Unable to re-install Win XP Pro

[mayhemaker]

I have a Dell PC which has been working fine for the last 1 1/2 yrs. I have 2 harddisks, both Western Digital, one is 30 GB which came withe system and the other is 120GB which i bought seperately. I had Linux installed on 30GB and Win XP Professional on 120 GB harddrive. Recently i bought a new motherboard and i installed everything on it and tried to start it but it just kept giving me a beeping sound. I then found out that the memory modules that i have are not compatible with the new motherboard, i needed a higher speed memory than the ones that i have currently. So, i put back everything on the old motherboard and what do you know, now that also does not work! I get to the GRUB where it asks me to choose between Linux or Widows to boot up but neither one started. When i selected Windows, it will just goto the screen with Win Logo and progress bar and then just freeze. I could log in safe mode but thats about it.

I re-installed my Linux and was able to start it without any issues. For windows, i tried troubleshooting from safe mode byh using msconfig and using various combinations for startup but none worked. I then tried to re-install windows XP but that is also not happening. After i boot from Win XP professional CD, it loads up a whole bunch of files and drivers and then says "Setup is Launching windows" and freezes. I have left my computer in that state for about 1/2 hr also to see if there is any delayed response but nothing happens. I have even run a diagonostics test from the Dell resource CD and found nothing wrong with the System. So, basically now i cannot reinstall Windows on either my 30GB or 120 GB hard drive. It was also not allowing me to reformat my 120 GB hard drive but i managed to do that using Partition Magic 7.0 bootable floppy disks. So, now, my 120GB hard drive is clean and has no OS and my 30GB hard drive has Linux on it but if i try to install windows on it, that also does not work.

If someone can help me out with this, i would really appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[KarenMarie]

Go into BIOS and make sure that you do not have any anti-virus stuff running.
🙂

 

[mayhemaker]

Thanks but I have already tired that. I have even reset my CMOS by changing the Jumper and then setting it back into its original position. And in the BIOS, there is no option for Anti-virsu software or anything that would indicate that it is starting some Anti-virus software.

 

[crimson117]

If it a sata hd, have you provided the right drivers no a floppy? The win xp cd doesn't recognize sata by itself.

If it's not sata...

If you've wiped the hard drive, then tried to install win xp from the cd, and it fails, then something is wrong with the hardware. Did you connect everything correctly? Have you tried just connecting the bare minimum; mobo, hd, mouse, vid card? (no optical drives, sound card, etc)? Make sure everything is connected firmly.

Can you try with an alternative hard drive, to rule out a faulty disk?

 

[mayhemaker]

I have checked everything, even i thought that there is some loose connection somewhere but i have taken apart the system couple of times to make sure that everything is correct. And yes, i have an IDE drive, not a SATA drive. As for trying out with an alternare hard disk, tried that also but its not working.

Also, i ran a hardware system diagonostics and that didnt sound any alarms, it showed everything is working fine which included, memory (RAM), processor, MOBO, optical drives and i have used the same optical drive to install LINUX on the other hard drive. After i installed LINUX on this disk, i tried to install Win XP on it but that went no where. I have on-board sound and video. Thats why i bought another MOBO so that i can install a AGP card since my old mobo didnt have an AGP slot. And to rule out a faulty CD, i have tried 3 Win XP cd's so far but all give the same error, the system just freezes after it loads all the files when you boot from CD and says setup is launching windows.