New system, no OS, can't even get past setup

[terzaghi]

I put together a new pc, and when I try to boot from my vista cd I get the
error pfn_boot_corrupt right when it is done loading files and is ready to
start setup.

I did not reformat my old hdd before trying it on my new system. Could this
be the cause of my error, even though I am booting from a cd? If so, is
there a way to reformat from the bios, as I do not have windows or dos or
anything else installed and working.

 

[Dustin Harper]

It shouldn't matter if your hard drive has stuff on it at all, you are given
the option to format or delete partitions during setup. You might check for
scratches on the DVD itself, then try a different CD drive. You might also
run the memory check from the Vista DVD as well.

But, as I can't find any information on that error, it's hard to pinpoint
what the exact problem.

--

Dustin Harper
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.vistarip.com | Vista Resource & Information Page

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[terzaghi]

I have tried both sticks by themselves in each of the slots with the same
result. I have played with the timing and voltage and tried to install as
well.

I have run memtest86+ 2.01 to evaluate the memory. This actually gave me
quite an unusual result - basically memtest froze about a second into testing.

On startup, I see that the bios knows that my memory is there, no matter
which slot it is in.

I also have an XP cd that crashes at the same place the vista cd does -
right after files are prepared and it is going to start setup.

I have disabled any device in the bios that I am not using.

What I am really trying to figure out is if it is a mobo, ram, or hdd
problem. I assume the mobo is good because it does seem to recognize the cpu
and the ram.

It could be the memory, but it seems odd that both sticks would be bad.
Plus, they do get identified with the correct size. The memtest thing is
troubling though - what does it mean when it freezes? Is this what would
happen if the ram is altogether bad, or would it just find a lot of corrupted
sectors?

I wouldn't suspect the hard drive, but I do not have any way yo rule it out
either. I wonder if vista, xp, or memtest is trying to write on an area
where my previous install put something important?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Does an XP cd boot and get you far enough to delete the partition? If not
try a Win98 Setup disk (you can download a file to create one from
bootdisk.com) and fdisk the drive.

I googled on pfn_boot and got a whole bunch of Linux hits but no Windows.

 

[Shane Nokes]

It sounds like your hard drive either has some files still left on it, or it
has some seriously bad sectors.

Have you tried downloading the utilities from the website of your hard drive
manufacturer that can run tests on the hard drive itself?

 

[terzaghi]

I broke down and bought a brand new hdd and everything works perfectly now.
So it was the hdd after all!

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Thanks for reporting back. Glad you got it going.