XP Pro crashes upon startup after installing ASUS P5QL PRO motherb

[Max_Headroom]

Hello everyone. I’m looking for some help and would be grateful if anyone
could spare some advice.

My old motherboard died on me, so I needed to replace it with a new one. Now
that I’ve replaced it, I’m having trouble getting XP Pro SP2 to boot.

First let me state my current setup:
- P5QL PRO Motherboard with Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz – 1066FSB – 8MB
Cashe)
- 2 HDD (Master) Seagate 160gb and (Slave) Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB
- 2 1GB 128X64 PC2-8500 1066MHz DDR2 DIMM Memory
- E-GeForce 9800 GTX+ (512Mb)
- 650W ATX12V/EPS12V Silent 12CM power supply
- LG Super-Multi DVD drive (GSA-4120B)

After getting everything installed, connected, then recognized by the BIOS,
I try to load Windows XP, but as soon as the XP loading screen comes on,
about 2 seconds later it shows a blue screen error, then reboots (it all
happens so quickly, I can’t read what the error says).

I try starting XP in safe mode, but it seems to look for a long list of
drivers, then reboots without entering XP.

I have the XP Pro install disk, and I think I’ll need to reinstall my OS,
but I just wanted to see if anyone else might have some suggestions as to
what could be wrong, or what my options are. I hear Microsoft no longer
supports XP, so I’m a little wary about my next step.

I’ve tried to select repair installation (via setup XP pro disk), but it
brings me to some kind of DOS-like console. I’m not sure what to do there, as
it looks too advanced for me, so I think my only option is to reinstall XP.

I hope I provided enough information. If I left anything out, let me know
and I’ll do my best to provide additional information. Thanks in advance for
your help and time.

 

[Leonard Grey]

You have a new motherboard, so the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) in
your copy of XP needs to be updated. To do this you'll need to perform
an in-place reinstall of Windows, also known as a repair install. This
means reinstalling Windows over itself.

Caveat: You can only use your existing XP install CD for a repair
install if the service pack of your CD is the same as the service pack
of your installation. If it is not, you will either a) have to create a
slipstreamed install CD in order to do a repair install, or 2) do a
clean install.

Fun way to kill an evening. :-(

BTW: Microsoft will be supporting XP for many years to come.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hello everyone. I’m looking for some help and would be grateful if anyone
could spare some advice.

My old motherboard died on me, so I needed to replace it with a new one. Now
that I’ve replaced it, I’m having trouble getting XP Pro SP2 to boot.

That's what almost always happens if you replace the motherboard.
Normally, a Repair installation, and then reactivation, is what you
need to do. It's a rare occurrence, but occasionally the differences
between the two motherboards are severe enough that a repair
installation doesn't work, and a complete clean installation is
required.

 

[Max_Headroom]

Thanks for the speedy reply Leonard and Ken.

When I tell the computer to go to my Win XP PRO cd during boot-up, it brings
me to the setup screen with the three options of:
1) Set-up Windows XP
2) Repair XP installation using Recovery Console
3) Quit without doing anything.

I’ve tried to repair XP using option 2, but the computer goes to a DOS-like
console and asks me for an administrator password. I know I never set one up,
so I just press enter and I get taken to a C:\Windows prompt and I don’t know
what to do next. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong, or if I can’t
access the recovery console.

Would that mean my only option is to reinstall XP Pro?

And if I do reinstall…will I be able to save all of my old data, or will the
program want to format my HDD?

 

[JS]

Using your original Windows Setup CD,
boot from the CD and follow all the instructions until you get to the point
where
Setup finds your current Windows installation.

Just follow the instructions posted at one of the web sites below,
read each of the steps carefully so you understand what you will be doing a
step by step before you actually start the repair process.
Windows will keep your previous settings, including applications and
possibly some device drivers.

Word of warning: Always backup any important data files just incase
things don't go as expected. Read all three articles mention below
"carefully" and see if a Repair Install meets your needs

See: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
Also: Windows XP Repair Install - How extreme can you go
http://www.pagestart.com/repairinstall.html
and: How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
Fred Langa:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897

Finally go to Windows Update site and install all the updates as they will
need to be reinstalled.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[Max_Headroom]

Hey Leonard, Ken, and JS

Thank you so much for your help. I just wanted to let you know that
everything worked out fine (thanks to your advice)! I now have XP PRO back
online.

Also, the links provided by JS were very helpful and helped to clear up any
lingering doubts I had.

Again, thanks for all your help!

 

[JS]

You're welcome.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

Hey Leonard, Ken, and JS

Thank you so much for your help. I just wanted to let you know that
everything worked out fine (thanks to your advice)! I now have XP PRO back
online.

Also, the links provided by JS were very helpful and helped to clear up
any
lingering doubts I had.

