New computer, stop code 0x0000007B during XP Pro Installation.

[fradleybox]

Hi, I was referred here from another forum, they couldn't solve this. Maybe you can.

I bought a new computer from zuke.com (good service by the way). I had it built with motherboard, processor, ram, video card, power supply and case. I was planning on just installing my old hard drive in it, but when that turned problematic I just bought a new one, figureing I'd slave the old one to it to get my data. since then i've learned why the transplant didnt work, but I have a new, much more disturbing problem.

I bought a new seagate 160gb Ultra ATA 100 hard drive and installed it on my machine. When I tried to install XP home, I encountered file copy errors during the text-mode stup phase. It would usually give up around 45% with a blue screen error that had to do with NTFS.SYS. The stop code would vary. I switched to XP Pro and it got a bit further but I had the same errors. After much research, I tried turning off some BIOS options and managed to get through the text mode setup with few files missed. The GUI-mode setup began and promptly crashed to a similar stop code. I did some more research and twiddling, removing the video card in favor of the onboard video, and turning off all sorts of BIOS options I barely even understand. It seemed to help coax it through the GUI setup (which took FOUR HOURS).

It rebooted and went to a screen that looks like this:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start WindowsNormally.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)

Start Windows Normally

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.

Seconds until Windows starts: 30



no matter what I choose, I end up with a stop code 0x0000007B. Sometimes the system just hangs though, or reboots, but it always ends in the stop code eventually. Microsoft.com says it refers to an INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE. However nearly all of its suggestions pertain to someone trying to UPGRADE to xp, or to SP2 from SP1. In fact, most of the people getting this code are people who've had healthy windows chugging along for a while with no problems untill they install some new hardware or software.

so what i'm left with is...hardware incompatiblity? It doesnt seem so but maybe there's something I am missing.

my specs:

CPU Intel pentium 4 3.0 GHx 800FBUS HT 1MB PRESCOTT
MBD Jetway PM9MS (VIAPM800, 2DDR, AGP, SATA, 478)
CAS Raidmax Elite 208 BLACK mid-tower 350w, USB
MEM DDR 1024 MB 400 MHz PC2300 RAM (2 x 512)
VID nVidia 256MB GeForce FX 5700 8x TV DVI (currently removed, using onboard video)
SYS-D High Quality Stereo Sound Intergrated
SYS-D NIC Intergrated 10/100T Realtech LAN
Seagate 160GB Ultra ATA 100 hard drive

I also have an old floppy drive, currently disconnected but useful for trying boot disk solutions that never work. I'm using a generic cd-rom drive that hasn't given me any problems that I can see.

I'm reluctant to just reinstall windows, because It took me TWO WEEKS to get windows on the drive. someone just please help me boot into it! I can now access the Recovery Console by booting off the windows CD. I've tried chkdsk /p and /r (fixed something, but no change in the end result), and bootcfg /rebuild, using instructions taken from this site:

http://www.pctechbytes.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4877&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

that changed the boot sequence to now include a screen listing my various boot choices and an option below to press F8 for advanced startup options. I haven't tried every combination of startup option routes, but so far every one ends in the same STOP: 0x0000007B blue screen.

Is there ANYTHING I can do in recovery console to fix it? could it be my hardware? could it be my bios version, or maybe I need a 3rd party driver for my hard drive? Ive seen all of these suggestions but I'm having trouble executing them and they also seem like shots in the dark. risky shots in the dark that could set me back 2 more weeks.

help? please? the frustration is becoming maddening.

[ski]

It's possible that the new HD is defective(yes, they sometimes do arrive defective right out of the box).

If the old HD works, then reformat it, install Windows, connect the new HD as Slave, and see if its contents can be accessed.
If not, then run the diagnostics at the Seagate site. If the drive fails the tests, then it's probably bad. RMA it for a replacement.

If the old HD is bad, then if possible install the new HD as Slave in another system, and do the above troubleshooting steps.

[fradleybox]

BOTH my seagate 160 gb drives pass the seatools diagnostics. The only non-positive result was "SATA controller unsupported" whcih was a motherboard test result. the drive passed with flying colors. I assume it said that because i dont have any SATA devices connected.

I can access the contents of the new drive in recovery console. it's fine. There's only windows files on it, but it works, which means it is not corrupt or dead.

some more detail on the errors I get:

When you choose safe mode, it starts loading files and scrolls out a long list, then hist a file call mup.sys and stops. it flashed black and then blue screens a 0x0000007B.

