Win2k setup, problems while installing

[Federico Dominguez]

I never had a problem with win2k until now. The disc I
used for installing it on my new PC, was the same with
wich I installed it at least 4 times in my old PC without
problems.

But with the new PC all hell broke loose. I'll detail the
steps I took, and its results:

1) I got the new PC, unformatted. So I catch win2k CD, and
do the 2 partitions I wanted. I format the first with
NTFS, and when it finishes formatting, it checks for
errors and say the HD is corrupt and cannot be repaired.
2)I restart and do step one again. It works, formats and
checks for error finding none. It then proceeds to copy
the files, but hangs with some files saying it couldn't
copy them.
3)I restart the PC and when win2k setup is starting,
loading all that stuff, when the messsage "loading windows
2000" appears, a short time later I get the fatal blue
screen, stop error, saying BOOT_DEVICE_UNACCESIBLE
4)I try to install win98SE. It seems to work, it creates
only one partition, formats ok, adn when tries to copy the
files, I get an error saying it cannot copy a cab file. A
short later it crashes.
5) I restart and try to reinstall win2k. It formats the
partition again in FAT32, starts copying and then says it
cannot copy files anymore.
6) I take the PC to the people who sold it, I tell them
the HD might be broken. They put my win2k CD and this
time, when the "loading windows 2000" message appears, I
get another fatal blue screen, stop error, saying
something about kernel. They laugh and say my CD is broken.
7)They try to install win98, but they get the same old
error I got before with win98SE. They retry with different
win98 CD's to copy the file until they get an error
saying "error while writing to drive c". So they conclude
the HD is broken.
8)They change the HD (40 gig) and install an operating
system. I never got to see what OS they put, because when
it started, my monitor (a compaq MV520) shuts down. It
usually did that when it got signals out of range, but
used to display an error message. It didn't do that this
time.
9)I try to install win2k, I do the 2 partitions and when
trying to install win2k on partition C (30 gigs) it says
it could not recognize or initialize the partition.
10)I retry to install win2k, I get a blue screen
while "loading windows 2000" saying
BOOT_DEVICE_UNACCESIBLE.
11)I redo the 2 partitions using win98SE disc (FDISK),
when try to install win2k I get a HD error when checking
for consistency after formatting.
12) I retry win2k, and get a blue screen with
BOOT_DEVICE_UNACCESIBLE
13) I retry win98SE and... IT INSTALLS!!
14)So, seeing the HD was right I try to install win2k on
the partitions without formatting, and get the blue screen
with BOOT_DEVICE_UNACCESIBLE again.


So, you may see I'm quite desperate here... what the hell
is going wrong? Why can't I install win2k?

My PC is:
Athlon XP 1.8/256 MB/Gforce 2/40 gig HD

 

[Jim]

Frederico,

Have you ever considered the fault might have nothing to
do with your hard drive? Let's skip the installation, and
take a look at the process itself. Everything that makes
up your system, and I mean everything, relies upon two
specific components: the power supply, and the
motherborad. Read errors from any storage device can be
the device itself, or something along the datastream. If
you had constant problems with all CD-ROM's, the problem
would deal with data read from or through the CD Drive.
The fact that you are experiencing both read errors from
the CD Drive, as well as read and write errors from the
hard drive would suggest a common cause. So it would be
best to start at the beginning, and then try to isolate
the cause.

The first thing you need to do after disconnecting the AC
power cord or battery is to visually examine your
components. Make certain that the heatsink fan
combination are properly seated upon the CPU. This means
no vertical movement, and very little horizontal
movement. Now clear the CMOS Memory of the BIOS by using
the correct jumper setting, or simply removing the watch-
type battery from the motherboard. Carefully examine your
IDE cables, and make certain that they are not bent at a
90 degree angle at the connector. Also check the jumper
positions of the hard drives for master/slave/cable select
positions if using multiple hard drives. Once you have
examined all the connections, reinstall the battery or
return the CMOS jumper to the previous position.

Connect power, and then restart the system. Watch as the
P.O.S.T. (Power-On Self-Test) display appears upon your
monitor. Depress the correct key to enter your System's
BIOS. Following along with the motherboard's or system's
manual, enter the MAIN Screen. Check each device and
verify that it is being recognized correctly. If it is
not, then the cause is almost always a broken or damaged
ribbon cable. If all drives appear correctly, you can
choose to load the default settings before leaving the
BIOS, or manually configure the settings yourself. If the
drives are listed incorrectly, replace the ribbon or IDE
cables, and then check them again in the BIOS. If you
have cleared the BIOS more than twice for at least 5
minutes at a time, and the cables, but the drives are
still incorrect you need to install the hard drive in a
different system to determine if the motherboard
components, including CPU and RAM, or drive is defective.

If everything was listed correctly, you can now try to
partition and format the hard drive(s). Unfortunately you
might have to do this more than once if you tried when the
drives were incorrectly identified. The physical location
of the drive's storage area will be offset when
registering incorrectly, and the partition information
will not be completely deleted easily once the cause has
been removed. Usually CD-ROM and hard drive errors
together indicate a corrupt BIOS, or damaged ribbon
cables. However without knowing the exact location and
position of every component in your system, I cannot
identify if you have a physical problem or an electrical
one. The bridge or chipset could also cause your problem,
but more often an improperly seated heatsink or
inoperative fan will allow the CPU to heat up resulting in
erroneous data being recorded to the drive's storage
surface area.

So first look at all your components. Then after
resetting the BIOS, use it as a tool to allow you to
visually inspect if your devices are properly
communicating with each other. You can also check the CPU
temperature through some BIOS versions. If everything
still fails, get in touch with someone who has a system.
Swap each component from your system with theirs one t a
time. CD Drive for CD Drive, hard drive for hard drive,
etc. If your component fails on theirs, then it is
possibly bad and in need of being replaced. Don't use
their's on your system in case your motherboard is
defective. If all that remains of your system is the
motherboard, CPU, and RAM, take them to where you bought
them. Ask that they be tested on another system, and make
certain they swap parts around if problems still exist.

You never mentioned the BIOS, ribbon cables, or an
inspection by either you or the store. Start there, and
then work your way up from motherboard to drives. As long
as you do everything safely with the power disconnected
from the outlet, you should be able to find the cause
quickly. I hope this helps. Take care and good luck.