Again, thanks for all your help!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hey Leonard, Ken, and JS

Thank you so much for your help.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[Daave]

Thanks for the speedy reply Leonard and Ken.

When I tell the computer to go to my Win XP PRO cd during boot-up, it
brings
me to the setup screen with the three options of:
1) Set-up Windows XP
2) Repair XP installation using Recovery Console
3) Quit without doing anything.

I've tried to repair XP using option 2

<snip>

Don't choose Option 2. This is confusing, I know! Although the word
"repair" appears in this option, it is really the way to enter the
Recovery Console, which is *not* what you want. You want to perform a
Repair Install of XP. As long as your Service Pack levels match, this
may be accomplished by choosing Option 1 and following the instructions
here:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

or here:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

 

[Anna]

<snip>

Don't choose Option 2. This is confusing, I know! Although the word
"repair" appears in this option, it is really the way to enter the
Recovery Console, which is *not* what you want. You want to perform a
Repair Install of XP. As long as your Service Pack levels match, this may
be accomplished by choosing Option 1 and following the instructions here:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

or here:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

Max...
Daave is absolutely correct. Unfortunately this incredible (actually
"stupid") wording by Microsoft since the XP OS was introduced years ago has
caused an untold amount of confusion (and even grief!) among (at least)
tens-of-thousands users. But we're stuck with it sad to say.

Daave:
Actually the *real* reason for this post is to point out that it is actually
unnecessary that the user employ an XP OS installation CD with the same SP
level contained by the system to be Repaired. What *is* important, as you
surely know, is that the same *edition* of the installation CD be employed,
i.e., one cannot undertake a Repair install of an XP Pro Edition with an
installation CD containing the Home Ed.

But there's no problem (at least one that I've ever experienced) with
undertaking a Repair install with a installation CD containing a different
SP. As an example, one can undertake a Repair intall of a system containing
SP3 with an installation CD containing SP2 (again, as long as the editions
match). And then immediately following the successful Repair install simply
install SP3.

Admittedly I would certainly agree that it would be more desirable (in most
cases) to undertake the Repair install in that example with a slipstreamed
installation CD containing SP3. But while many users already have a XP OS CD
w/SP2, they don't have a slipstreamed SP3 one handy and many seem to have
difficulty creating such in my experience (even though we know it's not too
difficult to do so).

In any event have you run into problems undertaking a Repair install with an
XP OS installation CD having a different SP than the system being repaired?
Anna

 

[Daave]

Max...
Daave is absolutely correct. Unfortunately this incredible (actually
"stupid") wording by Microsoft since the XP OS was introduced years
ago has caused an untold amount of confusion (and even grief!) among
(at least) tens-of-thousands users. But we're stuck with it sad to
say.

Daave:
Actually the *real* reason for this post is to point out that it is
actually unnecessary that the user employ an XP OS installation CD
with the same SP level contained by the system to be Repaired. What
*is* important, as you surely know, is that the same *edition* of the
installation CD be employed, i.e., one cannot undertake a Repair
install of an XP Pro Edition with an installation CD containing the
Home Ed.

But there's no problem (at least one that I've ever experienced) with
undertaking a Repair install with a installation CD containing a
different SP. As an example, one can undertake a Repair intall of a
system containing SP3 with an installation CD containing SP2 (again,
as long as the editions match). And then immediately following the
successful Repair install simply install SP3.

Admittedly I would certainly agree that it would be more desirable (in
most cases) to undertake the Repair install in that example with a
slipstreamed installation CD containing SP3. But while many users
already have a XP OS CD w/SP2, they don't have a slipstreamed SP3 one
handy and many seem to have difficulty creating such in my experience
(even though we know it's not too difficult to do so).

In any event have you run into problems undertaking a Repair install
with an XP OS installation CD having a different SP than the system
being repaired?
Anna

Interesting post. I just assumed the SP levels had to be the same in
order to perform a repair install. Guess I was wrong. I'm pretty
sure they need to be the same when using Recovery Console, though (say,
to run SFC).

 

[Anna]

Interesting post. I just assumed the SP levels had to be the same in order
to perform a repair install. Guess I was wrong. I'm pretty sure they
need to be the same when using Recovery Console, though (say, to run SFC).

Daave:
Actually the irony here is that one *can* access the Recovery Console even
when using an XP OS installation CD that contains a different *edition* from
the installed system. So in the example we gave, should the user employ an
XP installation CD containing XP Pro w/SP2 on an XP-Home w/SP3 system, he or
she *would* be able to access the Recovery Console even though two different
XP editions are involved here.