[ski]

BOTH my seagate 160 gb drives pass the seatools diagnostics.
I can access the contents of the new drive in recovery console
Thanks for posting this new info.
FWIW, I just want to make a recommendation for the next time you post here with a problem -> Always include all relevant information regarding the problem in your initial post so that we do not waste time and effort in our attempts to help, and post the exact text of all error messages. Thanks. ;)

What is the exact text of the latest error message, and also(if you remember) for the error message that appeared with NTFS.sys in it during the initial installation?

[CuratoR]

Looks like a hardware problem, possibly memory.
First of all, in the BIOS setup, load fail safe or defaults or whatever you BIOS offers. You've said you changed some BIOS options,you haven't told us which, so plzz, set the memory timings especially to default or failsafe.

Remove one of the RAM module, and than try the installation.
If it fails, remove this RAM module and then put the earlier one, and then try the installation.
If both of the aboves failed, borrow a known working RAM module, and try with it.
Plzz post back.

[fradleybox]

haha I figured that first post was long enough....let me expand on some of the info and list everything I;ve tried and considered. I'll also go back and explain my old problems in further detail.


When I first installed my old seagate drive on my new machine, it gave me an error that said "NTDLR Missing" at the end of the text boot sequence. Sometimes it would hang after POST or even in BIOS setup. I read on a forum somewhere that transplanting drives often causes recognition problems between the hard drive and the motherboard, so I reinstalled windows. During text mode setup, I encountered file-copy errors. Since my disk was scratched, I tried another. (XP Home, both discs). Same problem. The file copy errors were always random. I tried switching to a new cd-rom drive because mine was about 2 years old, and it got further before giving me errors but still gave them to me. The errors I received varied. One was IRG_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL_THAN. Antother was PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA. Both would say "This refers to a problem with the following file - ntfs.sys."

So, I tried everything I could think of and everything I read in forums. First, I bought a new drive, figuring it would be easier to install a new one and slave the old one to it to recover my data. I tried using windows XP Pro instead of XP Hom SP1 in case there was a compatibility issue that Pro addressed and Home did not. I got the same exact errors.

After researching it a lot, I reformatted my drive using the seagate discwizard long format, I turned off caching and shadowing in my bios and changed boot priority from SATA, SCSI to SCSI, SATA. It got through text-mode setup on the third try. Missed 2 files. it rebooted, went to GUI setup, and promptly gave me the same blue screen. I did more research. I took out my video card and turned off more bios options (S.M.A.R.T.T. HDD, advanced power management and hyper-threading support) and that seemed to coax it through gui setup mode, which took 4 hours. it rebooted, POSTed, tried to boot from the harddrive and thats where i'm at now.

Since then, I have tried a few things. I've rotated my ram to make sure that isnt it. Unless both my sticks or both my slots are bad, it's not the ram, and i dont think it would gotten through the GUI mode at all with bad ram. Ive tried many combinations of different BIOS options, using standard defaults and optimum defaults, and that did not help. I have tried resetting my CMOS using the jumper on the motherboard designated for that purpose, did not help.

My hard drive jumper setting is set to cable select.

the only other oddity I can think of is that for some reason, when plugged in as the master on the secondary IDE channel, the cd-rom drive shows up as secondary slave. both drives did this. I dunno if the cable is being weird or if the controller is messed up but it works fine as far as I can tell.

if I remember anything else, like the STOP codes i got the first few times or anything else I fiddled with I will post an update.en through

[fradleybox]

"IRQ_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL", not "IRG". but you prolly knew that.

I have the xact stop codes for the earlier errors written down at home, I will post them later.

[CuratoR]

........., it's not the ram, and i dont think it would gotten through the GUI mode at all with bad ram.
With a faulty RAM, you never know, anything can happen. The error message or behavior can be pretty confusing. Also, bad or aggressive memory timings in the BIOS does the same.

Other things, I would suggest
Change your IDE cables, get new ones.
Do the partitioning, formatting thru your xp setup. I mean don't partition format the drive previously with other third party utilities(not even the seagate utility for now). Boot with the xp setup cd and then perfrom the partitioning and formatting before install.
Post back.

PS: just saw you post about the error, start a fresh installation from the scratch, do the partitioning formatting thru the xps setup. And plzz take note of the memory timings in the BIOS, I mean make sure they're set to standard or failsafe.

