odd error concerning windows on Mac

I have just recently gotten my new iMac and am getting aquainted with the Mac OS. I have to say I am pleased! However, I would like to have Windows XP on the computer as well, if only for the sole purpose of playing video games that have no Mac compatability, (IE anything distributed over Steam, including the Half-Life series which I am addicted to.)

I downloaded Boot Camp and made a Mac driver CD, and partitioned the hard drive to allow for 32 Gb of space for Windows with no error. (I believe 32 Gb is the maximum allowed space for FAT32.)

I inserted a brand new Windows XP disk, that I bought just today, and started up the Windows Installer. Everything went fine until the Installer gave me the strangest error. It went something like this: "could not recognize Windows XP disk, either there is no disk in the drive, or it is not a valid copy of XP. Please insert disk and press enter." This seemed to make absolutely no sense to me, seeing as how the computer booted up from the very disk that seemed no longer to exist! Of course I pressed enter, and the same error kept on popping up. And of course it was a valid copy since I bought it from the local CompUSA for 100$.

Can anyone tell me what the problem here is? It is very frustrating. Ill be happy to give any needed information about my iMac that is requested to help further its diagnosis.
Thank you.

Where abouts in the process does it complain about the Windows CD? At the beginning? Is this before or after you've put in your serial?

spase said:

I have just recently gotten my new iMac and am getting aquainted with the Mac OS. I have to say I am pleased! However, I would like to have Windows XP on the computer as well, if only for the sole purpose of playing video games that have no Mac compatability, (IE anything distributed over Steam, including the Half-Life series which I am addicted to.)

I downloaded Boot Camp and made a Mac driver CD, and partitioned the hard drive to allow for 32 Gb of space for Windows with no error. (I believe 32 Gb is the maximum allowed space for FAT32.)

Click to expand...

FAT32 is limited to 32GB artificially. It can actually go much larger, but Microsoft enforces a 32GB limit to push users into going NTFS. Mac OS will happily format it to just about any size you like.

I inserted a brand new Windows XP disk, that I bought just today, and started up the Windows Installer. Everything went fine until the Installer gave me the strangest error. It went something like this: "could not recognize Windows XP disk, either there is no disk in the drive, or it is not a valid copy of XP. Please insert disk and press enter." This seemed to make absolutely no sense to me, seeing as how the computer booted up from the very disk that seemed no longer to exist! Of course I pressed enter, and the same error kept on popping up. And of course it was a valid copy since I bought it from the local CompUSA for 100$.

Can anyone tell me what the problem here is? It is very frustrating. Ill be happy to give any needed information about my iMac that is requested to help further its diagnosis.
Thank you.

Click to expand...

I had the exact same problem a few years ago, installing a retail copy of Windows XP on a customer's computer. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. I actually called Microsoft's tech support and they told me that the disc was likely defective and advised me to return it to the retailer. To me surprise, Costco took it back with no questions asked. The replacement copy worked just fine.

My guess is that some portion of the disc is either damaged or defective. Call Microsoft, tell them you're getting that message installing it on a PC (don't mention the Mac) and see if they'll replace the disc.

Alexis said:

Where abouts in the process does it complain about the Windows CD? At the beginning? Is this before or after you've put in your serial?

Click to expand...

I havent even been prompted for the serial. It is after a short wait in front of a blue screen while all sorts of operations are specified as being performed at the bottom of the screen. At this time the words at the top of the screen read "Windows Setup" at the time of the error, that is changed to "XP Home Edition Installation". Or something like that.

If you are able to connect to the internet, just download and burn a copy of Windows XP from the internet. You will not be stealing as you will be using the serial number provided on the disc you bought.