• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Help! Windows XP Pro won't finish installing!!!

K

KhoiFather

Platinum Member
I'm having a big problem here, I was currently using Windows 2000 Professional and I decided to upgrade to XP Pro. I put the cd in, and clicked on the upgrade button. It goes through everything fine, and it just stops at the screen where it says Collecting Information, Dynamic something, Preparing Installing, and so on. When it gets to Installing Files, it just stops. On where it says Installing Devices, there's just one thin blue line, and it won't continue on. I have no idea why, I took out all of my devices, and only have the cd-rom hooked up to the motherboard, since my mobo has on-board video and audio. Any clue what could be the problem? Also, if this doesn't work, my hard-drive is screwed!!!!! I'll pretty much lose all of my files!!!
 
If you can, do a clean install of XP. I tried to "upgrade" from Win2K to XP, and it worked, but something seemed "off". I formated and installed XP clean and it was like a whole other OS. Bummer was I had to call MS to get the activation to work, but other than that, no problems.
 
I think cleverhandle may be right about the memory. There is one other thing you might try.

Disable L1 and L2 cache in your BIOS. This will result in an INCREDIBLY slow installation (We're talking multiple hours; I did this with Win 98SE and the install took over three hours.). The reason for doing this is that for some CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drives, the drivers provided with the Windows installation CD result in file corruption as the data is read from the CD. (There is a note somewhere in the Microsoft Knowledge Base regarding this problem, although Microsoft does not acknowledge it as being their problem.) This is very difficult to detect. The only way to solve it is to SLOOOOW your system down, which alleviates the problem. Installation will take forever, but once it is complete, you can reenable the cache.

I do not know for certain whether this will work for you. I had another system problem that inhibited proper installation. (As it turned out, I believe the L2 cache on my Athlon 850 had been burned out due to the fact that the system builder -- a company now bankrupt -- did not put any thermal grease on the CPU heatsink!) Using the above technique, I was finally able to install the OS and get it to run in a stable manner so long as I ran with cache disabled. This made the system slower than an old 386 -- but it did run flawlessly (until cache was enabled, which caused it to BSOD repeatedly)! So, if you do not have a hardware problem as significant as mine was, this might succeed. If you've got the time (and patience), it's worth a try!

Good luck!

Ken

P.S. My ultimate solution was to install an ECS K7S5A mobo with the Athlon XP 1800+; the system now runs flawlessly under Win XP Home Edition.
 
Amazingly enough, AFTER I replied, I decided to do some housecleaning on the drive. Removed Norton System Works, and guess what? Frigging XP started acting funny, with no internet connection (cable modem). Call the ISP and they say I have to call MS at their $35 support call line. *&^% That!!, I'll just reinstall the darn thing. No joy. Screen goes black during the setup and nothing happens.

Any ideas?

Oh, sending this after a reformat and installing Linux (only). Tried installing Win2k with the same problem. Amazing that Linux installs without a hitch. Go figure.
 
Make sure boot sector virus protection is disabled in the BIOS. I forgot to mention this earlier. If this is enabled, Windows will not load properly.

Ken
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top