[johnh]

Hi, I am trying to upgrade my Mini 910 with a 32Gb SSD. The new SSD has been fitted and I am trying to install the original XP Home Edition operating system by using an external CD drive (brand new) with the original Dell XP re-installation disc.
It appears that the installation is going ok then the computer re-starts and the process just seems to repeat itself without stopping. I must be doing something wrong.
Prompts I get are where to install ie partitioned or unpartitioned space/ NTFS or FATS32. I am not sure which I should be selecting.
I also get a prompt about pressing F6 if I need to install SCSI or RAID drivers - I do not know if I should be selecting this option or not.
So if anyone can assist with simple step by step instructions without using too much techno babble it would assist greatly.
The new SSD is a Kingspec PATA 32 GB.
Re-installation disc is original XP Home Edtion SP3 . I also have the the original Dell Drivers Disc.Thanks in advance

[holmes4]

What seems to be happening is that the CD is booting again. It should prompt you to press a key to boot from CD - do NOT do that after the first boot. Or, change the boot order to boot from the SSD first and use the boot menu (0 during the initial Dell logo display) to select the CD to boot from.

You should not have to install additional drivers.

[johnh]

Hi Steve thanks for replying. I tried changing the order of installation but still got the same result. Continues to boot. After trying to install from the external drive if I select boot from HDD I get a message that there has been an installation error.
I did note that regardless of whether I try to install from the external drive or from the hard disk the external drive is still operating (ie its led is flashing) suggesting that it is always obtaining data from the disk and not the HDD.
Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

[holmes4]

I'm out of ideas, sorry.

[lswartz]

Originally Posted by johnh

Prompts I get are where to install ie partitioned or unpartitioned space/ NTFS or FATS32. I am not sure which I should be selecting.
I also get a prompt about pressing F6 if I need to install SCSI or RAID drivers - I do not know if I should be selecting this option or not.

You want to format the SSD & use NTFS vs. FAT32. Skip the SCSI & RAID drivers as you are using a PATA SSD.

If you have tried ejecting the CD already when windows reboots the Mini, I think I would try pulling the CD drive as well. Holmes ideas should have worked IMHOP.

[johnh]

Hi lswartz. Thanks for the info about formatting and using NTFS and not needing to use the RAID option. This hopefully will allow me to advance to "pulling" the external drive. I tried this previously without success but will try when the computer switches off to restart. I tried pulling the cable of the drive once but after the Dell logo/screen appeared but got the installation error message. Will update you in due course as to the results. Many thanks.

[johnh]

Update- failed miserably. I tried ejecting the disc,pulling leads of the external drives out at different stages. Did not work - it either continued to boot or it displayed the installation error message. I know I am defeated and as such have to resort to my default plan.
Therefore, I have just parcelled up the mini 9 and will post it to my son for him to sort it out for me. Frustrating that I could not sort it out myself.
Thanks for those who posted information.