XP Freezes on Preparing Installation

[chrisw]

If anyone can offer any help or advice on this it would be greatly
appreciated.

I'm trying to install xp on a new PC but it stops on 'Preparing
Installation'

There is no Virus software on this PC as it is brand new so that rules
out the help from Microsoft.

If you install from the CD boot up disk it just hangs after the 1st
screen (just before F8 Agreement) or it may sometimes get past the
agreement then freeze on 'loading information file setupp.ini' (setupp
not setup).

Funnily enough Windows 2000 does exactly the same thing.

I tried to install 98 to see what would happen and it worked fine. I
then tried to upgrade to XP from Windows and it lets me enter in the
serial number, analyzes the pc, copies the setup files then reboots.

When the setup screen appears it stops after about 4 seconds on
Preparing Installation.

I have tried changing every hardward component (except motherboard)
and it makes no difference (different VGA card gave about another
second). The fact that Windows 98 installs ok suggests that there
isn't a hardware conflict.

I have updated the BIOS to the latest version but no joy.

The motherboard is an Nvidia- nforce M7NCD.

Does anyone have any idea why XP and 2000 would not install?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Go into the BIOS, disable the antivirus detection scheme there. This isn't
the Win-based software, this is something that is built in to most modern
motherboards. Also, strip the system to the bare essentials (no
printers/scanners, etc should be connected). Make sure you are using the
right IDE cables, for ATA60 or higher hard drives you should be using an 80
wire cable, not a 40.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[RJK]

Barring unhappy hardware problems, these you MUST rule out first - I've
worked on three hard disks recently that aquired corruption on them that
would NOT clear by full formatting. In each case, (one was a Maxtor 80gb,
one was a Seagate 80gb, and the other was a Western Digital 40gb), I had to
use the hard disk manufacturers "zero-fill" utility to clear the drive.
After zero-filling / partitioning and formatting all was LOVELY !

regards, Richard

 

[chrisw]

Hi,

Thanks for that but.....

The Virus detection is disabled in the BIOS. I've tried 3 different
hard drives and various IDE cables (which are correct).

Apart from the RAM the only thing installed in the PC is the graphics
card.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

WinXP is much more sensitive to hardware flaws than Win98 is. I would
suspect that this problem is definitely hardware related. I would check the
ram next. If you want to check the memory, there are free programs here:

http://www.simmtester.com/page/products/doc/download.asp
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org