Format freezes during XP setup

[Ged]

Guys

Trying to re-install XP on brothers 4 year old laptop. It's been giving
him lots of blue screens and kernel errors.

Using the XP disc it autoboots from the CD rom, and after going through
a couple of menu screens I start to format the C drive. Laptop only has
one drive.

At 34% ( every time) it just sits there saying "setup is formatting".
It has sat for upto 1 hour+ before I switched off.

The quick format gets it to 100% but then during install of XP it
hangs, then restarts then loops back into the setup ( as it didn't
complete). Windows trys to load, then it reverts back to the setup
screen and asks for the installation disc again.

I've tried creating a floppy bootdisc to get in dos but it gives me an
I/O error on the floppy ( not having a good day! )..

Next step if anyone cares to share their thoughts?

I am presuming the hard drive may have a bit of a problem here with bad
sectors.

Thanks

Ged

 

[philo]

Guys

Trying to re-install XP on brothers 4 year old laptop. It's been giving
him lots of blue screens and kernel errors.

Using the XP disc it autoboots from the CD rom, and after going through
a couple of menu screens I start to format the C drive. Laptop only has
one drive.

At 34% ( every time) it just sits there saying "setup is formatting".
It has sat for upto 1 hour+ before I switched off.

The quick format gets it to 100% but then during install of XP it
hangs, then restarts then loops back into the setup ( as it didn't
complete). Windows trys to load, then it reverts back to the setup
screen and asks for the installation disc again.

Run the mfg's dianostic on the HD and replace it if it's bad.

Not a bad idea to run a RAM test too

 

[Guest]

Could be a bad floppy and windows hangs when attempting to install the floppy
driver or controller....

 

[Ged]

Could be a bad floppy and windows hangs when attempting to install the floppy
driver or controller....

Have managed ( by luck) to get it down to 6 minutes to go and then
every time, blue screen with message " Your computer has done this to
avoid any serious damage".

Then starts on about Kernel errors then gives me some nice hex
addresses.

Ged

 

[Guest]

yeh, it is a problem when you cannot install windows. but it is a safety
precaution and it is telling you that something isn't right with the
equipment. Incidently, what are the specs of the equip you are working on?