Problem installing XP on new machine

[dutchy121]

G'day everyone!

I just bought a complete new amd computer today at the fair & I'm having problems installing the operating system (windows xp home).

Basically what happens is when I boot up with the cd in it says its loading files for installation on a blue screen. It goes through a bunch of drivers etc until it resets a moment after displaying "Starting up Windows".

It's quite a frustrating cycle.

When I start it up without the windows cd in it goes through the BIOS checks and then sits on a blank black screen with a flashing curser "_" and does nothing. So I can't even format the hard drive (120gb western dig.)

Can anyone help?

[dutchy121]

Just an update to this... I've tried unplugging the usb mouse, I've tried another xp disk & also windows 98, and I tried hitting F6 at the beginning of the install sequence and using a floppy disk with the mobo drivers on it.

I just keeps restarting after loading the drivers when it displays "starting up windows" which flashes up almost too quick to read.

Any help is appreciated..

Cheers

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Check the jumpers on the harddrive. With WD's drives, if it is alone as master, remove the jumper.

What is happening is that your os is being installed because it can be written to the drive, but will not boot from it because the drive cannot be read from the harddrive.

And welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif!! Pull up a log next to the fire and set a spell... :)

[Paul Komski]

BTW - is this a PATA or SATA drive? ... and is its size etc correcty identified in the BIOS setup? An another question, was this a brand new HDD or a second hand one?

[dutchy121]

I gave it a go removing the jumper setting it to master but had no luck.
It's a brand new hdd and it's recognized correctly in the bios.. I'm not sure if its SATA or PATA... How do I find out?

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Look on it and tell us the model of it. Also what motherboard, RAM etc that is installed along with it. 'Flood' us with the total specs of the system, we can take it... :p And it will help narrow down the next step. ;)

[Paul Komski]

I gave it a go removing the jumper setting it to master If you could set it to master it must be a PATA.

Download WD Diagnostic for Floppy from http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=999&swid=2

Use the floppy to write Zeros to the Drive and then try booting to the WinXP installation CD once more and thus try a brand new installation on a zeroed drive.

[dutchy121]

Hey fellas I worked it out... I had to download the latest BIOS and boot up with the old Windows 98 floppy and hold shift+F5 to get a DOS prompt. Then installed the new BIOS and it's installing as I type.

Thanks for all the help... You guys rock!

Justin