losing video during windows xp install

[TheMonkeyPit]

I'm trying to install Windows XP Home on a clean hard drive. About halfway through the 'Installing Devices' part, the screen goes black and it seems like the monitor loses the video signal. The only think I can do then is reset the computer and it will restart setup, but then the same thing will happen.

AMD Athlon 1.4
Asus A7M266 (BIOS 1006)
256mb PC2100
Crucial Radeon 7500
400W PS

The video card is brand new, but it should be compatible with XP. I'm going to try installing XP with a different video card and then putting the Radeon in and seeing what happens. Anyone have a clue why this is happening?

 

[Lord Evermore]

I assume you waited a little bit? XP normally does blank the screen during the installation, but it only lasts a couple of seconds. Trying a different card is the only way to test whether it's due to the card. Microsoft support might be able to tell you whether there's a log file that could show you what's happening. Does the system still seem to procede with the install or does everything else stop as well?

 

[TheMonkeyPit]

I waited a few minutes each time I tried, and nothing happened. The light on the monitor changes like it would if I turned off the computer and left the monitor on. The CD isn't being accessed and neither is the hard drive. I will try a different vid card tonight after work, I just wanted to get some ideas on why it was happening. Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Hmm, that's odd. It may not even be the video card causing it. Having XP entirely stop the install during device detection makes it seem like something is freezing it during detection (which can happen even when you're actually in Windows), and the blanking of the video is just a result of that.

 

[TheMonkeyPit]

The video card is definitely part of the problem. I installed XP using an old 8mb SiS AGP card and it installed fine. I took that card out and put the Radeon in and booted up. Windows comes up fine, automatically detects the new card, then the screen shuts off, and the computer reboots after a few seconds.

 

[Optimist]

Since WinXP is installed with the old card, can you boot up in safe mode with the Radaon? That would at least point to a device sharing problem.

What sound card do you have (Soundblaster Live and Audigy cards are notorious fighters with ATI cards).

Is the BIOS setup with ACPI enabled or disabled (if that's possible with your MB)? If you can find out what slots share interrupts and memory see if cards could be rearranged to alleviate the problem.

Standard procedure would be to yank all but the video card--or disable all integrated peripherals (sound,modem, etc.) and then put in one card (or enable one device) at a time. It's not necessarily the Radeon, but rather some other card (device) picking a fight with the Radeon. (But then again it's ATI, so it's a good bet that's it the Radeon causing the trouble.)

Good luck and please report back.

 

[TheMonkeyPit]

I went into Safe Mode with the Radeon, and installed the drivers from the CD that came with it, and now everything works fine. I guess the problem was the drivers that come with Windows XP.

Thanks again to both of you for your help.

TheMonkeyPit