Reinstalling vista

[nascarcpl20008]

my issue with the computer is i inserted the media direct cd for vista like the web site said to do I could see the recovery directory, the c drive and the media drive. it asked me to put in how much space i wanted for the c: so i put in 137 like it said. so now the recovery drive is gone. I put the reinstall dvd in and it says it is copying windows then extending files and then installing files then it goes to the completing installation .. and then it takes over 2 hours. when it restarts it has an arrow on the screen and it stops there. on the web site it says it is to come up with a user name and password page but we never see that part. Any idea's what i need to do? If I put a windows xp cd in it got to the install screen and when I click enter so it will find a previous version and ask to format the computer halts so it doesn’t damage the drive. Any help is appreciated. I would like to just get any windows on it and then I can upgrade it back to vista.

 

[nascarcpl20008]

Can anyone help me?

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi and welcome

Do you have a current backup? are you able to get into you computer at all without re-installing.

what happened to get you into this problem?

 

[nascarcpl20008]

Hi and welcome

Do you have a current backup? are you able to get into you computer at all without re-installing.

what happened to get you into this problem?

The computer asked me to put the media direct dvd in and i did when it asked me to allocate the hard drive space to c: i put in 132 gig it then removed the recovery portion of the drive. I put the reinstall dvd in and it will go through the steps of copying files and extending them then installing and completing installation but it never asks for a user name or to enter a new password if you want one. when the computer reboots it goes to an arrow on the screen and stays there in limbot
when i reboot the microsoft corporation at the bottom of the screen comes up and just stays at that screen can i not format the hard drive some how and install xp and upgrade to vista?

 

[nascarcpl20008]

The computer asked me to put the media direct dvd in and i did when it asked me to allocate the hard drive space to c: i put in 132 gig it then removed the recovery portion of the drive. I put the reinstall dvd in and it will go through the steps of copying files and extending them then installing and completing installation but it never asks for a user name or to enter a new password if you want one. when the computer reboots it goes to an arrow on the screen and stays there in limbot
when i reboot the microsoft corporation at the bottom of the screen comes up and just stays at that screen can i not format the hard drive some how and install xp and upgrade to vista?

 

[zigzag3143]

nascar

I have to ask again

do you have a current backup? If you dont know you can say that.

Can you boot your computer in safe mode? (boot while repeatedly hitting the F8 key)?

What happened to get you into this mess?

 

[nascarcpl20008]

The computer was acting up and going way to slow. Dell advised to reinstall the operating system but the warranty is over so they will not help without paying them.

the computer starts to go into safe mode and stalls partway through
No i do not have a back up all i have is the reinstall dvd.

 

[nascarcpl20008]

Any idea ZigZag?

 

[nascarcpl20008]

Has anyone else had this problem?