[fradleybox]

I had tried that at one point, using the NTFS full format option in windows xp setup to format the drive, and it ended in a file copy error / blue screen. I will try again, because I dont remember if I had done that before or after I removed the video card and messed with the BIOS. I can try it with standard and optimized defaults and then with the custom ones. What should I set my memory timings to in BIOS? I don't know how to change those options. Also, is it worth getting those 80-wire cables for use with ATA 133 drives, or would a new 40-wire cable be good enough? I dont want to spend $35 each on cables if I don't have to.

I have some older 64 MB ram sticks I can try but I dont even know if they're compatible with my motherboard.

I am worried about trying to reinstall windows though. What if I have file-copy errors again? isn't it better to exhaust all recovery console options first before giving up on 2 weeks work getting it to this point?

[CuratoR]

Also, is it worth getting those 80-wire cables for use with ATA 133 drives, or would a new 40-wire cable be good enough? I dont want to spend $35 each on cables if I don't have to.
Yes, its definitely worth getting those 80 wires cables for use with ATA 133. Infact, I'm surprised you are using the 40 pin cable with a ATA133 drive. Changing the cable may even solve your problem. I can't say about the price, I think $35http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/eek.gif is a very big price for a ide data cable.

I have some older 64 MB ram sticks I can try but I dont even know if they're compatible with my motherboard.

You mobo supports DDR RAMS only. You're old 64mb chip is probably SDR. Don't try it.

I am worried about trying to reinstall windows though. What if I have file-copy errors again? isn't it better to exhaust all recovery console options first before giving up on 2 weeks work getting it to this point?
When the vendor is microsoft and the OS is windows, the recommended proper ways to deal with problems are either rebooting, re-installing, or formatting and re-installing. I doubt you can hardly achieve anything with recovery console in your case. Though the term "recovery console" soundspromising.
Regarding the file copy errors, first make sure the installation CD is OK, if you can, test it in another system.

About the memory timings in BIOS, just leave 'em to failsafe.

[fradleybox]

well, im using the cable that came with my ultra ata 100 drive. it doesnt say which type it is. I have no way of knowing. my drive specs don't list it. I guess I can call and ask seagate. My drive is ata 100 so i would think it would come with a 40-wire because thats all it needs if you're conencting it to an ATA 100 motherboard slot. since mine is 133 ive suspected that might be causing the problem. It says $35 at compusa...they seem hard to find. it tends not to list in the specs how many conductors/wires it has. It doesnt help that i dont really know what they're called, I saw them referred to in an article about ata 133.

regarding the file copy errors...it's not cd dependant. I get the same frequency of errors no matter how scratched it is or which version of XP it is. my xp pro cd is spotless. this is what i'm most worried about - i think the problem originates here, whatever causes this file-copy error is causing all my problems.

I will try cable replacement and full ntfs format reinstall as my next step once I decide to reinstall. It seems likely that the cables might cause the problem. I just havent had anyone remotely sounding like they know what they're talking about suggest it, I came up with that idea on my own from reading articles about ata 133.

[fradleybox]

could it be that my ATA 133 capable motherboard is incompatible with an Ultra ATA 100 hard drive? Do I need an ATA 133 or SATA drive to use this motherboard?


if yes, would a Soyo ATA-SATA adapter work?

[CuratoR]

could it be that my ATA 133 capable motherboard is incompatible with an Ultra ATA 100 hard drive?
Well, Its unlikely. Haven't come across such a board/ide controller.

Do I need an ATA 133 or SATA drive to use this motherboard?
I don't think so. I expect and want every claimed feature of the mobo I buy to work. I would return it otherwise.

Well, at this point, I would say, if you somehow can manage, borrow a known working RAM module and then try the installation. Same goes for cable, if you're not so sure if you wanna buy it, borrow it from some friend for a while and then try. But when you try, as I've said do it from the scratch so that we can clear/rule out other confusions/issues. I'm begining to think either its your RAM modules or the IDE cables. I've omitted your new HDD because you mentioned your old hdd also gave the same error.

Also, you could try installing windows after you've disabled the onboard LAN & Audio.
An exhaustive cross check might be need.

[fradleybox]

okay, enough what if. I will fiddle over the weekend and see what I can do. I'll update this with my results. thanks for all the help so far, I sure hope you;re around tomorrow and sunday to give me more feedback!

