Recovery from failed XP to Win8 upgrade/install

periboob

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Not sure I want win8 on my primary computer (win7 working pretty well) but I hate to fall too far behind the times. I have several older laptops, and would like to ease into win8. So I started with a ~6 year old laptop running XP, a machine normally used only for data file backup.

The win8 DVD did not boot, and I assumed it was a bad DVD drive, so, I pulled out my external DVD drive, and without paying much attention ran the install from inside winXP. Bad mistake. All the files seem to have copied over, but when it reached the reboot part of the process, it failed. Get a black screen, Missing file ...system32\winload.exe

I can still use winXP on this machine from this point, because the error screen's "Older operating system" choice still works. But I cannot get this old machine to boot from its DVD drive, or the external DVD drive (and I have tried all the BIOS boot-order settings). So, I cannot use the original XP install disk for recovery. And I cannot get the machine to boot normally, without hitting the error screen, and having to choose the older OS manually.

I would like to get this box running normally for backup purposes, before moving on to another for win8 evaluation. I thought maybe there is a way to change the boot sequence away from win8, back to the XP boot. So, finally, my question, is there a simple, manual process anyone can suggest for restoring boot manager?

(I am not a pro, but I know how to use Notepad, and can find my way around the C: drive with reasonable dexterity)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows7
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell/XPS17
Will it boot from USB? If so you can put Win 8 on a flash drive and install from there.

First, create a .ISO file from the DVD. ImgBurn is a good program to do this with, just make sure you take the Custom path and deselect the crapware they want to install. Name it something like Win8X64 or Win8ProX64 so it's easy to find.

You can create a bootable USB Flash drive (4GB or larger) to install Windows 8 from.
  1. Download and run Universal USB Installer Easy as 1 2 3
  2. Select Windows 8 from the first drop down list, all the way to the bottom
  3. Select the downloaded Windows 8 iso file
  4. Select your USB flash drive
  5. Click Create
For techies or folks who work on computers: Create Windows 7 Universal ISO With All Editions Selection On Install with ei.cfg Removal Utility.

This will fit on a 6GB flash drive or can be burned to a DVD.

Edit: Are you sure the DVD is good?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Will it boot from USB? If so you can put Win 8 on a flash drive and install from there.

...
This will fit on a 6GB flash drive or can be burned to a DVD.

Edit: Are you sure the DVD is good?

Does not seem that the machine will boot from either the DVD drive or the USB. No idea why this would be the case. The DVD could be bad, but the original XP disk would not boot either. The USB external DVD drive works fine on other computers, and on this computer in other than a boot role.

I have kinda given up on fixing the win8 install on this computer. I plan to install this upgrade on another computer, but I would prefer to rescue this computer and fix XP on it for use as a backup machine first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows7
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell/XPS17
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