Windows wouldn't install!!!!!

[coolraj003]

So this is how it started.

I was working on my pc last week had music players and bearshare running at that time and suddenly pc just froze. i restarted it but it came up with different options like start normally blah blah blah start with last known good configuration. I tried all of em but nothing works...it ll go to the black screen where loading bar on the bottom shows progressing and then after it finishes its journey from left to right the screen stays black n nothing happens after that.

Tried loading a fresh copy of windows xp pro again but after loading drivers etc it comes to Setup is starting(or Loading) Windows. thats it.

Blue screen saying windows on top and "setup is loading windows" on bottom. I have tried 3 different windows xp cds thinking maybe my own cd is corrupted but still the same. I went out and bought new hard drive but still exact same thing. I left the pc at the same point the whole night but nothing happened. Seems like a hardware issue but what could it be.

Its a AMD Athlon XP 2000+ with 512 mb ddr(dunno which one)

can anyone help me out of this issue please?

Thanx a lot in advance
Raj

[coolraj003]

???????....anyone....help me out here please guys.....any clue as to what happened here...
Cheers
Raj

[rmrd]

Run Memtest to check the integrity of your RAM, and clean out your fan's heatsink to ensure that this isn't the cause of overheating.

[lasher511]

how long have you left your computer in the black screen before you give up and shut it down again.

Also have you added any new hardware into your computer recently?

[coolraj003]

I have tried leaving it for a while but it stays on black screen, fans working and lights are on but nothing happens, tried using a new harddrive and installing fresh copy of windows still would not work. Even changed the RAM with the one I had previously had on pc and tried installing the windows on new hard drive with different ram module but it ll freeze at the blue screen saying set up is starting windows. I have tried all this and even cleaned the heatsink but it just would not do much. Any Suggestions.Its freaking me out.

Raj

[jbennet]

Is your hard disk sata - do you have raid?

windows wonmt install on SATA disks unless you have a driver floppy and hit F6 when it says "hit f6 to load a 3rd party raid/scsi driver)

[lasher511]

Try reseting the bios settings to default and see if that will work. I have done this a few times in the past when this has been happening and it has worked.

[coolraj003]

My hard drive is actually sata...n funnily i dont have any floppy driver to install 3rd party raid/scsi driver...i might have to end up getting it sorted by our local pc repair centre...but why would it not install this time because i didnot have any trouble installin it last time.....cos i did try to install it on the previous hard drive but it just wouldn't do it....just can't understand how is it possible that one second it was runnin just fine next it wont install a fresh copy either

[RueB2sDe]

Are you overloading your system with still having your printer, video card, logitech drivers etc upon the initial setup? Try having the bare minimums. Monitor, keyboard and mouse. You might even have to remove CD roms from the motherboard after a reload of windows xp until the onboard drivers are loaded and then add one device at a time. each time besure after restarting to do a proper shut down and then add the next device.

[coolraj003]

I have been tryin just with the k'board, mouse, monitor only. Only additional driver it might be using would be for additional cd drive which is my second drive apart from the dvd rw drive which is being used for installing windows. I am so close to kicking this damn machine outta frustration. Please dont make me do it. Help me out.
Raj

[RueB2sDe]

Raj,

I just thought of this. You just restored your HDD and you said that it will load and then you get a blank screen.

Try this. Tap F8 upon start up and choose enable VGA mode. It may be your video settings.

[coolraj003]

Rue, i didn't restore it, I tried installing the windows on the hdd but after initial files and driver installation it froze on a blue screen saying setup is startin windows....thats it

I tried new hdd nothin different

Tried different ram modules no change.

its just isnt ready to to work for me n i am losing it now...

but thanx for ur suggestion though.

Raj

[coolraj003]

Right! so i found out that a file named NTLDR is missing when i try to install the windows to the new hdd. Any clue how I can sort this out? Its frustrating, annoying and everything else that results in either just burning the whole pc or pulling my hair out. Help Please!(Woooooosaaaaaa!!!!)

Raj

[RueB2sDe]

Hi Raj,
The new HDD was it formated for Fat 32? So was Windows 98 or earlier version was once on the drive? If so the partition will need to be deleted before reloading Windows XP.

If not here are some suggestions:

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your computer.

   copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
   copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Hope that helps :-)

[coolraj003]

Thanx a lot dude i ll try it n let u know what happens.....cheers

Raj

[coolraj003]

i have had some professionals had a look at pc and was told that the motherboard s gone....but will find out for sure later on...

Raj

[rmrd]

i have had some professionals had a look at pc and was told that the motherboard s gone....but will find out for sure later on...

Raj

Lol.. Very, very unlikely. Especially considering you can pass POST, let alone how far you can get into the install process before it freezes.

So much for the "professionals."

[coolraj003]

exactly....but hey i couldnt get it sorted out by myself...not that i m sayin that i m a real genius...i mite as well be one step below the novice status as compared to some of the guys here.

Its juss the guys who deal with refurbished pc's and were offering inspection at cheaper than our pc world. Othe than that I wont even know what exactly would be the actual POST means as all it did was get the drivers for mobo...hdd's etc installed or copied and then freeze at the blue screen saying "Setup is Loading Windows" (for whole night as well)

Now out of complete frustration I ended up gettin a new laptop but I still wanna get that PC up and running(i think it has sentimental values as been with me for 3 years). I'd hate to c it go waste and i for sure aint gonna let that happen....now them lot told me that they can actually replace the motherboard for me for about £60 which sounds reasonable as I have already given em £30 for inspection.

