I recently decided to build my own computer. These are the parts I used:
Asus P5AD2-E Deluxe Mobo
Pentium 4 550 (3.4 ghz) CPU
2 GB RAM
Sapphire Radeon X800 GPU
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
Samsung Combo CDRW/DVD Drive
Lite-ON DVDR Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE 200 GB 7200 RPM HD
After assembling all these pieces, I was finally ready to boot up.
After a few false starts (power not connected to video card, etc), I came upon a problem I couldn't remedy. In fact, 2 problems.
When I boot up, at the screen titled "IDE Scan," it recognizes my two disk drives and hard drive. However, it also says the following:
"Warning!! An Ultra ATA/66 (or faster) drive is connected with a 40-pin IDE cable on the primary channel. Drive speed is downgraded to Ultra ATA/33 mode"
The thing about this error is that it's wrong. As I understand it, Ultra ATA/66 and faster drives are connected via a 40-pin, 80-conductor cable, instead of the Ultra ATA/33's 40-pin, 40-conductor cable. However, I am 99% sure I am using an 80-conductor cable. I'm using the cable which came bundled with my ASUS mobo, and according to the manual, it one of "2 x Ultra DMA/133 Cables." As far as I can tell, that IS an 80-conductor cable. So I am clueless about why this error is appearing.
However, as I see it, I should be able to continue anyways, just with a slower HD data-transfer speed.
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
I am not sure if this error is related, but it seems like a much more grave issue. When I attempt to install XP from the CD, it appears to be working fine, at first. It enters Windows Setup, and loads a whole bunch of things (drivers, etc, I think?), before it says "Startiong Windows." However, after it says this, I get blue-screened. The error says:
"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHDISK /F to check for hard drive corruption and then restart your computer.
Technical Information
***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D663C, 0xC000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"
This error appears, even with the HD disconnected. I don't think the problem is even the HD, because it's brand new, so shouldnt need to be formatted, and obviously has no viruses. As you can guess, this worries me. I have no idea how to look up those technical codes at the end of the error message, but I think that they could shed some light on what exactly the issue is.
I doubt this has any kind of relevance, but the install disc I'm using came with a (now broken) HP laptop, and is branded with the HP logo. However, it's identical to a standard XP install disc as far as I can tell.
Thank you so, so, so much for reading this incredibly long plea for help, and even moreso if you can find a remedy to any of these issues.
-Zev
Asus P5AD2-E Deluxe Mobo
Pentium 4 550 (3.4 ghz) CPU
2 GB RAM
Sapphire Radeon X800 GPU
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
Samsung Combo CDRW/DVD Drive
Lite-ON DVDR Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE 200 GB 7200 RPM HD
After assembling all these pieces, I was finally ready to boot up.
After a few false starts (power not connected to video card, etc), I came upon a problem I couldn't remedy. In fact, 2 problems.
When I boot up, at the screen titled "IDE Scan," it recognizes my two disk drives and hard drive. However, it also says the following:
"Warning!! An Ultra ATA/66 (or faster) drive is connected with a 40-pin IDE cable on the primary channel. Drive speed is downgraded to Ultra ATA/33 mode"
The thing about this error is that it's wrong. As I understand it, Ultra ATA/66 and faster drives are connected via a 40-pin, 80-conductor cable, instead of the Ultra ATA/33's 40-pin, 40-conductor cable. However, I am 99% sure I am using an 80-conductor cable. I'm using the cable which came bundled with my ASUS mobo, and according to the manual, it one of "2 x Ultra DMA/133 Cables." As far as I can tell, that IS an 80-conductor cable. So I am clueless about why this error is appearing.
However, as I see it, I should be able to continue anyways, just with a slower HD data-transfer speed.
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
I am not sure if this error is related, but it seems like a much more grave issue. When I attempt to install XP from the CD, it appears to be working fine, at first. It enters Windows Setup, and loads a whole bunch of things (drivers, etc, I think?), before it says "Startiong Windows." However, after it says this, I get blue-screened. The error says:
"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHDISK /F to check for hard drive corruption and then restart your computer.
Technical Information
***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D663C, 0xC000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"
This error appears, even with the HD disconnected. I don't think the problem is even the HD, because it's brand new, so shouldnt need to be formatted, and obviously has no viruses. As you can guess, this worries me. I have no idea how to look up those technical codes at the end of the error message, but I think that they could shed some light on what exactly the issue is.
I doubt this has any kind of relevance, but the install disc I'm using came with a (now broken) HP laptop, and is branded with the HP logo. However, it's identical to a standard XP install disc as far as I can tell.
Thank you so, so, so much for reading this incredibly long plea for help, and even moreso if you can find a remedy to any of these issues.
-Zev
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