F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

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BobH
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F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by BobH »

This has been the month for PC problems. First it was the wife's desktop (which is now almost fully restored and will be as soon as I resolve a Citrix client problem), then my brother had problems with an HDD on his system (1200 miles away but I'm phone support), now I have to install a new HDD on my desktop and can't get the WinXP Pro install to work.

The system is an older Dell Dim4100 P4 running WinXP Pro SP3 (or will when i get it installed). I power on the box and press F12 to go into the Boot Menu. I have checked Setup and the drives are turned ON and the boot sequence is first from the onboard CD, second from the onboard HDD (SATA-0, and SATA-1 are both installed but neither contains OS data; SATA-0 is the new drive), and finally from the onboard diskette drive. When I get to the step that the blue screen and white character EULA is displayed with the prompt to press F8 to accept the EULA, I press the F8 key and nothing happens. The keyboard works fine if I go into Setup instead of the Boot Menu; so I don't think there is anything wrong with the keyboard or the connection (it's a wireless MS ergonomic kb that was working without problems before the HDD failed).

Can anyone suggest a resolution? Is it possible to enter the F8 key value by using ASCII values? If so, what must I enter and how?

TIA
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Samantha
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by Samantha »

Dunno if this will help you, but I recall having an old computer where F8 had been replaced by some other function key -- maybe F5? F2? Try those (or any/all of the other function keys) and see if one of them works for you instead.
Samantha

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BobH
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by BobH »

Thanks for the response, Samantha!

I got past the problem, but I'm not certain what did it. I think the F Lock key did it, but the other Function keys were working as they should; so I'm not sure that's what did the job. I must have rebooted from CD a dozen or more times trying different approaches each time. It finally accepted the F8 key at the prompt and took me to the partitioning options. The system is formatting the HDD as I type this.

Again, thanks for the help.
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DaveA
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by DaveA »

Comment about your boot sequence. :evilgrin:
How do you expect to ever boot to the Floppy drive if it is listed after the Hard drive?
If there is any OS on the hard drive then one will never be able to boot to the floppy! :grin:
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
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BobH
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by BobH »

How do you expect to ever boot to the Floppy drive if it is listed after the Hard drive?
You're right, of course, DaveA! I just wanted to be extra sure, I guess. (Easy enough to fix, though)
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StuartR
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by StuartR »

It's a long time since I installed Windows XP, but my memory is that the F8 key was disabled until you scrolled to the bottom of the EULA screen.

Could this problem have been caused by trying to type F8 without pressing Page-Down a few times first.
StuartR


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BobH
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by BobH »

Yes ! ! ! !

I remember now that I tried the page up and page down keys to be certain that the keyboard was working. After that, I tried the F8 key again and it worked!

My brain must be so fried that I didn't connect the events in my mind until you suggested that might have been my problem.

That is the most likely explanation.

Thanks, Stuart!
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IanWilson
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Re: F8 Doesn't Work to Accept EULA when Installing from CD

Post by IanWilson »

BobH wrote:Yes ! ! ! !

I remember now that I tried the page up and page down keys to be certain that the keyboard was working. After that, I tried the F8 key again and it worked!

My brain must be so fried that I didn't connect the events in my mind until you suggested that might have been my problem.

That is the most likely explanation.

Thanks, Stuart!
Presumably it's so that no matter how long, complicated and incomprehensible the EULA may be, you can't claim not to have read it.

Ian