But in any event, AFAIK, one cannot run the sfc /scannow command from the
Recovery Console since it's not a supported command in that utility.
Anna

 

[Daave]

Actually the irony here is that one *can* access the Recovery Console
even when using an XP OS installation CD that contains a different
*edition* from the installed system. So in the example we gave, should
the user employ an XP installation CD containing XP Pro w/SP2 on an
XP-Home w/SP3 system, he or she *would* be able to access the Recovery
Console even though two different XP editions are involved here.

Yes, I knew that.

But in any event, AFAIK, one cannot run the sfc /scannow command from
the Recovery Console since it's not a supported command in that
utility.

I didn't know that, though. It's been a while since I ran the Recovery
Console. So, I will now have to be careful not to mention that again!
Thanks.

But I'm pretty sure there is a Service Pack incompatibility issue
associated with the Recovery Console. Or perhaps I'm just confusing
running SFC from an SP3 Windows XP SP3 installation against an XP SP2
(or earlier) installation CD. I'll have to look into this further,
apparently! (Of course, getting some shuteye first probably won't be a
bad idea...)

 

[Anna]

Yes, I knew that.

I didn't know that, though. It's been a while since I ran the Recovery
Console. So, I will now have to be careful not to mention that again!
Thanks.

But I'm pretty sure there is a Service Pack incompatibility issue
associated with the Recovery Console. Or perhaps I'm just confusing
running SFC from an SP3 Windows XP SP3 installation against an XP SP2 (or
earlier) installation CD. I'll have to look into this further, apparently!
(Of course, getting some shuteye first probably won't be a bad idea...)

Daave:
No, similarly there's no problem accessing the Recovery Console using an
XP-SP2 OS installation CD on a system containing XP-SP3. And it would be
similarly true even if one employed an XP-SP1 OS installation CD.
Anna

 

[Daave]

Daave:
No, similarly there's no problem accessing the Recovery Console using
an XP-SP2 OS installation CD on a system containing XP-SP3. And it
would be similarly true even if one employed an XP-SP1 OS installation
CD.

Okay, I accept that there is no problem accessing and using the RC using
an installation CD of *any* SP level. However, there is a problem if
someone wants to *install* the RC using a CD that has an earlier SP
level as the PC (that was the source of my confusion, which is now
cleared up!). The error message:

"Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer
is newer than the version on the CD."

(Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898594/ )

This can be fixed by creating an installation CD by slipstreaming so the
SP levels are the same. Or if someone would rather not do that, the SP
on the PC can be uninstalled so that the SP levels match. That wouldn't
be my first choice, but it should work. Apparently, Microsoft also
offers another method involving the following command:

FolderPath:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons

The error message above also appears when "doing an in place upgrade
from Windows, when you use a pre-SP2 XP CD on an XP installation that
has been updated to SP2."

"Source: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#029 )

This is what I was thinking about when I told Max that his SP levels
needed to match to successfully perform a Repair Install. But you said
this *can* be done, which surprised me.

Although I have used the Repair Install method a number of times, the SP
levels always matched, so I don't have the experience of receiving the
above error message. But so many others have received it (and have
posted their experiences here). So, with your help, I'd like to parse
this better so I have a better handle on it.

"In place upgrade" is another way of saying "Repair Install." I suppose
it's possible to do this from Windows (that is, booting off the hard
drive) rather than from the installation CD. Am I right? And if so,
*that* is the situation that causes someone to experience the above
error message. But if a Repair Install is done the way I always do it
(i.e., booting off the CD-ROM drive), the message will not appear, even
if the SP level of the CD is lower than what is on the PC? (At least, I
believe that is what you are saying your experience has been.) I am
going to have to experiment!

And how about using sfc /scannow from within Windows (PC has SP3) and
placing in an SP2 or earlier installation CD. Have you ever tried that?

 

[Anna]

Okay, I accept that there is no problem accessing and using the RC using
an installation CD of *any* SP level. However, there is a problem if
someone wants to *install* the RC using a CD that has an earlier SP level
as the PC (that was the source of my confusion, which is now cleared up!).
The error message:

"Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is
newer than the version on the CD."

(Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898594/ )

This can be fixed by creating an installation CD by slipstreaming so the
SP levels are the same. Or if someone would rather not do that, the SP on
the PC can be uninstalled so that the SP levels match. That wouldn't be my
first choice, but it should work. Apparently, Microsoft also offers
another method involving the following command:

FolderPath:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons

The error message above also appears when "doing an in place upgrade from
Windows, when you use a pre-SP2 XP CD on an XP installation that has been
updated to SP2."

"Source: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#029 )

This is what I was thinking about when I told Max that his SP levels
needed to match to successfully perform a Repair Install. But you said
this *can* be done, which surprised me.

Although I have used the Repair Install method a number of times, the SP
levels always matched, so I don't have the experience of receiving the
above error message. But so many others have received it (and have posted
their experiences here). So, with your help, I'd like to parse this better
so I have a better handle on it.

