Problem Installing Windows XP

[Anthony Carn]

Computer bought with Win XP installed, but HDD failed.

New HDD purchased.

Have Win XP Home full installation CD.


(1) -- HDD connected up. Win XP CD inserted. All hunky-dory. Installation proceeds at a pace.

(2) -- Then it gets to "Installing Windows" , which it proceeds to do for a couple of minutes, then a message on my monitor says "power saving" or something, then goes blank.

(3) -- Investigate -- find that Win XP does mess with monitor on and off, and not to worry, all will come back on.

(4) -- Wait 2 hours (well - went for a walk actually) -- come back - nothing's happened.

(5) -- Computer on then off as instructions suggest - Win XP starts installing all over again from (2) -- the "Installing Windows" stage again -- monitor goes off again, as per above. Win XP stops installing.

(6) -- Connect another monitor (different type) and do the whole installation again. Same result (or lack of)

(7) -- Install Win 98 from scratch. No problem. Works just fine. But I prefer XP for the thumbnails function etc.

(8) -- Upgrade the Win 98 installed in (7) to Win XP and end up with the situation in (2) yet again.


Regardless of what I try, I'm therefore in a Groundhog Day situation at (2) and can't get beyond it, because the monitor goes blank and Win XP stops installing, even after a 2 hour wait.


Assuming that you understood all of that, can anyone help, please ? :(

[ORAC]

1. Check your hardware compatibility (http://www.pcpitstop.com/xpready/xptests.asp).

2. Disconnect all external devices and remove any components which might be causing a problem, e.g. sound card, network card etc. You can reinstall them later.

3. Upgrade you BIOS to the latest standard before installation.

4. Disable power saving/sleep mode in your BIOS before installation.

5. Copy the CD to the HDD and install from there.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Anthony Carn,

Could you please list the specs on your computer. Right now I have no idea what hardware you are running, with that information it makes it very difficult to troubleshoot your computer.

Take Care,

Richard

[Anthony Carn]

Thanks to all for your suggestions -- I'll work through them all until I achieve success or not.

N A C Inc. -- I'll be back with the info, once I've collected it. Thanks.


:ok:

[Anthony Carn]

OK, compatibility check passed (including BIOS).

Removed all external devices.

Power saving/sleep disabled.

Don't know how to copy the CD to the HDD and install from there. That's the one thing I've not adhered to.

Partitions deleted, re-partitioned and formatted each time. (ie start from absolute zero each time).

BIOS defaults used for an attempt at installation of XP.

BIOS defaults, plus anti virus and power saving/sleep mode removed. Repeat attempt at installing XP.


No success. It still blanks the monitor part way through "Installing Windows" and refuses to go any further, despite a very long wait (2 hours each attempt). To amplify upon my initial post this occurs at about two thirds of the way through the subsection "Installing Devices".

:{


Naples Air Centre, Inc

Motherboard -- WinFast K7NCR18D-Pro
Processor - AMD Athlon 2000+XP
256MB DDR RAM
ATI Radeon 7500LE 128M SDR TVO fitted to AGP slot. (no other output for monitor but this one)


Any more ideas are very welcome !

Keep attacking !!!! :ok:

[ORAC]

One possibility, their site shows the USB 2.0 not to be supported by XP, only XP + SP1. It should'nt be a problem as it should just load the USB 1.0 drivers, but try disabling the USB in the BIOS anyway.

For copying the CD to your HDD and installation, see here. (http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_20708274.html)

[Anthony Carn]

Thanks ORAC, I'll have a go. :ok:

[I think that the 'U' in USB stands for Useless. :D ]

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Anthony Carn,

Tell me about your RAM you are using. I would like the brand and CAS rating.

nForce is very picky about RAM. You need with nForce and WinXP two matched sticks of RAM (2x256Mb is optimal) and one stick needs to be in each of the two Memory Controller's DIMMs.

Take Care,

Richard

[Anthony Carn]

ORAC -- No joy, I'm afraid. Worth a try ! :ok:

NAC Inc -- I'll be back (screwdriver job, plus clear the desk first).

TCS -- No other video card, I'm afraid. As per a previous message...."ATI Radeon 7500LE 128M SDR TVO fitted to AGP slot. (no other output for monitor but this one)".

This means I'm stuck with the Radeon.

[ORAC]

D**n, I was pretty sure USB was mixed up in this somewhere. Are either your keyboard or mouse USB? See here (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;815319).

Looks like Naples could be right, the next most common problem is RAM. XP creates a RAM drive during installation and all sorts of memory mismatches can cause it to freeze.

[amanoffewwords]

My 2 cents worth:

- I take it the warranty's run out so no assistance from manufacturer?

- who is the manufacturer btw?

- is there anything connected to any USB at all - like a multifunction V45 HP show-stopper printer for instance?

- is it possible that Windows Installer is displaying a message when the monitor goes blank and it needs some sort of input from the keyboard like Enter or Yes/No - could try that...

- what version of XP 2001 or 2002?

amofw

[Anthony Carn]

Naples A C Inc.

The RAM is in one "stick" (one length) in one slot.

It has a label with loadsa numbers, but the relevant ones are probably "Elixir 256mb DDR 333MHz CL 2.5"

Thanks.

----------------------

amanoffewwords

Thanks for the input. I've disconnected literally every external device except the (original) keyboard - non USB and have tried with the original mouse (non USB) as well as a cordless I bought a few weeks ago (non USB).

