R
Ryan Berry
Ok, it's a long one, but I want to make sure I cover
everything...
I was running WinXP pro on my computer for several months.
I decided it was time to clean my system and do a
format/reinstall etc. which I have done several times in
the past. So I backed up my stuff, rebooted with the disc
in, went through the setup, told it to format w/ NTFS, and
started installing. Left for a while, came back to find the
install was frozen at "Installing Devices" (said about 32
min remaining).
And so began my frustration. I reset the comp, and it
started continuing the install and froze at the same spot.
Puzzled, I unplugged any extra USB stuff I had plugged in,
and tried again. Same thing. So I figure must be some
hardware problem, but first I'll try a different WinXP
disc. Borrow one from a friend, and try that. Same thing.
So I unplug my sound card. No go. Swap video card, no go.
Pop in some different RAM, no go. Different keyboard,
mouse, no go. In frustration, I run the Western Digital low
level format utility and wipe the disk absolutely clean.
Format again, no success.
So now I'm getting ticked. I take the drive out, plug it
into the other computer in the house and pop the Windows cd
in. Run the install on my drive. Of course, no problems at
all. Take hard drive back to my computer, and start up. I
see the Windows logo, and almost shout with joy. But then,
it locks up as the little status bar is scrolling across
the screen. RARRRR. Reboot, same thing.
Now heres the interesting bit: I can log into safe mode
just fine at this point. So I go into the control panel,
install drivers for every piece of hardware I have and try
again. Locks up, same place.
Now I really don't know what to do, so I say screw XP, I'm
going to try Win2k. So, reboot with the Win2k disc, sure
enough, no problems at all in the install. So now I'm in
there, and decide to push my luck. I put the XP cd in and
try to do an upgrade directly from 2000. I watch nervously
as it goes past the point in the install where it usually
locks up and finishes. At this point of course I'm
ecstatic. Not for long though....when it restarts after the
install, guess what? That's right, it locks up as the
loading bar is scrolling again! *#!!#%$!%&*
At this point, I'm nearly insane. I have one last idea. I
grab a floppy, get the latest bios update for my
motherboard and the ASUS flash utility and flash my bios,
something I have never done before. I manage to do that
succesfully, and try installing XP one last time. Nope. Why
god why??
So, I hurl the XP disc across the room, put Win2k back in,
and install that (fine again). That's where I am now,
running Windows 2000. Now, I can live with that for the
time being, but I really would like XP back and I can't
figure out any reason why it shoudn't work. So, I am really
hoping someone somewhere has an idea. Any idea. Thanks for
reading my incredibly long sob story, and hopefully someone
can help me. I wasted a whole weekend on this, so it'd be
much appreciated.
By the way, I ran the compatibility checker and came back
fine. And none of my stuff is overclocked or anything.
everything...
I was running WinXP pro on my computer for several months.
I decided it was time to clean my system and do a
format/reinstall etc. which I have done several times in
the past. So I backed up my stuff, rebooted with the disc
in, went through the setup, told it to format w/ NTFS, and
started installing. Left for a while, came back to find the
install was frozen at "Installing Devices" (said about 32
min remaining).
And so began my frustration. I reset the comp, and it
started continuing the install and froze at the same spot.
Puzzled, I unplugged any extra USB stuff I had plugged in,
and tried again. Same thing. So I figure must be some
hardware problem, but first I'll try a different WinXP
disc. Borrow one from a friend, and try that. Same thing.
So I unplug my sound card. No go. Swap video card, no go.
Pop in some different RAM, no go. Different keyboard,
mouse, no go. In frustration, I run the Western Digital low
level format utility and wipe the disk absolutely clean.
Format again, no success.
So now I'm getting ticked. I take the drive out, plug it
into the other computer in the house and pop the Windows cd
in. Run the install on my drive. Of course, no problems at
all. Take hard drive back to my computer, and start up. I
see the Windows logo, and almost shout with joy. But then,
it locks up as the little status bar is scrolling across
the screen. RARRRR. Reboot, same thing.
Now heres the interesting bit: I can log into safe mode
just fine at this point. So I go into the control panel,
install drivers for every piece of hardware I have and try
again. Locks up, same place.
Now I really don't know what to do, so I say screw XP, I'm
going to try Win2k. So, reboot with the Win2k disc, sure
enough, no problems at all in the install. So now I'm in
there, and decide to push my luck. I put the XP cd in and
try to do an upgrade directly from 2000. I watch nervously
as it goes past the point in the install where it usually
locks up and finishes. At this point of course I'm
ecstatic. Not for long though....when it restarts after the
install, guess what? That's right, it locks up as the
loading bar is scrolling again! *#!!#%$!%&*
At this point, I'm nearly insane. I have one last idea. I
grab a floppy, get the latest bios update for my
motherboard and the ASUS flash utility and flash my bios,
something I have never done before. I manage to do that
succesfully, and try installing XP one last time. Nope. Why
god why??
So, I hurl the XP disc across the room, put Win2k back in,
and install that (fine again). That's where I am now,
running Windows 2000. Now, I can live with that for the
time being, but I really would like XP back and I can't
figure out any reason why it shoudn't work. So, I am really
hoping someone somewhere has an idea. Any idea. Thanks for
reading my incredibly long sob story, and hopefully someone
can help me. I wasted a whole weekend on this, so it'd be
much appreciated.
By the way, I ran the compatibility checker and came back
fine. And none of my stuff is overclocked or anything.