Server 2003 on top of XP

[Mrserra1018]

We have a Dell Optiplex 330 fresh out the box, run through the initial setup, preloaded with XP. I have 2 seperate but equal evaluation edition Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition complete with packaging and product keys. 1 downloaded nero burned ISO of Server 2003, a suggestion I found on Google.

Begin setup and installation runs smooth, until it requires reboot. I get an option to start XP or Server 2003. If I choose XP, computer starts fine but does not continue installation. If I choose Server 2003 I get a brief file transer screen followed by Blue Screen of Doom, A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

So I try to boot from CD, same results. This project was dropped into my lap with the announcement the current server is dieing a quick death and randomly restarting and of course they want the new one yesterday.

I would appreciate any insight or solution, or funny anecdotes available.

thank you

[lasitha2005d]

First of all are you an experienced user? Have to know that first.

Do you have good knowledge of Windows support tools and commands?

Do you have a backup PC?

Are you sure that the Windows 2003 ISO is not corrupted?

Which OS were there previously? Was it running Windows?

Have you installed Windows 2003 Properly? I assume that it required the reboot after you have partially installed the OS. Its very important to use a completely separate volume (partition) for Windows 2003. Or a separate Hard drive can be used. Otherwise you will be having problems. It seems to me that your Windows folders have been damaged after the installation.

First run these check lists:

Check your hardware
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op330/en/ug/tools.htm#wp1093520

Check whether the Hard drive access light is GREEN

If everything is all right, lets move forward with recovery procedure.

First, if you can see the BSOD message (error description), please let me know. If it reboots before viewing it, after power up the machine use F8 key (tap) until you see the boot options. Chose "Disable automatic restart on a system failure" option.
Include any messages (error desc) in the next reply.

You have to verify that you have no problem with Partition Tables. If you are able to use Windows XP CD/DVD, insert it and go to Recovery console. If you could enter successfully, run command
chkdsk Volume: /f /r

Check for possible errors. F and R find and repair errors and bad sectors (logical).

Check the boot configurations.
Use the command bootcfg (use bootcfg help command to view the help)
You have to configure boot.ini if it contains any misconfiguration.
Guide: Microsoft

If you have configured security for partitions (NTFS security) while using Windows XP, you have to Format those partitions. Windows 2003 will not be able to access them (Access Denied).

Finally if possible check for Hard Drive errors if you have another backup PC. I think its a SATA drive. If you have any third party raid software used, you will be able to restore the system back to normal (or Norton Ghost).

You have mentioned that if you chose Windows XP from the list that the installation will not continue. Thats obvious. That is the purpose of the Boot menu. It will boot Windows XP portion. If you have configured Windows NTFS security for partitions, please restore them back to normal for the partition which you want to install W2K3 server.

Good luck!

[Mrserra1018]

Experience with servers = 0, the guy that normally handles this is on vacation and not answering the phone, I've never had this problem installing other OS

Some knowledge of Windows commands

Plenty of backup PC, my main, the existing server, and the one I'm working on is on the bench

I have not verified whether or not ISO is corrupted, DL and burn went smooth

Computer came out of the box with XP on it

"Have you installed Windows 2003 Properly? I assume that it required the reboot after you have partially installed the OS. Its very important to use a completely separate volume (partition) for Windows 2003. Or a separate Hard drive can be used. Otherwise you will be having problems. It seems to me that your Windows folders have been damaged after the installation."

I want to get rid of XP altogether, I expected during install to be able to repartition and format and lose XP at that time and only have Server2003

First run these check lists:

Dell diagnostics came back all good, hardware is functioning properly.

If everything is all right, lets move forward with recovery procedure.

"First, if you can see the BSOD message (error description), please let me know. If it reboots before viewing it, after power up the machine use F8 key (tap) until you see the boot options. Chose "Disable automatic restart on a system failure" option.
Include any messages (error desc) in the next reply."

*** STOP: 0X0000007B (0XF789E63C,0XC0000034, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)

You have to verify that you have no problem with Partition Tables. If you are able to use Windows XP CD/DVD, insert it and go to Recovery console. If you could enter successfully, run command
chkdsk Volume: /f /r

Check for possible errors. F and R find and repair errors and bad sectors (logical).

