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I'll send you $20 if you fix my OS problem!

T

thefish8

Senior member
**I will send a check for $20 to the person that gives me the cure for my problem. Either you tell me how to fix my computer or you tell me the part that is bad. I will send you the money, I have positive feedback on ebay that you could look up if that counts as any proof.

Here is the problem:

I have been posting messages over the past 2 weeks explaining why my computer doesn't work. I can't install any OS and I have been trying to install 98 and XP. When I try to install 98 the computer initializes, runs the scandisk, says initializing installation and copying files and then returns me to the c:\ prompt. When I try XP it says setupdd.sys could not be loaded, error code 7. I have no idea whats wrong or what to do.

I had a new hard drive sent to me from WD and I get the same results so it isn't a hard drive issue. Although, at the c:\ when I type "dir" I get a message saying No Files Found. This is after I have run fdisk and formatted the drive. I thought this was very strange.

Here is things I have tried:

1. I have tried using a different IDE cable.
2. I have tried both ROM drives.
3. I have tried the barebones of my hardware.
4. I was advised to copy the 98 cd but that was no good.

I know the cd's I'm using work. The computer was originally working but it crashed and I decided to reformat it. I really will send you $20 if you can nail the problem. I will also glady appreciate any advice you can give me.

Here is my system:
AMD Athlon XP 1800
MSI K7T pro-RU mobo
20 gig WD Hard Drive
MSI geforce2 mx vid card
256mb DDRAM
Toshiba DVD
80 pin IDE cables
TDK 16x Burner
 
Set the mobo bios to default. Do you have a floppy boot disk? You can run fdisk on that and start everything from the beginning. Once c: is there, then load up the OS cd...
 
Dont need your money, hehe!

I found this on usenet, courtesy glenejohnson@yahoo.com :

Did a search on the internet and found a post from someone
with the same problem. That problem was resolved by
simply cleaning the CD. After cleaning the CD and
initiating the installation again I got further but failed
with a different message. Kept cleaning the CD with
continued installation failures. I then replaced the CD
reader and the installation was flawless. The first cd
reader had exhibited no problem prior to the install nor
since the install as I am using it in a different
computer... Just doesn't like legitimate XP installation
disc. Go figure.



 

I second nitsuj3580 on the possibility of the RAM being faulty.

Other issues I'd consider are checking the MSI site to see whether the motherboard has any BIOS fixes so that you can install XP. I had a similar problem once, and it turned out to be the motherboard's bios that wasnt compatible, so after flashing the BIOS it was alright.

However, I'd first begin with troubleshooting the memory.
 
YES freshbsddude? I was going to say the same thing. I have seen thie error myself and all I do is simply clean the CD. Now do not clean it with paper towels but if you do not have the so called proper utensils then take a CLEAN cotton tshirt and lightly rub up and down do not follow the tracks.

This is what I think I remembered on how to clean CVD's

This is just from my own experience.
 
load fail safe bios settings
reseat the RAM

overclock NOTHING

have nothing in the computer but the essentials (cpu, video, ram, hdd, and a single rom)

make sure the hdd doesn't even have a partition on it...load win xp, set up a partition - quickly full format it, and then install.

if that doesn't work, try underclocking your system a little - your RAM might be faulty but still capable of running at a lower speed stably enough to satifactorily use your computer.

last but not least, your PSU might be toast
 
Win98 wouldn't load on my one computer until I told it the FD was attached, when there wasn't one, after I reset the Bios it worked fine.
 
OK this is usually the fualt of crappy ram in AMD systems. I had it happen to me, untill I switched to crucial ram. Even when running my pc133 at cas3 at 100mhz it showed similar problems. It would randomly get to different places in the install then choke. As soon as I replaced the ram it worked perfectly. So if you are using generic ram I would suggest you find somebody that has some good DDR...like crucial, kingmax, crosshair, or mushkin and just ask if you can use it to test your system. Run it at conservative speeds just in case. If it works...use that $20 and buy yourself some good ram!
 
I know you have already tried some of these in some form but I will reiterate them as this is what I would do...

1) As already posted clean the Win XP CD. I had a similar problem and that solved it. If you have another machine, maybe burn a copy and try that. In my case one copy had a problem, I put in the other and everything was fine. Then I checked the trouble CD and it was pretty dirty.

2) Do a bare bones install, only what you need to load the OS to the hard drive...
Motherboard
CPU
RAM
Hard Drive (Primary IDE Channel as Master)
CD-Rom Drive (Secondary IDE Channel as Master)
Floppy Drive
Video Card
Note: This may require changing some of the jumper settings on your CD-Rom or Hard Drive (they maybe slave and would need to be changed to master, you will change those back later)

Set up the system to boot Floppy then CD-Rom then Hard Drive.

Put in a Win 9x boot disk
Set up your partition table again (delete the old ones and recreate them) using FDISK
Format the drive (you can change it to NTFS later if you want during XP install) using Format C:
Remove the Win 9x floppy disk and reboot with the XP CD-Rom drive.
Load XP.

If it fails again:
1) Double check you Hard Drive and CD-Rom drive jumper settings. They should be on seperate channels and both set to master.
2) Try using the other CD-Rom drive (I.e. if you were using your DVD drive, then take it out and use the CD-RW drive, make sure to set it to master and put it as the only drive on the Secondary IDE channel)

When you complete the install and can reboot without new hardware being detected, turn the machine off. Plug in all your drives, modem, etc as you actually want them. I.e. if you currently had (just for installation purposes) the CD-RW drive as the master on the Secondary IDE channel, but want it as the slave to the DVD, change it to slave now, and plug in the DVD drive. Make sure all jumper settings are correct and the IDE cables terminate at the Master drive.


Edit: Just another thought, disable anything unnecessary in the bios... I.e. onboard sound? Make sure PnP Operating System is on.
 
its your ram.

change your ram.

if that doesnt work, then your mobos ram slots area dead.

its definately one of the two above.

please send the check to:

pm me for my info.

thanks!
 
any luck yet?
I had a similar problem before. I still don't know what had happened (It was my old computer).
I had to install Windows ME because both Windows 98 and Windows XP didn't work. Windows XP installed fine though with no problems. I still don't understand why it did that. Well I guess just try installing WinME if you have it. That's my suggestion anyway!
Good luck!
 
Yeah, as nortexoid suggests, do BIOS fail-safe, check for a newer BIOS version for your PC.
Assuming you have 2 sticks of 128MB DDRAM, try it with one then try it with the other.
 
Get or borrow a Linux CD and see if the Linux installer will run. If it does, I doubt the problem is your RAM.
 
Some ideas:

Try a 40 wire ide cable.
Boot off a set of XP start-up floppies.
Remove all but one stick of RAM.
Burn at 1x a copy of your OS disk, try that one.

edit:
-also, what file system/s are you using?
-if the CDs you are using were burned with Nero, that could be the problem.
 
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