Windows XP Installation Keeps Going Bad

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by brauner, Mar 26, 2009.

  1. brauner

    brauner Member

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    Hey guys, I have a system and it had a bunch of viruses and I am simply cleaning them up by doing a clean install of XP. However, I ran into a bit of a road block. When the setup (in the blue screen) finishes copying the files and does the reboot, it shows the Windows XP screen and the scrolling bar makes about 3 passes before it stops and the computer freezes. I have tried formatting the drive both "normal" and "quick" method. Still no luck. Any suggestions?
     
  2. jony218

    jony218 Guest

    I would clean the windows installation cd, if it's scratched or dirty it will cause the installation the hang. You can also try to use a different cdrom/dvdrom reader (some have better capabilitys in reading a scratced cd).

    Sometimes also RAM memory problems can cause problems, sometimes just moving your RAM to different slots or removing one RAM stick can help.
     
  3. brauner

    brauner Member

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    I have tried 2 different Windows discs so I will try removing a stick of ram and update
     
  4. brauner

    brauner Member

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    Alright, I tried both sticks of RAM and its still a no go. You guys think it may be something with the hard drive? I'm out of ideas here.
     
  5. varnull

    varnull Guest

    Run active@killdisk (free) on the complete hdd.. remove all the mucked up flagged read only files left by the previous failed installation attempts.. Use the ntfschk utility that is on some of the system boot/check disks.. offhand I can't remember which it is on.. (I use techies toolkit v2) and look for and fix bad sectors.. usually not many if any... Then run comprehensive memory checking software.. You will find that both sticks of ram are probably bad.
     
  6. brauner

    brauner Member

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    Alright as you can see I left this problem for a while, but decided to get back to it.

    It is a socket 478 motherboard with a celeron d 2.4ghz. I thought the motherboard might be the problem since i tried 3 different disc drives, 3 different sticks of ram and 3 different hard drives all with the same problem.

    I bought a used motherboard and had the exact same stuff trying all of my different drives, ram etc.

    Im totally out of ideas. This is the most bizarre thing I have ever come across. Any help would be great!
     
  7. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    onboard video or a card? try another psu. use a pencil eraser on the gold contacts on the ram sticks.
     
  8. brauner

    brauner Member

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    onboard video..but then again i dont see how that or changing the psu would really make a difference :S
     
  9. varnull

    varnull Guest

    I do .. I have a box of dodgy mobos , a bag of iffy ram .. a whole cupboard of intermittent psu's and bits with weird faults.. most of the bits can be cobbled together into systems which will start occasionally.. it's my idea of sport during the dark winter months when there is nothing better to do.

    People also overlook cables.. a bad ide cable will give you big headaches.

    Start with just the mobo and cpu.. and either a speaker or these days they tend to put a beeper on the mobo.. no ram will cause a heap of beeps.. add some ram and a monitor.. then see if you can get into the bios setup screen.. if you get that far there is hope.. add one bit at a time until the problem comes back. Then you have your culprit.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 10, 2009
  10. brauner

    brauner Member

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    i can get into the bios with just the cpu and mobo, although i will try another ide cable..that may be the culprit..i will give that a try and report back. thanks!
     
  11. brauner

    brauner Member

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    alright..i tried a different ide cable and psu, as well as a sata hard drive with the same problem. as a last resort i installed vista knowing that this thing cant handle it anyway. turns out that it worked however it crashes all the time when im on the desktop. ive given up..thanks for your help anyway but this things hitten the dump!
     

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