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winxp install freezes

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green250

IS-IT--Management
Sep 22, 2003
68
CA
I have tried to install xp onto a newer system (sorry unable to recall mobo type etc)installation went fine upto the 32 minutes remaing part and it freezes, have tried different disc + different cd-rom, hdd and ram. Any suggestions?
 
Did you format the hard drive yourself or did you allow xp to format it? Is it formatted NTFS or fat 32?
 
The reason I ask is that sometimes i find that if i do a different format it will work.
So you could try formatting the disk in dos with fdisk.
There is a newer version of fdisk available that will work with larger drives. I dont know how lge your hard drive is, but the original fdisk will work with fairly lge drives anyway. But i do have that newer fdisk for larger h drives, if you need it then email me at garebo@hotmail.com and i will try and send you a copy.
If you set your bios to boot first you can use a win98 boot disk to do the fddisk on the hard drive. That way it will be formatted as fat32 and maybe it will work on this particular setup you have. Perhaps the bios just doesnt like or work with the setup you have going now. This is all guesswork but it has worked for me in the past.
 
I think I will try that, formatting as fat32 and then installing. THANKS
 
Hi,

If you need the file for an fdisk of larger drives you can find it here.
The file is listed about a thirs of the way down the page, and supports drives larger than 64GB.
If you let XP set the drive as NTFS, you will need to use fdisk to remove all "non DOS partitions" before you can set the drive as FAT32.



Darrell,
 
Is there a single partition and a single hard drive in the pc?
Did you tried to remove everything, exept the videocard + hd + ram + cdrom?
Did you loaded the bios failsafe/default settings?
Did you had another os, that worked, on the same pc before?
 
yes it is a single hdd with a single partition, i swapped hdd, cdrom, and ram.
I reinstalled because of a virus had destroyed the o/s, o when i went to reinstall xp it only went to 32 minutes remaining.
did not load any bios settings.
 
Since the problem relates to using a usb mouse or keyboard during the install, wouldnt it be much easier to just use a ps2 mouse and keyboard or a ps2 keyboard and even a serial mouse during the install process and then, when xp is installed and running, and sp1 and anything else that is needed is installed, then simply add the usb mouse and/or keyboard?
 
part of the reason i say that is that people are slipstreaming sp1 into win xp home and pro and then finding probs with the install, then finding out later that its the sp1 that was causing the problem(s). So better to install win xp, get things going good, then set a system restore point, then install sp1 etc, with system restore points in between. i simply install win xp, then install goback as it is superior to system restore and can be had for$20 and less, then install sp1 and whatever else. I install the other system files such as sound, vid, etc, as needed, before i install sp1 and other such stuff. that way, if there is any prob with any install at all, i can use goback to roll back to where all was well and go from there.

To each his own i guess, but i know this way works for me!

 
There are two very common faults that can cause this problem (I know they have been covered in the beginning):

1) If you used a 3rd party tool to format your Hard Drive with FAT32 larger then 32GB (For large drive greater then 32GB format the Drive to NTFS)

2) Your RAM might have a Advanced Address Line Fault (Your RAM is poked get another one).


Check your CDROM drive and/or your Install CD. If your CD is cratched then it could give the fault you have. I have had some trouble in the past installing Windows using CD Writers and DVD drives. Also a bad CDROM drive could give this fault.

A way to see if it is the install disk or CDROM is to:

Boot using a boot disk make a partition format it, make a windows folder, then a i386 folder inside the windows folder and copy the install files in the "i386" from the CD to the "c:\windows\i386" and run the winnt.exe in "c:\windows\i386".
 
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