new user in need of serious help!!

[rattles]

hey guys,

well, this is my first build and let me just say that i have a feeling that it is also the last one. after installing everything, i have encuntered mutliple problems that no matter what i do i can't seem to fix. here is my new system:

ASUS P5W DH DELUXE
INTEL E6600
4X 1GB CORSIAR XMS2 PC6400 DDR2800 RAM
ANTEC NEOHE 550W
WD 250GB SATA DRIVE
SONY DVD-RW IDE DRIVE
XFX 7600GT VIDEO CARD

now to the problems, i managed to get my bios to post but for some reason, i only get 3gb of ram instead of 4. however, the bigger problem at the moment is that it won't let me install windows xp. every single time it gives me a new error massage on the blue screen of death during the setup. right now i am looking at a:

"STOP: C0000221 unknown hard error
\systemroot\system32\ntdll.dll"

before i got another similar error but with a different code. at first i thought that my hard drive is not working right but i am not sure anymore...

 

[bobsmith1492]

Did you try running memcheck? Is the video card external power connected? Do you have any spare parts to swap in/out? Try running with only one RAM chip at a time and see if it changes.

 

[rattles]

thanks. i am going to take out all the ram and try one by one. can i run memcheck without an OS?

 

[MTDEW]

Yes you can check your memory without an os.
Download a memtest iso image and burn it to a cd, then set your pc to boot from cd first.
LINK

 

[rattles]

doing it right now, thanks however, i am thinking that my HD is the culprit because now wiindows setup can't even find it. now i got:

"STOP: 0X000008E
SETUPDD.SYS- ADDRESS F77C0C13 BASE AT F7794000, DATASTAMP 41107C8F"

 

[rattles]

alright, i figured out the memory thing. in the bios, i can see total of 4gigs where 3 gigs are avilable and 1 gig is appropritaed (i am guesing to windows xp). however, i still can't get windows to install because i still get error massages. should i go and pick up another HD?

 

[Kevinthewise]

i would make sure of two things first, first make sure it is connected meanning the power and the IDE cable are seated, also make sure the jumpers are set properly, opps that was three. i hope that this helps also i hope that this is not your last build, i had the same problem and noticed that i had the jumper on the hard drive placed on the wrong prong. also it could be the cd that contains windows i have had that problem in the past also

 

[spittledip]

How far into the installation process do you get before the message? Sounds like RAM though... Anyway, If you get to the place in installing windows where it asks you if you want to do a quick format or just a "normal" format, choose the "normal" format (it just says "format" ) b/c it checks the hard disk for problems.

Edit -check the things the post above says to check also

 

[rattles]

i will check everything again and keep you guys posted.

thanks

 

[rattles]

does anybody know how to connect 2 eide devices on this board. i know that i should use the big ribbon cable for both but where can i find another power suupply cable for the second device?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: rattles
alright, i figured out the memory thing. in the bios, i can see total of 4gigs where 3 gigs are avilable and 1 gig is appropritaed (i am guesing to windows xp). however, i still can't get windows to install because i still get error massages. should i go and pick up another HD?

That makes no sense at all. RAM is volatile it can't be appropriated to anything. If you have 4GB installed 4GB should show at post; if you are getting something else something is wrong with the board or RAM.

More to the point if you want 4GB it should have been purchased in 2x 2GB sticks. The more traces between the CPU and the RAM you have the harder it is for the board to keep things stable at reasonable speeds.

Originally posted by: rattles
does anybody know how to connect 2 eide devices on this board. i know that i should use the big ribbon cable for both but where can i find another power suupply cable for the second device?

One IDE device will be a master and the other a slave, the jumper configuration should be labeled on each drive.

As far as power goes your PSU should have plenty of IDE Molex (4 pin/wire) as well as several SATA power connectors.

 

[rattles]

alright. i mannaged to connect my new HD. windows is formatting as we speak. as far as the ram goes, if windows is able to install itself, i will work on trying out the memory and seee if the ram is broken. i really don't understand how come the bios stopped recognizing my sata drive though. it was being recognized up until windows formatted it and than gave me the error.

 

[rattles]

so i managed to get my new drive formatted and now i am watching windows doing setup. i am just crossing my fingers and hoping that it doesn't do what it did before because i am on my last nerve. i should have gottan a Dell dude....

 

[spittledip]

Originally posted by: rattles i should have gottan a Dell dude....

No, you shouldn't have

 

[rattles]

i know anyway, i got windows up and running but now i have another problem. i installed windows on the new IDE drive that i pickked up andd now i need to figure out how to reinstall my sata HD and install windows on that one. right now i am reformatting the drive because i think that it got messed up when i tried to iinstall windows on it.

 

[InFeXiOn]

Sounds like the issue I was having on my first build (the one in my sig) a few months back. I had to use the CD that came with my motherboard to install the SATA drivers and then things went fine installing Windows (aside from the billion BSOD errors). Keep on truckin', it's worth it.

 

[rattles]

thanks man. i am waiting for the format of my SATA drive to be over and than i have to:

1) check the mother board cd and see if the drivers will help.
2) check the HD cd and see if there is an option to transfer everything from the IDE drive to the SATA drive so i can boot my machine from my SATA drive.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: rattles
i know anyway, i got windows up and running but now i have another problem. i installed windows on the new IDE drive that i pickked up andd now i need to figure out how to reinstall my sata HD and install windows on that one. right now i am reformatting the drive because i think that it got messed up when i tried to iinstall windows on it.

Easiest way hands down is to use Norton Ghost. Or Norton Systemworks.

You can do a direct image to image copy from one HD to another without hassles.



And your problem sounds like SATA drivers in the initial Setup Process. If ur using a Old Windows Build, or a HACKED windows, chances are there might not be all the SATA drivers you need. You need to Press F6 at the start of installation to load extra drivers and load them from a FLOPPY. Sorry windows is annoying like that, you need a floppy as it wont load from anything else including USB. >

If your board didnt come with a RAID/SATA floppy, and im almost 100% sure you got it, look in the asus website and find the RAID/SATA drivers. Try loading those up and see if that fixes your hd error message.

Oh yeah, IDE HD's take priority in lettering, then SATA, then RAID. So yeah unless u want windows on D:\ u should pull out the IDE drive when installing. Also Thumb Drives should be pulled out as they take up lettering when installing windows also.

 

[rattles]

i didn't get any floppy with my mobo also, i really don't care about the lettering of the ddrives but i want to use the SATA one as my boot and main HD because it is larger and faster.

 

[rattles]

so i guess that i am screwed. i don't have a floppy drive so i can't install the drivers that i need in order to get XP to recognize my SATA drive. i just remembered why i hate MS so much.. now ii don't know what to do about this computer...

 

[trimurti]

Get a good nights sleep and pick up a floppy drive somewhere off a junk computer or just buy a new one for the 5-10 bucks. Also the new bioses are complex. I just got a asus p5ld2 and it was much more of a problem than I ever have had. Everything had to be just right.

 

[rattles]

that is a good idea. if that doesn't work, i am giving up man. i just don't know what else i can do to get this POS running

 

[aigomorla]

Install windows on IDE drive.

Use ghost image to transfer image from IDE to SATA

Goto Bios and set Hard disk boot priorty to SATA drive

Reboot computer...

POOF~ your headache is gone...

 

[rattles]

thanks man but that does not work because i can't trasfer anything to a drive that does not exist. poof- headache is back

 

[MTDEW]

Download the software / tools from the hard drive manufacturers site and format/partition the drive.
If you cant see the drive at the desktop and the software cant either, then they almost always have the option to make a bootable disc to do it.