There was no way I could have afforded to get it done by PC World as they charge £70+ juss to have a look at it. Cant afford that kinda money for repairing it..

Now rmrd...if you could suggest something cos the "professional" also told me about the ntldr file missing but they tried loadin linux on it and it crashed on linux as well.

What say you guys? Care to shed some light on what could be possible reason behind it...I welcome any and every suggestion apart from "throw the $hit away" as my gfrend told me.

Ur time and effort is much appreciated.

Raj

[DenisOxon]

try removing any other cards, like network cards, just leave minimum, could be a faulty card that is stopping it working.

[coolraj003]

it could be a possibility but the guys inspecting the pc told me that they tried booting it with the minimum barebones and it still didnt work. I cant do much about it as yet cos the pc is with "the professionals"....but thanx for your suggestion bud.

Raj

[DenisOxon]

No prob, good luck, ta for letting us know your progress.

Please let us know what happens and what was wrong.

[coolraj003]

will do bud....at the moment i m curious myself as to how much them"Professionals" gonna charge me and what exactly could the problem be?

Raj

[coolraj003]

ok so i spoke to the guys and they told me that the motherboard didnt have any marks or signs for burnt out componnts anywhere externally so the problem could be internal which is impossible to sort out for them. Now my best shot is to get the mobo replaced by them at a cost of around £60. I dont think its that bad for that price to get the mobo changed. I told em that if they do wanna replace the mobo they shud get one for which i have an option to upgrade the cpu, ram etc as old cpu is AMD Athlon xp 2000+ which is not really that great as compared to todays processors....

I might juss ask em to give me my old fried mobo juss for me to get it checked somewhere else to double check...

any other progress on this issue, i ll post it later on

Raj

[jbennet]

beware as if you get a new motherboard it may invalidate your windows licence (if its an OEM copy then its tied to the hardware)

[coolraj003]

My windows is not oem, i got it separate after i got the pc mate. but thanx for letting me know though as I didnt know that.

Raj

[coolraj003]

Ok, so I was told by em that its an old processor so they can not find a compatible motherboard, now he says he will charge me about 150+GBP to replace the mobo and processor, now i think this is a bit too much for replacin mobo n cpu. what u guys think?

I m thinkin about doin it on my own now and need advice as to what are the main things i should consider for it? AS said earlier my old cpu is AMD Athlonxp 2000+. but if the mobo s gone i dont hink theres gonna be any good to use that cpu...might as well change the cpu as well. If you guys suggest something to me as to what i should go for and any particular measurement for the mobo i need to consider as mine was a tower pc which i think are standard everywhere. I am lookin for some thing aroung 2ghz processor and compatible mobo not bothered about the cpu brand could be intel could be amd could be bloody anything.

What u say guys? Suggestions most welcome.

Raj

[RueB2sDe]

Yiekks I think they are sucking you dry of your money. I think you just need to run a FDISK deleting the FAT32 Partition on the HDD.

Your HDD is formatted with a FAT32. Windows XP does not run on a FAT32 format it must be a NTDLR format. I can give you some steps to run the FDISK if you need it. Remember to not create a partition with FDISK because FDISK does not create a NTDLR format.

The way to check it is to Tap F8 and choose Command Prompt. Type FDISK on the drive. Choose the option to display the partition information. If on the far right hand side it shows FAT32, this tells you your hard drive was not formatted correct for Windows XP. The Partition must be deleted.

If you cannot get into FDISK with the command prompt find someone that has a Startup diskette on a floppy. You can create a startup disk from a friend who has Windows. To create a startup diskette on Windows XP. Go to My computer right click on the A drive (FDD drive) and choose create startup diskette.

To create a startup diskette with Windows 98 or ME. Go to the control panel add or remove programs and choose create startup diskette.

Once you have the bootable floppy created. Placed in FDD Drive and start your system.

Once you have the command prompt type in FDISK and choose the option to display the Main Partition information.

For more information regarding the correct NTLDR format read up on this:

Do pay to have your Motherboard replaced that is so totally not right for your issue.

RueB 2s De

Try at your own risk

[coolraj003]

cheers rue...i ll definitely give it a shot and see what happens

dude if i get it workin i ll be bloody happiest man alive(ok that was a bit of exaggeration)

I didnt pay anything more than £30 for gettin it checked up cos i did find it a bit awkward chargin me £200 odd for mobo and cpu...it shudnt cost me more than 100 i d say

i ll try ur tips n come back here with an update...Thanx again man

Raj

[jbennet]

. Windows XP does not run on a FAT32 format it must be a NTDLR format.

1. NTLDR is the bootloader (like GRUB/LILO. You mean NTFS -NT File System)

2. It does run on Fat32 but just not by default (you can upgrade a win2k/me/98 system to it and keep your parition as fat32)

[RueB2sDe]

Thanks JBennet,

I did notice that I put NTLDR in instead of NTFS right after I posted. But yes Raj, it is NTFS that I was refering to, not NTLDR.

Yah I hope it works Raj :-)

RueB 2s De