The PC was made by Carrera SSC and I bought Win XP 2002 Home Edition (full version - not the recovery disk rubbish) from them at the same time.

The warranty is'nt out. To go into too much detail - the original HDD "failed" because I had an accident whilst transporting it (just the HDD, whilst removed from the parent machine). I converted the machine to a caddy system to allow three HDD to be "shuttled". One disk is the original (the one with the accident). The second HDD has Win 98/ME on it (I'm using it to send this message). This is irrelevant to the problem. The third HDD is the one (brand new) that I'm trying to install Win XP on. I've only now got around to trying to install Win XP (or anything) on this HDD, spurred on by the first HDD "failing".

I phoned Carrera on Friday midday(ish). They said that an engineer would phone back 1600 to 1800. I waited in for the call, but they failed to keep to their promise. My call minder shows no calls from numbers which I don't recognise and nothing on the ansaphone since my original call to them, so they've let me down (surprise surprise).

I'll try Carrera again on Monday (today Saturday). Depends upon whether it could be called a machine fault, or not. (?) I just want info from them as to whether there's a "trick" to installing XP on this machine.

--

I've tried moving the mouse to waken up the screen, and random key inputs, with no success.

I'll try your specific suggestions, with thanks.

----------

In the meantime, don't buy a Carrera SSC PC [even better, don't have accidents with hard disks. :O ]

[ORAC]

Are you trying to install XP with the new drive in the caddy? if so, take it out and connect it directly to the IDE cable cable before trying again.

[Anthony Carn]

OK, I've now double-checked and I have :

Original motherboard
Original Radeon video card
Origial CD drive
Original floppy drive
Original mouse
Original keyboard
New HDD with caddy now removed
Power saving off
USB's disabled
All other devices removed.

I've repeated all of the suggestions listed so far.

Still goes dead during "Installing Devices".

As I mentioned previously, Win 98 still installs and works perfectly OK, if I try that, so it's not the HDD. Win XP won't install even after Win 98 has been successfully installed, or alternatively on a new partitioned/formatted/"blank" HDD.

----------------------

Question -- A friend mentioned M'soft security measures might be the problem. The Win XP disk (CD ROM obviously) is a genuine disk from M'soft supplied with the PC when I bought it. It's a full installation disk. It's the full business in other words.

This is the last thing that could be at fault, but how can I check, please, anyone ? Seems like a red herring, but.........:confused:

[ORAC]

OK, lets keeping attacking this.

Have you got another memory stick you can try? Have you tried loading the CD to the HDD and booting from there as detailed previously?

In the meantime, another BIOS thing ti check, is it set to look for a primary AGP video device? If so, set it to a primary PCI video device and try again.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Anthony Carn,

Elixir RAM is hit or miss at best with nForce. I would try a different stick of RAM. You should try nForce Approved RAM, the two best brands are Mushkin and Crucial.

nForce Memory Compatibility (http://www.nvidia.com/content/nForceMemoryCompatability/lstnForceMemoryCompatibility.asp)

Try to borrow some RAM and see if you can get though the install with it.

Take Care,

Richard

[Anthony Carn]

Thanks ORAC and NAC Inc.

I can try the RAM change fairly easily, given a few days. Encourages a social visit as well. ;)

If that does'nt work and Carrera SSC perform as badly tomorrow (Monday 6th) as they did last week then I think I'll give up (and steer clear of Carrera in future). All Carrera are aware of is that I require some technical assistance .... under warranty.

From research via Google it would seem that Win XP is a mess. Incompatibility issues, amongst others, seem to be rife. If that conclusion is correct, then it's appalling.

Then again, I'm no PC whiz. :(

Many thanks to all for all the advice and suggestions. I'll let you know if I succeed. :ok:

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Anthony Carn,

Do not believe everything you read. WinXP is light years ahead of Win9x and I would never go back to Win9x OS's.

The nForce2 is an excellent chipset. It just has to have the right RAM to run it. It is very picky about RAM.

I am currently running 22 nForce/nForce2 computers and I have sold a ton of them. The nForce2 with a Barton AthlonXP and WinXP is a hard combination to beat in the Performance, Price, Features, and Stability Categories. The nForce chipset was designed with WinXP in mind, support for Win98SE was added as an afterthought. You really need to run WinXP with it. (Win95, Win98, and WinNT are not supported.)

The nForce Chipset was innovative in that it has dual memory controllers that double the memory bandwidth when two matched sticks of RAM are used. With nForce and WinXP, 2x256Mb of PC-3200 CAS 2.2.2. is optimal. It will give you the best performance you can get out of the chipset.

Take Care,

Richard

[Anthony Carn]

Thanks NAC Inc - all noted.

My PC is now sorted. The new RAM is the most likely cause, though the supplier did the whole job, including Win XP installation. He said that there were no unusual problems, so I'm none the wiser as to any little tricks.

The PC manufacturer, Carrera SSC showed no interest whatsoever -- they were aware that I had a problem with one of their PC's still under warranty, but not a single phone back (I have caller ID and an ansaphone - anyone even dials my number and I know about it)) and not a single response to email. :mad:

I mainly wanted to thank you all for all the ideas and for all of your time and effort - much appreciated !! :ok:

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Anthony Carn,

Glad your computer is all sorted out now. If you ever have any questions on compatibility, etc. with the nForce Chipset. Send me a tell. I would be happy to check into it for you before you spend your money on the hardware.

Take Care,

Richard