XP Pro Install 1

[dbadmin]

Hi Gurus,

I am trying to install Windows XP Pro on an HP desktop (1GHz). The installer starts successfully, but after the initial disk format, and file copy, it fails at the reboot. When it reboots, it starts with the setup again. My boot order is FLOPPY, CD, HARD DRIVE. I tried other combinations alo, nothing seems to work.

I thought the hard dive MASTER/SLAVE setup has something to do, but it doesn't help. I tried, master and Cable-select setup.

Thanks in advance for any help.

dbadmin

 

[wolluf]

What happens if you remove the install CD after the first phase (so it can't start setup again)? Assuming it doesn't continue with the installation, the error message you get would be useful to diagnose the problem.

btw - is there an anti-virus option in the bios settings? If so, make sure its disabled. If its enabled, disable it and start again.

 

[dbadmin]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. I removed the CD from the drive at reboot and after the reboot, there is nothing coming on the screen. It is blank.

Thanks,
dbadmin

 

[cupid11213]

do you have a second drive that you can boot off of?? i would recommend that you checkd for errors on that drive that your trying to install on. i have had this problem happen to me before, what i did is set the boot menu to cd rom and disabled all else, then after it restarted when it formated then i set it to cd rom, then the hard drive, tried to work but gave problems on install (checked drive for errors and repaired them ) worked like a charm. like i said check for errors on the drive and then try again. let me know what happens.

hope this helps.



Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, while others wonder what happened.

 

[dbadmin]

Hi,

This is the new info.

When I set the Hard drive on Master (jumper setting), or cable select and plug the master cable, the windows installer doesn't recognize the drive and exits after the first step of initialization. When I set the jumper setting for Slave, the installer recognizes the drive and copies the files, but when reboots, it fails. Any idea what happened?

dbadmin

 

[firewolfrl]

read this post....I think you have the save issue

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1320291

in the post above is software to wipe the MBR so the install works fine and you can make the partition ACTIVE


just to note HP is notorious for playing with the MBR so they can have a restore/recovery partition

usually the boot sector is set up so it reads as follows
turn on computer and it boots as follows
BIOS reads MBR and refers to hidden restore/recovery partition in the front of the drive...if no key combination is pressed for restore/recovery then the code refers to the second partition on the drive and the registry and system boot are coded to read the second partition as though it was a then Main C:\ partition

if you wipe the drive without zeroing out the MBR the partition may read as any drive letter after C:\ so the hidden partition may still be on the drive and the windows registry may be seeing the drive as not the C:\ and the coded MBR may be trying to refer to a partition that has now changed and is not considered ACTIVE to the MBR

here is another post that has alot of info on this

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1317827

 

[dbadmin]

Hi,

The Powermax software from Maxtor worked and I was able to format the disk using it, now I am getting into another issue, when I try to boot from CDROM (even the Powermax CD which I burned and which worked earlier), the boot process hangs at the message "Displaying PCI devices". Any idea?

Thanks,
dbadmin

 

[linney]

Have you tried setting the Bios to its Safe Defaults, updating the Bios if one is available, and stopping any Bios virus scanner that may be running? Removing any easily detached hardware from the machine such as USB may help.

1) Wiping Out Special "Recovery" Partitions, Pt. 1

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-02-06.htm

http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm

 

[datafalken]

Hi.
I had a similar problem when installing from a XP Pro SP2 CD.
I had to install a original XP Pro first, and then install and update all Drivers before patching up SP1 and SP2.

 

[dbadmin]

Hi,

I tried all those options and nothing seems to work. The boot process hangs at the PCI Device Listing Screen and the cursor just blinks. One thing I observed is at this time, the indicator on the Floppy drive just lights and doesn't switch off as it should do normally. Even I tried to boot from Windows98 floppy and it is doing the same. I tried with various bios settings also and nothing works.

Thanks,
dbadmin

 

[Freestone]

Did you happen to remove the A: drive floppy cable while changing jumpers on your hard drive? A floppy drive light always on usually means a misplugged floppy cable.

 

[firewolfrl]

follow Freestone's advice then reset the BIOS to the BIOS Default

sounds like the floppy cable is reversed


also HP Motherboards work much better when the harddrive is set as Cable select....

try unplugging the floppy drive and see if it will boot?

 

[dbadmin]

Thanks much Gurus,
I tried removing the floppy drive and boot the machine without the floppy, but it fails with a message "floppy drive fail". Is there any setting I need to do on the motherboard to boot the machine without floppy drive? I tried after reversing the floppy plug also, doesn't work, same issue "PCI device listing" message and hangs there.

dbadmin

 

[firewolfrl]

in the bios you should be able to disable the floppy
also it should give like an F8 to continue boot option

 

[linney]

See if you get any sort of clues from these?

http://www.google.com/search?q="PCI+device+listing"&rls=com.microsoft

http://groups.google.com/groups/sea...CI+device+listing"+freeze+OR+hang&qt_s=Search

They cover a myriad of suggestions ranging from loose fitting cards, faulty bios settings, CD's left in drive and so on.

 

[dbadmin]

I tried all those options and nothing seems to work. Still the same problem. Any way thanks for all your timely and helpful inputs. May be there is some other things wrong in the PC.

dbadmin

 

[EmilJast]

If I was you I start from scratch.
Set bios to boot from CD, HDD and dissable floppy.
If you use cable select make sure the drive is on the first connector, sometimes in our haste we skip over it.
Next I would use a W98 bootdisk and fdisk your HDD and reformat.
Now try to install XP.
This is just my humble suggestion, I am no guru.