shuttle Windows XP installation insanity

S

SnodArt

Hello,
I just bought a shuttle SS51G form newegg.com. I have spent the last
week trying to get Windows XP installed with no luck. Any help would
be great! First off, I had Win XP installed at one point, but received
several errors off and on. The install process wasn't very smooth.
Unfortunately I don't remember what all off those messages were (it
seems so long ago). I do remember that Windows often said that it had
recovered from a critical error. Windows also shut down several times
"to prevent damage to the computer". One of these messages was:

"IRQL__NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Check to make sure all new hardware of software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask our hardware or software
manufacture for any Windows updates you might need.
If problem continues, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable bios memory options such as caching or shadowing.
(F8 to use safe mode to disable components)

Beginning dump of physical memory…"

I was having so many problems, I decided to try and do a new, clean
installation. Now, XP won't install properly.
The main problem I have with the installation now is that I keep
getting this message during the installation process when Windows is
copying files to the hard drive.

"File xxx.xxx was not copied correctly

The file placed on your hard drive is not a valid windows xp system
image. If you are installing form a CD, there may be a problem with
the Window XP CD.

Press Enter to retry.

Press ESC to skip the file"
(this is as close to the message as I can remember)

Pressing Enter to retry only works about 20% of the time. With every
time I have tried to install XP this message comes. Each time I try to
install it again, I get to the same point, but with different file
names (in place of xxx.xxx), so it seems sort of random.

Here is what is in the system:
Home grown.
Shuttle SS51G (with FS51 mainboard)
Intel Celeron 2.4G CPU
Mushkin 512/PC-2700 DDRAM (only one)
NEC DVD+/-RW drive
Western Digital 120GB hard drive
(all hardware in brand new except the hard drive)

Here is what I have tried/done:
Formatted HD and tried to put XP on 20GB partition
-I tried using a 3 different XP CD's (SP1 and SP2) with same issue, so
I don't think the disc is bad.
-I tried using a different CD drive. Same problems
-I moved the Mushkin memory over one slot. Nada.
-I flashed the BOIS with the updated version from shuttle.com (only
one update).
-I checked all my drive connections and played around with which IDE
port each was connect to.
-I checked various forums for answers. I saw a couple of places where
XP acted like this on other systems, but there was no resolution
posted yet. I also saw a few places with shuttle and Windows issues,
but none that matched mine.
-I left the BIOS set to the fail-safe defaults. I don't have any
experience over/under clocking. It doesn't seem like I should have to
do this just to install Windows XP.
-At one point the CD felt a little warm. I tried letting the box cool
of before retrying. I even tried leaving the box open and cooling with
a house fan. It stayed nice and cool, but same problems.

I don't have another hard drive or memory stick to test in the system,
but I wonder if these could be the problem… ?

For the love of God, help me . This is insanity.
 
K

Keith

Try a different stick of Ram

SnodArt said:
Hello,
I just bought a shuttle SS51G form newegg.com. I have spent the last
week trying to get Windows XP installed with no luck. Any help would
be great! First off, I had Win XP installed at one point, but received
several errors off and on. The install process wasn't very smooth.
Unfortunately I don't remember what all off those messages were (it
seems so long ago). I do remember that Windows often said that it had
recovered from a critical error. Windows also shut down several times
"to prevent damage to the computer". One of these messages was:

"IRQL__NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Check to make sure all new hardware of software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask our hardware or software
manufacture for any Windows updates you might need.
If problem continues, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable bios memory options such as caching or shadowing.
(F8 to use safe mode to disable components)

Beginning dump of physical memory."

I was having so many problems, I decided to try and do a new, clean
installation. Now, XP won't install properly.
The main problem I have with the installation now is that I keep
getting this message during the installation process when Windows is
copying files to the hard drive.

"File xxx.xxx was not copied correctly

The file placed on your hard drive is not a valid windows xp system
image. If you are installing form a CD, there may be a problem with
the Window XP CD.

Press Enter to retry.

Press ESC to skip the file"
(this is as close to the message as I can remember)

Pressing Enter to retry only works about 20% of the time. With every
time I have tried to install XP this message comes. Each time I try to
install it again, I get to the same point, but with different file
names (in place of xxx.xxx), so it seems sort of random.

Here is what is in the system:
Home grown.
Shuttle SS51G (with FS51 mainboard)
Intel Celeron 2.4G CPU
Mushkin 512/PC-2700 DDRAM (only one)
NEC DVD+/-RW drive
Western Digital 120GB hard drive
(all hardware in brand new except the hard drive)

Here is what I have tried/done:
Formatted HD and tried to put XP on 20GB partition
-I tried using a 3 different XP CD's (SP1 and SP2) with same issue, so
I don't think the disc is bad.
-I tried using a different CD drive. Same problems
-I moved the Mushkin memory over one slot. Nada.
-I flashed the BOIS with the updated version from shuttle.com (only
one update).
-I checked all my drive connections and played around with which IDE
port each was connect to.
-I checked various forums for answers. I saw a couple of places where
XP acted like this on other systems, but there was no resolution
posted yet. I also saw a few places with shuttle and Windows issues,
but none that matched mine.
-I left the BIOS set to the fail-safe defaults. I don't have any
experience over/under clocking. It doesn't seem like I should have to
do this just to install Windows XP.
-At one point the CD felt a little warm. I tried letting the box cool
of before retrying. I even tried leaving the box open and cooling with
a house fan. It stayed nice and cool, but same problems.

I don't have another hard drive or memory stick to test in the system,
but I wonder if these could be the problem. ?

For the love of God, help me . This is insanity.
 
S

SnodArt

Hi Keith. Thanks for the reply. Do you mean that the Mushkin stick
that I have might be a bad apple, or do you mean that I should go with
another brand of Ram?
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top