[CuratoR]

no problem but yes, post your results and stay in touch.
Don't worry, I'll be around.
Even If I can't get back, I'm not the only one here, there are a lot of other nice & knowledgeable folks here, who would get to you without hesitation.

[Paul Komski]

changed boot priority from SATA, SCSI to SCSI, SATA
Why not IDE HDD-0 as the first device - or is that too simple an answer. Attempting to boot to a non-existent SATA or SCSI when the OS is installed on a standard ATA should give you an inaccessible boot device though.

Have you checked your hardware with the MS HCL. I'm sure you've seen the full MS article but for completeness it is: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=324103

This would seem very unlikely to be a large HDD (>127gig) issue but out of interest how did you partition your drive.

managed to get through the text mode setup with few files missed
I never like to see that. That along with the time taken and the difficulty in doing the installation would make me want to redo a clean installation. There is nothing to stop you doing this onto the same partition as a second parallel installation if you are determined to keep your bad installation - and on a modern setup with that much RAM an installation should only take about 20 minutes.

Should you go with a new installation I would suggest you start off with a 'smallish' FAT partition, say 10GB, and then copy the i386 folder onto it from the CD (with no file copy errors). Then run winnt.exe from that folder using a Win98 boot floppy to initiate the installation.

[ski]

Did you try installing XP on another system with the clean and unscratched CD?
Even though it appears to be physically ok, it still can be defective.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Have we ruled out the possibility of defective RAM yet?

If your harddrive is formatted in NTFS you'll need to reformat it back into FAT32 prior to using the below:

If you have a floppy drive, download Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/#downiso) to a working pc. Unzip it and then run the program to create a bootable floppy diskette that, in turn, you will put into the new build and boot to it. Let it run and any errors will show up in red.

When I had random errors when installing os's in the past it was due to bad RAM.

If you don't have a floppy, I believe there is a way to make an image on cd-r but I'll defer the how-to to an image expert such as Paul Komski.

edit:The 62.* file is the one I'm mentioning./edit

[bassman]

Along with Paul's recommendation to set boot device priority (you do not have a SATA or SCSI drive, why use those settings) I would set your HDD jumper to Master and do not install a slave on that channel.
As for 40 wire/80 wire cables, what your drive came with is what you should use. I suspect it is 80 wire. Every drive I have bought for the last couple years has come with an 80 wire ribbon. There is a very noticeable difference between these two cables. The 80 wire has much smaller (and more) lines in the same width of ribbon.
Also, double, heck triple check jumper settings on the devices on your secondary channel.

One last question, are these disks you are using to install originals?

[fradleybox]

I actually havent tried anything new since last post, probably will try some stuff tonight

In answer to the SCSI/SATA boot order, it's NOT the "boot order" as in what does my computer boot from first. there is a seperate line in my BIOS called Boot Priority or something different like that, I can get and post the exact label tonight, and the choices are "SATA, SCSI" or "SCSI, SATA". I don't actually know if changing this option does anything, it was just one of the many BIOS options I fiddled with before getting text-mode setup to complete. HDD-0 is my first boot device when i try to boot from the hard drive.

Paul Komski: Why does your method work better? granted I can try that easily enough, but it seems like a lot of work for no apparent reason. What's the advantage?

Ski: I've used 3 xp cd's so far. one was brand new, one was used but spotless, and one was used but scratched slightly. the files that error are completely different every time. if it were a defect in the cd, it would be with specific files. I spent HOURS matching filenames from successive tries. trust me, it's not the cd.

I have not ruled out defective ram. My seatools utility detected no memory problems. I tried running memtest86 with no luck and now i understand why, I will try that using another tiny crappy drive I have so I dont lose my crappy XP install on this one.

Bassman: thanks for ruling that out, it must be 80-wire. however the cable for my cd drive is definitely 40. maybe that matters? I will try replacing that cable at some point if possible. The xp home cd's are originals, the xp Pro cd i most recently used is a burned copy made by my father, who is a techie genius of yore in his own right. this problem is unfortunately beyond his abilities to solve.

my hard drive is set to cable select. maybe that's the glitch. or maybe its the ram or the cd cable. I will first try reinstalling with master, no slave. I will then try installing on my smaller drives and see if that takes. i will then try buying a new cable for my cd-rom drive. if that doesnt work, I know a guy who says he'll fix it for 80 bucks, maybe i'll do that. reaching the end of my rope here. i unfortunately dont have any ram to swap this ram out with...and memtest86 is not 100%, i know that for a fact.

