CANNOT INSTALL OR UPGRADE TO WIN2000 FROM WIN98

[rojradford]

Hi,
A friend of mine asked me to upgrade his pc from win 98 to win2000, a job I have done many times before (successfuly!)
but on this occaision I failed!
The pc is a Evesham 1GHz with 512Mb RAM about 2 years old,
I can format the drive and load up win98 but when I try to upgrade to win2000, it loads the install files then hangs after the reboot.
if I format the drive and boot from the win2000 cd I get through the initial tasks including putting the serial number in but as soon as the system reboots, it hangs (black screen).
the same happens if i try to install from the floppy discs!
I also tried to upgrade to xp to see if it was the win2000 cd but got the same results.
Could this be a hardware problem or is it that the pc is just not up to the job?
Please help,
Roj.

 

[woody2002]

I could be way off here, but I had a similar problem when trying to re-install Windows98SE. I disabled the Virus Protector in the BIOS and it continued with the install as expected.

like I say, could be totally wrong, but might be worth considering?

 

[wolluf]

Almost certainly a hardware issue (assuming bios virus checker not the cause - but if you put key in, that means it has rebooted and started installing, which I don't hink it will do with virus checker).

Try the elimination approach (remove as much hardware as you can - expansion cards, second hard drive, CD writers, zip drives etc and see it setup will finish successfully. If it will, put them back one at a time) - after running on one memory stick (assuming 512 is moret han one stick - try each on its own).

 

[rojradford]

Hi Woody2002 and Wolluf,
Thanks for your info.
The bios virus checker is disabled, so I will try the elimination approach, unfortunatly my friend works shifts so it may be a week or so untill his shift patterns allow me to get access to his machine.
but if this method doesn't work I shall get back to you.
Once again, Thanks for your advice.
Roj.

 

[ImpetusEra]

Do all that was suggested. Also, it's a good idea to have a recent bios revision installed. You may find it impossible to do though. I ran into a similar problem with a friend's Compaq. Same situation, 98SE worked fine while 2000 would install perfect but upon boot it would hang at a black screen. I sent an email to Compaq after trying everything and got a simple reply from them, that model isn't designed to operate with NT based operating systems, it will never work.

 

[SQLBaby]

one of my friend has same problem, Compaq machine with win-98, after lot of tries he open the box and sudenly he say a little sticker at the side of computer says "This computer is designed only for win-98". i dont know why compaq did this. May be thats why people does'nt like compaq any more.

Knowledge is a key of success.

 

[rojradford]

Hi All,
Fixed it!
I managed to get access sooner than I thought. Stripped everything out except floppy, cd rom and hard drive. Loaded win2000 no problem!
Then put all the bits that I took out back in and it works fine so I don't know what was stopping win2000 loading! I shall not investigate any further unless it goes wrong but until then "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Ahh the wonders of modern technology it reminds me of my favourite saying "Happiness is a large hammer amidst a tangle of wire and silicon"
Once again thanks to everybody for your help.
All the best,
Roj.