Im fixing a couple of computers for a friend, i think shell probably bin one becuase the m/b is dead... but the other has me stumped

it has win2k on it at the mo, but it wont actualyl boot, and shed rather have XP on it anyway...

i stick the xp cd in, set it to boot from cd, press space when it tells me to press a key to boot from cd, then half a second later the screen goes blank and nothing happens, it stays like that as long as you leave it :s

the hd could be going when the screens blank, its hard to tell, its very quiet and the ide ied doesent work

this ones a decent P4 so needs to be fixed, any ideas anyone ?

runing a HD test util thats built into the bios at the mo, ill test the mem etc.. next

Quote from: knightyIm fixing a couple of computers for a friend, i think shell probably bin one becuase the m/b is dead... but the other has me stumped

it has win2k on it at the mo, but it wont actualyl boot, and shed rather have XP on it anyway...

i stick the xp cd in, set it to boot from cd, press space when it tells me to press a key to boot from cd, then half a second later the screen goes blank and nothing happens, it stays like that as long as you leave it :s

the hd could be going when the screens blank, its hard to tell, its very quiet and the ide ied doesent work

this ones a decent P4 so needs to be fixed, any ideas anyone ?

runing a HD test util thats built into the bios at the mo, ill test the mem etc.. next

XP CD ok or is it scratched? CDROM or whatever functioning properly?

cd is fine, works ok in mine (gets well past that bit anyway)

cddrom drive seams to work ok with other bootable cds in it

should point out, I get the "setup is inspecting your systems hardware configuration" mesage before the screen goes blank... missed that out earlier

Some thing configured wrong?

Using ID devices with the jumpers ste up wrong? ie two set to slave?

LOL Thats kind of crucial Alan.

Basicially, its having trouble detecting some piece of hardware. If its relatively old, it could be something as simple as an obscure HDD controller. In any case, load the CD but boot to DOS, not directly to setup. Use some command line switches to see if you can eliminate detection of certain bits of hardware.

or.... load into dos then run setup /checkupgradeonly

Itll highlight any pieces of hardware that could be incompatible with XP.

its a p4 (not sure on the spec) but it should be new enough to work ok...

the hd passed the test ok
and the ram is fine

im trying to cheat by sticking the hd in my shuttle, formating it and copying the setup files over...

ive had errors before, but never that quick, so im hopeing its something to dow ith the cd drive (or anything connected directly to it) as the rest of the system looks to still be running normally...

tho the HD is making some horrible noises when its formating

ahh, ta M3ta7h3ad


tho my shuttle just BSODd on me during the format... its the first time shuttle has ever BSODd !!!

making a maxtor HD test disk now

i can always scavange the HD from the other (old) dead pc for this one

I would stick a Hirens bootCD in and run some tests, especially the HDD

Last time i had this was on my old laptop. It was the CD drive. it appeard to work ok but just would install windows.

Bad cpu ?

damn, can you not just copy the cd files over to disk with xp ?

i used to all the time with win98, made for fast re-installing

was sure i had with xp too, but it wont boot from it
(its deffo. fat 32)

1 sec brb, ill restart and try to boot it with my shuttle !

yes you can copy the install files from the cd.

think you only need everything inside the i386 folder too.

I installed it on my laptop by booting into dos with networking stuff (cant remember what it was.. but it worked ) then copied the files across the network onto the harddrive.. then started the installer.

swaped the cd drive for the one in the other pc... and it got to the install, so it put the case etc.. back on, booted it, same problem again !     id only re-connectd the HD when i put the case on... was the hd all the time

swaped it out and its fixed

ill leave the cd drive swaped, because i swaped her cd drive for the dvd drive from the dead one

job done

pity i cant set the ram speed on it, it wont boot with the 100mhz stuff from her old pc in it or i could have stuck that in too  (its  clone desktop case for offices etc... bit bare minimum)

thanks guys

if its an old motherboard or just a damn restrictive one, youve checked jumper settings yeah? I had to faff about with my 440bx board when I shoved some nice ram in it involved setting 2 or 3 jumpers on the motherboard, no nice BIOS menu there