"In place upgrade" is another way of saying "Repair Install." I suppose
it's possible to do this from Windows (that is, booting off the hard
drive) rather than from the installation CD. Am I right? And if so, *that*
is the situation that causes someone to experience the above error
message. But if a Repair Install is done the way I always do it (i.e.,
booting off the CD-ROM drive), the message will not appear, even if the SP
level of the CD is lower than what is on the PC? (At least, I believe that
is what you are saying your experience has been.) I am going to have to
experiment!

And how about using sfc /scannow from within Windows (PC has SP3) and
placing in an SP2 or earlier installation CD. Have you ever tried that?

Daave:
In terms of what we've been discussing...

As to the "Setup cannot continue..." situation...

What happens there is that (as an example) the user's system is XP-SP3 but
the installation CD is XP-SP2. If he or she is able to boot the machine to
their XP-SP3 system and inserts their XP-SP2 installation CD and selects
"Install Windows XP", they'll get the "Setup cannot continue..." message and
also a message "To erase the newer version and install the older version,
restart the computer, boot from this CD, and follow the instructions for a
new installation."

In any event the Repair install of the XP-SP3 system involved here can be
undertaken (as we've previously discussed) by booting to the XP-SP2
installation CD and pursuing the Repair operation (or "in-place upgrade" as
you've designated it). Naturally, assuming the Repair install is successful,
the system will, of course, revert to SP2 and should the user desire he or
she can subsequently install SP3.

I'm not quite sure I understand your final query...

I assume you're again referring to invoking the sfc /scannow command from
the Recovery Console, yes? Again, as we've discussed (using the example of
employing an XP-SP2 installation CD to undertake a Repair install of an
XP-SP3 system), that command is not available through the RC. I'm sure
you're aware that the command is available through the installed XP OS
command window. But of course in that instance we're talking about a user's
system that is *bootable* so that he or she is able to access the command
window through the Start | Run | cmd business and invoke the sfc /scannow
process. As again I'm sure you know, frequently that process demands that
the user insert his/her XP installation CD before the process can proceed.
Along those lines I do recall one experience I had with an XP-SP3 system
some weeks (months?) ago where I used a SP-SP2 installation CD and the
scannow process completed without any problem. At least there wasn't any
Windows-generated message that the same (SP3) version XP OS installation CD
was needed.

The Recovery Console can be installed in the system as pointed out in that
MS article you referred to.
Anna

 

[Daave]

Daave:
In terms of what we've been discussing...

As to the "Setup cannot continue..." situation...

What happens there is that (as an example) the user's system is XP-SP3
but the installation CD is XP-SP2. If he or she is able to boot the
machine to their XP-SP3 system and inserts their XP-SP2 installation
CD and selects "Install Windows XP", they'll get the "Setup cannot
continue..." message and also a message "To erase the newer version
and install the older version, restart the computer, boot from this
CD, and follow the instructions for a new installation."

In any event the Repair install of the XP-SP3 system involved here can
be undertaken (as we've previously discussed) by booting to the XP-SP2
installation CD and pursuing the Repair operation (or "in-place
upgrade" as you've designated it). Naturally, assuming the Repair
install is successful, the system will, of course, revert to SP2 and
should the user desire he or she can subsequently install SP3.

Yes, I understand what you are saying. I had always (erroneously)
thought that the Repair operation (where the user boots off the CD-ROM
drive) would not work if the installation CD was at a lower Service Pack
level. That is, I thought the user would get the same "Setup cannot
continue" message. So, thanks for clearing that up. And I do
understand that once the repair is finished, the user's SP level will
have reverted to the version that is on the CD.

I'm not quite sure I understand your final query...

I assume you're again referring to invoking the sfc /scannow command
from the Recovery Console, yes?

No. We already went over that SFC is not an option while running the
Recovery Console. I do understand that.

Again, as we've discussed (using the example of employing an XP-SP2
installation CD to undertake a Repair install of an XP-SP3 system),
that command is not available through the RC.
Yes.

I'm sure you're aware that the command is available through the
installed XP OS command window.

Yes, *that* is what I was asking about.

But of course in that instance we're talking about a user's system
that is *bootable* so that he or she is able to access the command
window through the Start | Run | cmd business and invoke the sfc
/scannow process. As again I'm sure you know, frequently that process
demands that the user insert his/her XP installation CD before the
process can proceed.

Yes, that is what I was asking about.

Along those lines I do recall one experience I had with an XP-SP3
system some weeks (months?) ago where I used a SP-SP2 installation CD
and the scannow process completed without any problem. At least there
wasn't any Windows-generated message that the same (SP3) version XP OS
installation CD was needed.

That is one instance. I still wonder, though, for other instances, would
a similar problem (relating to different Service pack levels) arise.
Just curious.