Hey, thanks for reading this. I am in some trouble here. I live in Japan, and my friend has just purchased a Toshiba Qosimo dynabook. He wants to reload his windows, so he bought a copy of Windows XP and had it shipped here. Anyway, I can't get it to install. I first accidentally installed part of the windows onto his hard drive, I think. I haven't had this problem before, but now when you load up you have to choose between the Windows XP (which doesnt work) and the original Japanese operating system.
The problem that we are having is that I want to totally reload his windows. But when I finally got the CD to boot up from the start, it says: Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your system.
I have looked around but nothing has been able to help me from other sites. And I was told to check this site. We can't read Japanese, and it doesnt have the English Language on it. So I am really stumped. I was told that there was something about a SATA drive. But I dont know. Also, his computer doesnt have a floppy disk drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks in advance!

VARIOUS

Hi there im not sure on this problem but a hardware tech or another member will be along soon to help.

May i ask though if you live in japan why did you set ur profile to display united states?

Hey, thanks for the help. Um, I dont know why it is set to the United States. I work here for now, but I am an American working for a company here for a short while. I would've changed it if I knew it was about the country we are in. I for some reason just figured it was our nationality. I haven't set my profile yet. Is that ok? I can change it if I need to.

Not i was just wondering im not sure if pchf are aiming for it to be your nationality or country you are in.

Although some people do have a location bit so it may be nationality that should be there.

Doesnt matter anyway no need to change it.

If even the BIOS is in japanesse your in trouble.
You'll need someone who can read it to allow you to boot it from the XP CD, then format the disc using the XP setup and Install the US version of XP.

hey Various,

Welcome to PCHF,

It sounds as though your harddrive has gone bad. if XP cannot find the harddrive then it make have been toasted. if you can open up the pc and check to make sure the HD is plugged in. if it is then reboot and try again. if it doesnt work then you lost the Drive. if u can run BIOS and read it check and see if the HD is showing up there. if not then its prolly gone.

Thanks guys for replying so quickly. THis is a problem. Well, I dont know what to tell my friend. I have experience with reloading windows, which is why he asked me, but I dont feel comfortable about opening the computer. He said he was having trouble with it a couple days after he got it, saying that his computer was automatically producing emails. I am not sure all the details. I will talk to him and then I will post what he says again. Maybe he should take it to a shop around here. Problem of course is finding a place where people speak English.
The other thing is the two windows. At the start up, it has you choose the original windows (Japanese), or the one I accidentally partially installed. How can I remove the one I partially installed? I really really appreciate your help, and I my friend does too! Thanks again.

Various