Windows XP Pro installation

[Guest]

Where to begin...A week ago I had some issues with my computer shutting down
for no reason. Well I think it was because one of my fans was not working so
once I replaced the fan the computer stays running. But during my trials I
reformatted my hard drive in DOS and tried subsequently to loaded Windows XP,
Windows 2000 with no avail. During the process of installation my computer
freezes usually once I have reformatted the drive to NTFS and loaded the
system files the computer reboots itself and runs past the point of naming
the system and computer ID then the system freezes. The indication bar at the
bottom right corner of the screen stops moving an thats all she wrote. As of
right now the BIOS sees the drive, plus I have used a brand new hard drive
and get the same results. Please if some one has any ideas please let me
know.l

 

[Guest]

I had a computer with very similar symptoms a couple of weeks ago. It did
many, many things properly then would crash. Just for the heck of it,
because I've been doing this for a long time, I thought I'd put in a new
power supply. Voila!!! It works!!!

 

[Guest]

I replaced the power supply already...So now what.

 

[Ghostrider]

Where to begin...A week ago I had some issues with my computer shutting down
for no reason. Well I think it was because one of my fans was not working so
once I replaced the fan the computer stays running. But during my trials I
reformatted my hard drive in DOS and tried subsequently to loaded Windows XP,
Windows 2000 with no avail. During the process of installation my computer
freezes usually once I have reformatted the drive to NTFS and loaded the
system files the computer reboots itself and runs past the point of naming
the system and computer ID then the system freezes. The indication bar at the
bottom right corner of the screen stops moving an thats all she wrote. As of
right now the BIOS sees the drive, plus I have used a brand new hard drive
and get the same results. Please if some one has any ideas please let me
know.l

Attempt installing either Windows XP or Windows by booting
off the cdrom and on to a perfectly clean, unpartitioned HD.
Let setup do the partitioning and initial formatting. There
may be something left behind by the DOS formatting in the MBR
that is conflicting with the conversion to NTFS as well as the
re-sizing of the HD beyond the limits of FAT16. IOW, do not
pre-partition and format the HD with DOS.

 

[Guest]

I have tried countless formatting sceanrios...They end up the same way. The
computrer just freezes.

 

[Malke]

I have tried countless formatting sceanrios...They end up the same
way. The computrer just freezes.

Then you have hardware failures. Here are some general hardware
troubleshooting steps. I would start by testing the RAM.

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an extended period of time - unless
errors are seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Usually
you will download the file and make a bootable floppy with it. Boot
with the media and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical
errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power
supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. I have been running the computer open, already cleaned
out the inside with compressed air. The power supply I justed replaced and
well as tried 2 different hard drives. 1 of them brand new out of the box,
the other I made it a slave drive and was able to pull my saved info off the
hard drive. Now I will do the testing of the equipment. Again thanks for you
help. I will let you know if this helps.