Laptop Reboots During Windows Install

[tehtec]

This problem was caused by a power outage. I was using the laptop with the AC power plugged in because the battery is shot.

It would boot up and briefly display the XP login screen, then restart. I tried to reinstall windows. It begins the install (loads some files) and gets to the point were it says "Starting Windows". Normally the next thing it should display are some options (Repair, Install, Format and Install) but at this point it reboots instead.

In BIOS it said the hd was corrupt so i assumed that was the problem. I've installed a new hd and it still does the same thing (boots the windows install cd, loads files, gets to "starting windows" and reboots).

So could this happen because my battery is totally dead? or should i be able to load windows without the battery attached? (i've tried and it reboots at the same point)

I'm a PC guy and I don't really know anything specific to laptops...should a laptop work with just AC power and no battery?

 

[wahnula]

Model and make of laptop please? Reset the BIOS to Optimal Defaults. If it's a SATA HDD you will need to change, in the BIOS, the SATA controller to be "standard IDE", but it sounds like the system is overheating before it gets too far in. There should be a small fan somewhere, make sure it's spinning. It's usually not too hard to get to but every laptop is different.

You can always try the first step in laptop troubleshooting, disconnect from mains, then hold the power button down for 30 seconds to drain power. Can't hurt.

Tony

 

[kestrel1]

Yes you can use a laptop without the battery installed, but as Wahnula says, it sounds like the system is overheating. Chack the fan, often visible from underneath. If it looks dirty, try a can of air to clean it out & make sure it is spinning as said above.

 

[tehtec]

Thanks for the responses. The fan is spinning and i have blown the dust out and doesn't seem to get too hot. During longer periods of use it has felt a lot hotter on the outside than it ever gets up to. It only reboots at that specific point. I can boot a small os from the cd drive and that seems to run fine.

I've tried an xp disc and a 2000 disc and they both reboot at the same place during install.

I have reset the bios. i don't see any errors during post. The bios doesn't show system temp, but it doesn't seem to get very hot on the outside.

 

[kestrel1]

Some laptops do get rather hot. This sounds like a hardware problem more than software. I wonder if the ram is getting too hot or even the CD drive. If the CD drive is getting too hot, there could be something expanding inside it. If the ram is getting too hot, it could be failing or the connections could expand & cause a fault.
Remove the battery & just try using it on mains power. The battery could also be causing problems whilst installed.

 

[vanka25]

Here's how I interpreted your post: You were using the laptop on AC power when the power went out, and that's when the trouble started. Am I correct so far? If that is the case then your laptop may be the victim of a power surge with something having been fried either on the motherboard, the CPU, RAM, etc. In which case you can either try replacing parts on the laptop (a major pain) or start shopping for a new one. Let me know if my assumptions (and therefor diagnosis) is wrong.

 

[cdogg]

tehtec,
You've gone through the steps I normally would:
- test HDD, replace with NEW if needed
- try another install disc (in this case, you tried a 2000 disc)
- pull the battery and only run off of AC
- reset the BIOS
- check to make sure that it's not overheating


It's great that you've done all that already. I would add testing the memory (hopefully there's a test in the BIOS you can run). If you don't have a way to test, then hopefully you have more than one DIMM installed. If that's the case, you can try running with only one DIMM. If the problem persists, try the other DIMM. Of course, if they're both bad for some reason, that won't help.

I agree with vanka though that it could be a component integrated on the motherboard that's acting up. It initially reads from the CD, but then stops and reboots. To me, that's a sign that the IDE/SATA controller is failing to communicate with the DVD/CD-ROM drive properly or copy files to the hard drive (try an external USB CD-ROM drive if you can get your hands on one). Another possibility is that the system is having difficulty working with main memory, which is why I suggested you test it.

The only other explanation I can think of is a bad power supply. All laptops have an internal one. The power "brick" is what you can see being part of the power cord, but the power supply is actually inside the laptop and could be failing. That would explain the quick failure in the same spot as it's trying to spin up the CD-ROM and hard drive to full speed.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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