Booting crash with XP related to video drivers

[MackTheKnife]

Well, I have a side system, a bit old but used to work fine untill I decided to run my old GeForce2 in it and install XP.

Here is what it is:

PIII-450E
256Mb 133Mhz SDRAM (2x128)
Legacy ISA generic soundcard
Realtek NIC
Geforce2MX 32Mb vid
ASUS P3V133 Slot1 mobo
30Gb Western Digital HD
Creative 32x CD-ROM

And the story:

I installed the GeForce but didn't add any drivers for it since I was going to upgrade from ME to XP. The video worked.
Started XP install from Windows, it rebooted and while detecting hardware locked up after blinking screen (video card detection)
Rebooted, same problem.
Reverted the installation, tried again. Same thing happened.
Reverted the installation, replaced video card with older Trident 4Mb AGP one, tried again. Same thing happened.
Tried making a fresh install, booted from CD, same thing happened.
Removed all peripherals but video card memory and HDD, tried again. Same thing happened.
to get to the point and not take too long, after 6 hours trying to make it work I got tired, took the HDD out and installed it on my main system, installed XP on it with no problems, relocated the HDD to its previous system and installed Geforce's drivers.
Rebooted, crashed at windows boot.
Safe mode, disabled the device, rebooted, no problems running Windows with it's SafeVGA driver at 1280x1024@32bit, but no hw accelleration whatsoever.

I am thinkin of replacing the mobo with another P3V133 I have here at another side system, but want to be spared of the headache of it not working all the same (btw the Geforce was installed on this other mobo with no problems, running XP). Anyone has heard or seen anything similar? Can anybody help me? (BTW XP won't work with ANY AGP card and driver installed... Haven't tried PCI vid yet (can't find it anywhere anymore). Anyone?
Thanks in advance and sorry about the long message.

 

[DBSSP]

I am using a Radeon 8500 w/ XP on my machine and it works great with the drivers from ATI. I recommend that you format the drive completely, and try booting from the XP cd. Do a complete install and see what happens. You may have already done this, but I get the sense that you are just installing overtop another installation. Windows usually has a big problem with this, and doesn't like to get rid of all the hooks for some reason. This results in corrupt files, conflicting drivers, and it essentially can become a nightmare requiring a format anyway. Also, did you test the vid card in your working system to rule out a card malfunction? Jay

"Jeezus-sqeezits Bob!"

 

[MackTheKnife]

This is what I am trying to avoid, I have no space to back up data right away, and anyway I am deleting c:\windows before installing, so I believe there are no remains of the system files ( I may be wrong, but I believe I am not )
As for the video card, yes, it works, and I've tested 3 other cards and none of them works with the drivers installed. Thanks anyway.

 

[DBSSP]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but when you just delete c:\Windows it still leaves some device driver and registry settings. VxDs will still be prevelent as well, wouldn't they? I could be wrong about what is left behind but as I said, there are will inevitably be some residual Windows files left on the HD that the new installation will pick up and try to make use of. I'm sticking with my theory on the formatting. You would be better off.

Taking into account your situation with space or lack thereof, try swapping the board and see if that gets you back to normal. Before you do, did you look at your CMOS settings as well? Make sure that the AGP settings are correct, disable palette snoop and video shadowing.

I'd hate to see you throw out a perfectly good mobo. But I don't want to insult your intelligence either. So take the advice for what's it worth and good luck. I hope this helps you out. Jay

"Jeezus-sqeezits Bob!"

 

[MackTheKnife]

Yeah, tried every CMOS setting possible, even the ones I wouldn't advise anyone to do. Upgraded the BIOS and tried all over again, no good again. I'll try and replace the MoBo and see what will happen... I believe that will solve my problem, and since this one used to work fine with Win98, and the system into wich it will be installed runs 98 as well, I believe I won't have to waste anything. If this doesn't work, I'm going for a full format (perhaps even physical, just to be sure heheheh). Anyway, thanks for your help, and if anyone else has another idea or knows this problem, please give me some info. I might try using an old P2L97 if the other P3V133 doesn't work, as well. Thanks again. Athlon XP 1900+
MoBo Soyo Dragon Plus!
512MB 266Mhz DDR RAM
GeForce4 MX420
Samsung 60Gb 7200RPM HDD