I have an older PC that has the hardware to run XP Home, but the boot order can NOT be changed in the bios to see the CDrom.

I have several install CDs for XP Home not being used and want to install it on this pc to give to a church so they can watch movies from CDs they have. It will NOT be connected to the internet and little or NO software will be installed.

Here is what I have tried so far:
Microsoft provides a download ( WinXP_EN_HOM_BF.EXE)to make floppies for just this purpose. I made the floppies and they boot up fine and it looks like a normal clean install of XP and does see the install CD. It allowed me to partition and format the hard drive and started the install. Almost immediatedly after the install starts I get an error saying ".SIF is corrupt or missing". I have tried several install CDs and all get this same message, so I am thinking the error has to be from the MS floppies (I have remade them several times). I don't think all the CDs would have the same file corrupt or missing.

I am not sure what .SIF file is or what it does.

There is a file called "smartdrv" that may have to be put on the install CD. This again I am not sure but I have the procedures how to do that.

If anyone can help I sure would appreciate it.

I have also been to Bootdisk.Com and if I read correctly there is a single floppy file that will allow installation of XP when the boot order can NOT be set. Which file this is I could NOT determine. I don't mind paying for it, but I need to know which one to get. If anyone has used this, I would appreciate some guidence.

Thanks for any help

Can I just ask how old this "older" pc is?
It has been a considerable number of years since I saw a bios that could not boot from the cdrom.
I know you say it CAN'T boot from the cdrom, can you elaborate on this please.
If you only have the capabilities to boot from the hard drive, floppy drive and say, LAN then this pc must be very old and therefore may be unable to support XP.

Yes this is an old pc, I would estimate 10 yrs old, but has enough RAM, hard drive space, onboard sound and video that is supported by WinXP Home.

There are older bios that does not allow you to change the boot order. This is the case with this pc, there is NO way to change boot order and CDrom is NOT one of the options.

Other than that, I see no reason it should NOT run XP Home.

I called my local guru and he said the same thing. Don't know what else to tell you. Computers like this is why Microsoft made those files.

Thank you

Hi there

My suggestion would be a BIOS update but for a system as old as yours; it could be very tricky, there may not be a suitable upgrade..and it is full of pitfalls. If you really, really want to do it and are aware of the potentially lethal (for your PC) concequences, then we can talk about it if you like.

If you can't get it to boot from CD in the Bios you usually can disable the HDD and other boot devices so it will default to the CD drive. Or if the bios is so old you can't boot off the cd use this methos it works well and from MS
Starting the Windows XP Setup program at a command prompt

To start Windows XP at a command prompt, follow these steps: 1.Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.2.Start the computer to an Command Prompt with CD-ROM support. If your computer does not have MS-DOS already installed, or you otherwise cannot start to an Command Prompt in the Boot menu, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 187632 (How to Create a Windows 98 Startup Disk that Supports FAT32) How to create a Windows 98 startup disk that supports FAT32
3.Start SMARTDrive if it is not already started. To do this, change to the folder that contains the Smartdrv.exe file, type smartdrv, and then press ENTER. If you do not use SMARTDrive, the Windows XP Setup program may copy files to the hard disk slowly.4.At the command prompt, type drive:, and then press ENTER (where drive is the drive that contains the Windows XP CD-ROM).5.Type cd i386, and then press ENTER.6.Type winnt, and then press ENTER. The Windows XP Setup program starts.7.Type the path of the Windows XP installation files, and then press ENTER. For example, type d:\i386.

The Windows Setup program copies files to the hard disk. When the files are copied, you receive the following message: The MS-DOS based part of The Setup Program Is complete.
The Setup program will now restart your computer. After your computer restarts,
the Windows XP Setup program will continue.

If there is a floppy disk in drive A:, remove it now.

Press ENTER to restart your computer and continue Windows XP Setup.
8.Remove any floppy disks from the computer, and then press ENTER. The computer restarts, and the Windows XP Setup program resumes. Press ENTER to continue.9.Follow the steps to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP. If your hard disk contains only one partition, do not delete it from the list of existing partitions. The Windows XP Setup program has copied the installation files to this partition.

You can convert a FAT32-formatted partition to the NTFS file system later.

Setup copies the files that the Windows XP Setup program requires, and then the computer restarts. If you chose to format the drive by using the NTFS file system, Windows checks the drive for errors, and then it restarts. Windows XP Setup resumes in Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode. 10.Follow the steps in the Windows Setup Wizard to complete the installation of Windows XP.

Thank you MadMatt

That was concise and useful information. I printed it out and will study it carefully. Great instructions.