I used any
copy of win xp sp1 I could use the product key on the case.
reformatted and It wouldn't take the product key, this is when the grief
started.
BOOTMGR is missing
NTLDR is missing
NTDETECT failed

no matter what I did I could not get xp pro sp1 to load.
I tried my vista disk and same thing, cycling error that wouldn't reslove.

plan b.
I used win 98 boot disk and loaded win 98 2nd.
loaded up , installed , seems to work, but....
no drivers for this OS as Dell 4550 Dimension came with xp pro sp1 and there
are no drivers for win 98.

so with 98 on I threw a copy of winmxp pro sp1 in and it started the process.

before completion, during routine restarts the "windows did not shut down
properly" warning appears and from here, no matter which option I choose this
screen comes back over and over and over again.

I was told by Dell I could get a generic key from Microsoft but be damned if
I can find a phone number that doesn't require me to pay to talk.

I ran a seagate utilities on the HD and it came back good.
checked partition and its set to active.
nothing I do is working
all the topics I find on google don't help with this problem.


is dynamite the answer or can anyone help me out?

"dethdelur" <dethdelur@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:B5F8B3CD-621A-4D97-860A-74F9F1DF3658@microsoft.com...

> long story here.
> A friend inherited a Dell when his brother died, it came with no system disk
> or OS disk.
> I was asked to format and make this computer usable.
> I removed the HD and slaved it to my Vista machine, formatted no problem.
> replaced HD and loaded up xp sp2, wouldn't take the product key supplied on
> the case so I used a backup key, it worked and xp pro loaded up.
> called Dell and asked for specifics on drivers and was told if I used any
> copy of win xp sp1 I could use the product key on the case.
> reformatted and It wouldn't take the product key, this is when the grief
> started.
> BOOTMGR is missing
> NTLDR is missing
> NTDETECT failed
>
> no matter what I did I could not get xp pro sp1 to load.
> I tried my vista disk and same thing, cycling error that wouldn't reslove.
>
> plan b.
> I used win 98 boot disk and loaded win 98 2nd.
> loaded up , installed , seems to work, but....
> no drivers for this OS as Dell 4550 Dimension came with xp pro sp1 and there
> are no drivers for win 98.
>
> so with 98 on I threw a copy of winmxp pro sp1 in and it started the process.
>
> before completion, during routine restarts the "windows did not shut down
> properly" warning appears and from here, no matter which option I choose this
> screen comes back over and over and over again.
>
> I was told by Dell I could get a generic key from Microsoft but be damned if
> I can find a phone number that doesn't require me to pay to talk.
>
> I ran a seagate utilities on the HD and it came back good.
> checked partition and its set to active.
> nothing I do is working
> all the topics I find on google don't help with this problem.
>
>
> is dynamite the answer or can anyone help me out?
>


From Dell support:
NTLDR or NTDETECT Is Missing or Corrupt Error Message
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...n&toggle=false

or if the link wraps/breaks: http://tinyurl.com/5cce3c

At Google:
BOOTMGR is missing
http://groups.google.com/groups/sear...earch+Grou ps

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

"dethdelur" <dethdelur@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B5F8B3CD-621A-4D97-860A-74F9F1DF3658@microsoft.com...
> long story here.
> A friend inherited a Dell when his brother died, it came with no system
> disk
> or OS disk.
> I was asked to format and make this computer usable.
> I removed the HD and slaved it to my Vista machine, formatted no problem.
> replaced HD and loaded up xp sp2, wouldn't take the product key supplied
> on
> the case so I used a backup key, it worked and xp pro loaded up.
> called Dell and asked for specifics on drivers and was told if I used any
> copy of win xp sp1 I could use the product key on the case.
> reformatted and It wouldn't take the product key, this is when the grief
> started.
> BOOTMGR is missing
> NTLDR is missing
> NTDETECT failed
>
> no matter what I did I could not get xp pro sp1 to load.
> I tried my vista disk and same thing, cycling error that wouldn't reslove.
>
> plan b.
> I used win 98 boot disk and loaded win 98 2nd.
> loaded up , installed , seems to work, but....
> no drivers for this OS as Dell 4550 Dimension came with xp pro sp1 and
> there
> are no drivers for win 98.
>
> so with 98 on I threw a copy of winmxp pro sp1 in and it started the
> process.
>
> before completion, during routine restarts the "windows did not shut down
> properly" warning appears and from here, no matter which option I choose
> this
> screen comes back over and over and over again.
>
> I was told by Dell I could get a generic key from Microsoft but be damned
> if
> I can find a phone number that doesn't require me to pay to talk.
>
> I ran a seagate utilities on the HD and it came back good.
> checked partition and its set to active.
> nothing I do is working
> all the topics I find on google don't help with this problem.
>
>
> is dynamite the answer or can anyone help me out?
>

You should be formatting and installing xp with the hard drive in the dell
machine. XP is funny like that. It looks for the hardware on the machine it
was installed on. When you put the hard drive back into the dell, it's not
going to work right.
Also Microsoft isn't going to help you with a generic key. OEM systems are
up to the maker to support and supply with their version of XP.
If you want to get the original restore disks for the dell, you can find
them here.
http://www.restoredisks.com/

You can order an XP replacement disk from Dell here:
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...gen&redirect=1

Once the system is installed, you can download any needed drivers from the
Dell web site.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"dethdelur" <dethdelur@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B5F8B3CD-621A-4D97-860A-74F9F1DF3658@microsoft.com...
> long story here.
> A friend inherited a Dell when his brother died, it came with no system
> disk
> or OS disk.
> I was asked to format and make this computer usable.
> I removed the HD and slaved it to my Vista machine, formatted no problem.
> replaced HD and loaded up xp sp2, wouldn't take the product key supplied
> on
> the case so I used a backup key, it worked and xp pro loaded up.
> called Dell and asked for specifics on drivers and was told if I used any
> copy of win xp sp1 I could use the product key on the case.
> reformatted and It wouldn't take the product key, this is when the grief
> started.
> BOOTMGR is missing
> NTLDR is missing
> NTDETECT failed
>
> no matter what I did I could not get xp pro sp1 to load.
> I tried my vista disk and same thing, cycling error that wouldn't reslove.
>
> plan b.
> I used win 98 boot disk and loaded win 98 2nd.
> loaded up , installed , seems to work, but....
> no drivers for this OS as Dell 4550 Dimension came with xp pro sp1 and
> there
> are no drivers for win 98.
>
> so with 98 on I threw a copy of winmxp pro sp1 in and it started the
> process.
>
> before completion, during routine restarts the "windows did not shut down
> properly" warning appears and from here, no matter which option I choose
> this
> screen comes back over and over and over again.
>
> I was told by Dell I could get a generic key from Microsoft but be damned
> if
> I can find a phone number that doesn't require me to pay to talk.
>
> I ran a seagate utilities on the HD and it came back good.
> checked partition and its set to active.
> nothing I do is working
> all the topics I find on google don't help with this problem.
>
>
> is dynamite the answer or can anyone help me out?
>