Check the boot configurations.
Use the command bootcfg (use bootcfg help command to view the help)
You have to configure boot.ini if it contains any misconfiguration.
Guide: Microsoft

If you have configured security for partitions (NTFS security) while using Windows XP, you have to Format those partitions. Windows 2003 will not be able to access them (Access Denied).

Finally if possible check for Hard Drive errors if you have another backup PC. I think its a SATA drive. If you have any third party raid software used, you will be able to restore the system back to normal (or Norton Ghost).

You have mentioned that if you chose Windows XP from the list that the installation will not continue. Thats obvious. That is the purpose of the Boot menu. It will boot Windows XP portion. If you have configured Windows NTFS security for partitions, please restore them back to normal for the partition which you want to install W2K3 server.

Good luck!

Thanks, I'm currently installing XP SP3 upgrade to get to recovery console. It looks like it's removing whatever Server2003 components that were put on it. After this my plan is to try to reinstall server2003 by booting from the disk but I'm not convinced trying the same thing again will have a different result. My end goal is to NOT have XP, only Server 2003 on the new machine.

[lasitha2005d]

Hi!

Sorry for the delay. Since I am from Asia we have time gaps.

I m very pleased coz that you have answered all the questions. Most importantly you have copied the stop error what I was looking for.

Even if you have re formatted and re partitioned if the partition table was damaged there will be bad sectors left on the disk which may go beyond logical level.
So if you have installed Windows XP again, please run the chkdsk (you can run that using Partition Properties but I recommend you to do it by using Recovery Console.

Now back with business:
Stop error :STOP: 0X0000007B (0XF789E63C,0XC0000034, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)
Note: I hope there is no other messages associated with this error such as Inaccessible Boot Volume or similar one.
However according to the situation (you receive it after rebooting) its normal. A common issue. Most of the time it occurs when the computer was shut down improperly. So the registry was not saved successfully.

3 Reasons for 7B

1. Boot sector Virus - Boot sector is damaged.
2. Device Driver issues.
3. Hardware Issues - Compatibility issues.

Lets address one by one.

1.) Boot sector is infected.
You must remove the virus (unless it will create bad sectors even if you have formatted) and if it went smoothly you will be able to install any OS on it (If there was an infection you will examine slowness of hard drive and installation problems (with applications).
However you can do a format (a complete format - full). Re partition it. Then use it.
I feel that I was right about that partition table corruption. Or there is a device driver failure. There are several viruses moving around which cause similar problems. However I am not saying that its directly from a Virus since I do not know yet.

2.) Device driver issues.
Device driver which needed to boot Windows was not loaded.
A Corrupted device driver.
Windows Registry info corrupted.

Make sure your CD or DVD drive works fine. Otherwise the installation may fail.
The most important thing is the installation has to be able to access the boot device which is the hard drive. This error related with that. Inaccessible Boot Device. Inaccessible sectors. Due to an improper shutdown or erroneous write on disk/registry due to a disk problem. The registry information and files (OS files) are misplaced or removed.
There may be other issues with your drivers such as for graphics or chipset. You have to remove any suspicious devices and check.

3.) Hardware issues.

Boot volume / Partition table corruption (as I mentioned). The entire system will be isolated. So you have to build the partition table back. As I mentioned you will be able to check it using chkdsk. You can fix boot configuration (bootcfg) as well as fixmbr (fix master boot record - with caution) if required. All of these steps are for hard drive problems.

Other issues.

Format: You have to use NTFS for both OSs. Its recommended. If you use fat32 on one partition and ntfs on another, that will create problems.

If you could access XP you could do a System Restore. That will restore the registry.

Using last known good configurations you could boot to the most recent version of functioning OS.

Ahead nero or Roxio software creating problems for your devices. You have to uninstall or disable these before installing other OSs. They will create various device drivers and virtual drives (some anti virus suites also do similar stuff) which will affect the new installation.

Finally you could access the dump file (memory dump) which is the black box for computers (like in Air Crafts). It has all the info that describes reasons for the failure.

How to do it:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254649

Debugging tools
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx

[Mrserra1018]

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Chkdisk came back clean, all diagnostics had the computer working perfectly. I doubt 2 installation disks would be corrupt. Whatever reason it would not install, it simply wouldn't. I successfully installed it on a Dell Dimension E310 and it's working fine.