[bassman]

Hey fradleybox,
I wont answer for Paul but if you are referring to the fresh install rather then making this bad one work, sometimes it’s better to bite the bullet and get rid of what’s bad and start fresh ;) After that I will let him answer for himself :D

As for the ribbon cable for the CD drive, you do not need an 80 wire cable. Only for the HDD.
With the boot order (or other definition) for the SCSI/SATA, can you disable this? Since I am not familiar with these settings, this may not make sense or even be doable :rolleyes: Anyway, I have a sneakin suspicion you will find joy with setting your drive to “Master”.

Good luck
Frank:cool:

[fradleybox]

tried three fresh installs. conditions and results:

for all installs: full ntfs format, standard bios settings, hard drive set to master no slave.

attempt 1: deleted existing partition and install XP in unpartitioned space

result: file copy errors, starting around 45%. All files copy after a while if you keep pressing enter long enough. Got to about 70%, blue screened:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent further damage to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: ntfs.sys

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

If this is the first time you've seen this error blah blah new hardware blah manufacturer's update blah blah safe mode blah.

STOP: 0x00000050 (0xF00093A0, 0x00000000, 0xF7193DDF, 0x00000000)

ntfs.sys - Address F7193DDF base at F7191000, DateStamp 3b7dc5d0


2: Deleted existing partition, created new 10 GB partition, full ntfs format.

results: fewer file copy erros beginning aroung 68%. All passed when pressing enter. Blue screened at 94%.

Same error message as above, with the following paragrah I had never seen before :

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Stop: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x8082C2F8, 0xF71C674, 0x00000000

3: same as above, 30 GB partition.

same error message text as the first try

STOP: 0x00000024 (0x001902F8, 0xF710BD98, 0xF710BA98, 0x8082C2F8)


working on the fourth try now. another full ntfs format, no partition, just want to see what happens, if it errors exactly the same as the first try did. what should I try next? I was gonna try a smaller harddrive and see if it works. no reason. just can't figure out what to do next.

i have yet to look these error codes up on microsoft.com. i know I ve seen each of these before and have looked them all up and found no solution, but that was 2 weeks ago and now I don't remember what they mean.

[Quantax]

This site gives explanations for the stop errors you're encountering:

http://www.aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm

[bassman]

OK, I kind of thumbed back through some of this. If I am not mistaken, this current problem started with the install of the new 160 Seagate. I did not notice if you have actually tried this install on another HDD yet, but I see that both your 160’s passed Seagate’s diagnostics. Short of seeing these exact same kind of errors on another drive, I would recommend trying another CD drive, or at least cleaning this one.
For one reason or another, you are not getting ALL of the information onto the HDD correctly. It either does not come off the install disk correctly (already ruled out a bad disk), does not get through-put correctly, or does not get put on the HDD correctly. CD-ROM, CPU/RAM, HDD.
I have been foiled by a dirty laser lens more than once :rolleyes:

Good luck and keep us updated ;)

[fradleybox]

I started this with my old HP cdrw, and upgraded to a new cdrw when I bought the new hard drive.

ram is the only thing I cant test thoroughly and ram is the only common cause of all the errors I receive

i just wish I had working ram to test it with because I REALLY dont want to send this back if there is another way.

help me rule out the folowing:

BIOS update needed
3rd party SCSI or RAID drivers needed
partition size incorrect?

I dont know enough about this stuff to really rule it out.

I will check that aumha site again and see if I understand it better now. I have looked at it before but couldn't grasp it all.

[fradleybox]

their 0x00000024 explanation just doesnt help me...everything applies to someone already running windows. I have no antivirus software or excessive disk fragmentation or any of that stuff. this is a new install!

[fradleybox]

same for 0x00000050.. the only thing that applies is bad RAM. but i also dont know what some of it means. what's "incorrect SCSI termination"?

[fradleybox]

0x0000008E mentions a BIOS update as a possibility, and the microsoft.com link says bad ram. how do I do a bios update? I know I couldnt find updated bios for my motherboard when I checked the jetway and intel sites. not sure where to look though, or how to make the boot disk for the update. never done that stuff before.

as for bad ram...I just wish some working ram would just fall in my lap so I can rule it out.

