XP Home Freezes during install, stuck in Install loop after reboot

[Guest]

HI, I was doing a re-install of XP Home and got to the 39 minutes remaining
portion of the install when it froze. There were a large number of catalog
(?) files that weren't able to load. After viewing the log file, the system
reboots and the installation procedure continues and freezes at the same
point. I'm now stuck in this continuous loop and can't get out. Does anyone
have a method for getting out of the Installation mode and back to my
original XP setup?

I'm also not convinced that I don't have a virus on the system as it was
running very slowly prior to the attempt at the re-install of XP.

Thanks.

bbdmac

 

[Malke]

HI, I was doing a re-install of XP Home and got to the 39 minutes
remaining portion of the install when it froze. There were a large
number of catalog (?) files that weren't able to load. After viewing
the log file, the system reboots and the installation procedure
continues and freezes at the same point. I'm now stuck in this
continuous loop and can't get out. Does anyone have a method for
getting out of the Installation mode and back to my original XP setup?

I'm also not convinced that I don't have a virus on the system as it
was running very slowly prior to the attempt at the re-install of XP.

There are two ways of installing XP - a clean install where the hard
drive is formatted first and an upgrade install where the new operating
system is installed "on top" of the old operating system. If you are
doing the latter, try a clean install instead. Formatting the drive
will wipe all current data, so you would expect to reinstall programs
from cd and restore data from backups. Be sure all peripherals
(printers, scanners, cameras) are disconnected and any BIOS-level
antivirus is disabled. If you are already doing a clean install and the
installation is failing, you probably have bad hardware. Start with a
RAM test - I like Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com - and let the test
run for an extended time, like overnight (unless you get errors
immediately). If the RAM is good, then run a hard drive diagnostic
utility, which you can get from the drive mftr.'s website.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Malke,

Thanks for the response. The problem I have right now is that I can't do
anything because when I reboot, the PC comes back up and gets stuck in the
Installation process with the same failures as previously. I need a way to
stop the installation process from occurring so that I can get back to my old
install which was also XP. I was in the process of re-installing XP when all
of this occurred. Is there a way to get out of the installation mode and back
to my old XP prior to the re-install?

Bob

 

[Malke]

Malke,

Thanks for the response. The problem I have right now is that I
can't do
anything because when I reboot, the PC comes back up and gets stuck in
the Installation process with the same failures as previously. I need
a way to stop the installation process from occurring so that I can
get back to my old install which was also XP. I was in the process of
re-installing XP when all of this occurred. Is there a way to get out
of the installation mode and back to my old XP prior to the
re-install?

When you say "get back to my old XP" if you mean get back to your
original installation with all your stuff, then the answer is "I doubt
it". At this point, I'd test all the hardware. If the hardware tests
good, then I'd boot with a Win98 bootdisk, fdisk, do an fdisk /mbr to
get a Win9x type of mbr, use fdisk to delete any current partitions.
Then boot with the XP cd and clean install Windows. But I would
definitely check the hardware first because trying to install an
operating system on faulty hardware is bound to fail.

Malke

 

[Guest]

bbdmac
I have the exact same facts as you. outlined. I am stuck on the blue screen
that states :setup will complete in approx. 39 minutes". Is there any way
to start up my computer without entering the install process? Thank you. John

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

If you have anything connected to the computer, disconnect those items
except of course the mouse and the keyboard. Also remove all add-in cards
except the graphics card, then see if you can get setup to complete for
where it is stuck.

 

[Guest]

To Michael Solomon
I have only a monitor, keyboard, and mouse plugged in. I dont't know what
add-in cards you want me to disconnect. I'm not too swift. Could you give me
more detailed instructions? Thank you John.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

Modem, soundcard, network interface card, anything else beyond the graphics
card which is not built-in to the motherboard.