[bassman]

Bios update will not be necessary to install. Some motherboards need an update to accurately ID the CPU, but you would do that after OS install (I recently bought one like this :rolleyes: ).
If you are not using SCSI or RAID you do not need those drivers. It does not appear you are using these soooo......
YES ;)
I think you have a bad stick of RAM :(

[fradleybox]

ive tried using only one stick, using it in each slot, and then using the other stick in each slot. but I don't remember how healthy the install was when I did that, or what my bios options were, or whether i had even fixed my old keyboard problem (long story). I unfortunately did not procede very carefully, I did try multiple things at once.

I'll do four more installs tomorrow, one for each stick in each slot. i'll do it full ntfs unpartioned, using standard bios defaults. if that's not right someone please correct me. if it doesnt work, it's still possible that it's either both sticks or both ram slots, right?

[bassman]

BIOS defaults would work for OS install. As for "full ntfs unpartitoned", a fresh install will give you the option to allocate the space for the partition prior to formating (ntfs or FAT) or it will assume your existing partition. You will have a partition in place before you can format ;)

[Paul Komski]

The advantage of copying the files to the Hard Drive first is twofold. The installation istself runs quicker and the read/write i/o from the CDD is taken out of the equation for the duration of the installation.

Also if there is a genuine problem with reading from CDROM the file copy process itself is likely to fail and give you an error.

If you do this it is best to have the installation (and certainly the installation files) on a FAT partition since it will need to be accessed by a boot floppy diskette in order to run winnt.exe (running setup.exe is done from the CD itself). winnt32.exe can similarly be used if you want to run the installation from another installation of Windows.

Starting off with a 10gig partition means it is lean and mean and within any partiton size barriers. It can always be enlarged at a later time if so desired.

[fradleybox]

allright, so I'll create a 10 gig partition again when I try this...how do I make the right kind of bootable diskette?

I remember reading somewhere that you need to use the same version of windows to make the diskette as the version you are trying to install...is that true? The working computer I've been using at home to research this is running win98, not xp pro, is that okay? How do I make the diskette?

[fradleybox]

followup question: what directory to I copy the i386 folder to? just C:? c:/Windows/? I guess there won't even be a windows directory since i've wiped my drive again. Another question....when I run the setup from the files on the hard drive, won't it erase those files when I reformat during windows setup? Do I need to format beforehand and then choose the non-format install option in setup? How do I format it beforehand? I know how to format a FAT32 partition in windows setup but not prior to it.

it's been a long long time since I've used dos for anything...could you please spell out the exact commands I'll need to type?

if this is all still over my head by tonight I'm just going to try the ram rotating first.

[fradleybox]

sorry to post so many replies in a row...i just keep thinking of other things that might come up. for example, if I format to FAT32 to do it this way, doesnt that limit my drive size to 32 GB? Is reformatting back to NTFS easy in windows once I've got it running? how is it done?

should I maybe just try a fat32 installation straight away since I keep getting that ntfs.sys error on some of my attempts? is there any advantage to that?

has anyone actually encountered this problem before? People seem to be giving good suggestions based on the symptoms, but has anyone ever seen this exact situation before, all-new components and a first install of XP? Maybe there's a hardware incompatability issue that I've missed. my specs are posted on the first page of this thread.

[bassman]

Fradleybox, your frustration mounts, we can tell ;) Let’s see if we can get you through this simple like.

It’s been a little while since I used 98 so I hope I am accurate enough. From the 98 machine, go to Start>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs> Make boot disk. If given the option to include certain things, you will want “Fdisk” on this boot disk. If not given the option, go through “Search files and folders” for it, copy and paste it on the disk.
Put this disk in the new machine and boot. Choose to start computer without CD-ROM support. At the DOS prompt, type fdisk and hit enter. Read everything it says before making any decisions as you go along. Enable large disk support, delete any and all existing partitions and reboot. Choose to start computer without CD-ROM support. At the prompt, go to fdisk again, enable large disk support and create a 10 Gig partition, make it active, reboot.
Choose to start computer without CD-ROM support. At the prompt, type Format and follow the instructions. Format it as FAT32. Reboot.
On this reboot choose to start computer with CD-ROM support.

I’m afraid I am a little rusty on the DOS stuff at the moment. If someone else comes by and follows up on this before I can get back, they can take you through the process of copying the i386 folder to the HDD. In the mean time, this will get you set up to do that process.

Good luck ;)

[fradleybox]

thanks, that was very easy to follow. It's weird, I know a lot about computers but it's all self-taught. There are just certain things I don't even know how to begin to approach. this really helps.

[CuratoR]

fradleybox, glad to see you back!
Its highly likely that your Memory is the culprit. It may well be the mobo, ide cables, cd drive though.
And before you begin the installation from the bootable floppy, plzz copy smartdrv.exe from your windows(folder where windows 98 is installed) folder. Run it like "smartdrv.exe c+" just before starting the windows xp setup. Otherwise the setup will take a very long time finish.
And keep posting your developments.

[Paul Komski]

if I format to FAT32 to do it this way, doesn't that limit my drive size to 32 GB?
It is only when you format using WinXP's own Disk Management that the partition size is limited to 32GB. FAT partitions can be verrrrrrrrrrrrry much larger than that but you need to use other "formatters" to do that bit of the work - whether from a Win9X boot disk or from a third party utility such as BootIt-NG. It's just one of those M$ things that the formatter that comes with WinXP is limited in that way.

Is reformatting back to NTFS easy in windows once I've got it running? how is it done?It is simple enough to convert in that direction. With some provisos and warnings one can also convert from NTFS to FAT but one must use a 3rd Party Partitioning Utility to do so.

what directory to I copy the i386 folder to?
It's not at all critical where the installation files are placed other than that the partition should be FAT or else they will be inaccessible to any DOS/Win9X boot floppy.

should I maybe just try a fat32 installation straight away since I keep getting that ntfs.sys error on some of my attempts? By all means try. With PC's just about anything's possible.

could you please spell out the exact commands I'll need to type?
Having created a FAT partition somewhere - probably this will be the C: drive but if it has a different drive letter amend the commands appropriately. Similarly for the CDROM which will be referred to as the X: drive.

Boot to a Boot Floppy with CDROM support. Enter the following in blue followed by Enter.

C:
md WinXP
copy X:\i386\*.* C:\WinXP
cd WinXP
winnt

Follow the installation prompts as normal.

[fradleybox]

quick update: win98 requires the cd to make boot disks and i dont have mine.

trying the first windows install with one ram stick...ill keep you posted.

[fradleybox]

it ****ing worked. I cant believe it ****ing worked. I took out one stick. left the other in. It was in the slot closest to the processer. no text mode setup file copy errors. no GUI setup errors. rebooted, went straight into XP pro. I'm almost afraid to touch it! I'm going to reboot to make sure it's not a dream, then put my video card back in.

do I dare try the errant ram stick? is there a chance it's actually good but that having two 512 wafers was ****ing this up for some reason? I'm afraid of ruining what I just accomplished. so, could it still be good or should I send it back?

holy crap I cant believe it just WORKED. I SWEAR I TRIED THIS.

thanks everyone

[bassman]

WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!
So glad to hear that :D You could test the bad stick by putting only it in and booting. If you get errors, send it back.
But I think I would just send it back. :rolleyes:

[fradleybox]

final update: I tried the good stick in the other slot, it worked fine. My motherboard is OKAY! I tried the bad stick in slot 1...system hung right before the XP loading graphic. Stick must be bad. I will contact the co. I bought the machine from today to see about getting a replacement. I just hope they can take the faulty stick by itself, i'd HATE to send in my whole new working machine!!!!

New question though, now to clean up the mess I amde doing this. My C: drive is 10GB (of 160) because I installed XP on a 10GB partition. How do I resize it?

I have a "Local Disk F:" appearing in my windows explorer. I assumed this was my unpartitioned space. However, when I went to format it, windows told me it had a max of 21 GB. what the hell? So I didn't do it yet.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

their 0x00000024 explanation just doesnt help me...everything applies to someone already running windows. I have no antivirus software or excessive disk fragmentation or any of that stuff. this is a new install!

Memtest would have avoided a lot of 'Googling' for answers. But I did too, Googled that is, when it happened to me :o 2 of 3 sticks were bad and the errors were different on each bootup. I shuffled the sticks around like cards from a deck...

If this is a new install and you are having partitioning questions, personally i would wipe the slate and begin again. If it's early in the game (initial setting up of your HDD), using wildcards like partitioning utilities would not be my choice. Save them for if you actually need them later on.

It's worth it to wait for the replacement RAM also because the installs are s-o-o much quicker/more failsafe.

[fradleybox]

well, it went fine, and everything runs great. took a day to update windows, install norton, upgrade to sp2, install mozilla, add a partition using my unused 127 GB on my new seagate and installing my games to that drive. I dont care if it's messy. IT WORKS. and it runs like a wet dream, even on 512 MB ram.