gravel5839 Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 I just formatted one of my comps and now when i try and install windows 2000 or xp they each freeze at a certain point, i try linux and it works! i hate linux and i can't get it to work so i need win2k or xp to work. someone hELP please!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qarth Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 Either your CD isn't clean or you need to try installing from another drive. That's all I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 1, 2002 Author Share Posted January 1, 2002 I only have one drive on the comp and the cds work on this computer ;( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 2, 2002 Author Share Posted January 2, 2002 please help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaMan Posted January 2, 2002 Share Posted January 2, 2002 Be happy to help you, but the forum needs more info before it can really be of service to you. Where exactly does it freeze? Also, and this is what I suspect, is your hardware on the 2x/XP HCL (you can track the HCL down on microsoft.com). If you got a really exotic ethernet card or sound card, that could easily be causing the problem. Try stripping your PC of all the unneccesary components and have another shot. Another thing to try is copying the CD contents to your HD and running it off there, or use both in conjuction. It's like trying to figure out what's causing your safety switch to trip, turning appliances off one-by-one until you figure out what's causing the problem. Good luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qarth Posted January 2, 2002 Share Posted January 2, 2002 You know the cool thing about techno-lingo is keeping is simple for the general public. Watch some tech tc and let's keep it simple for people under par please. :) i know they will appriciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaMan Posted January 2, 2002 Share Posted January 2, 2002 Qarth, gimme a break, yes, I got into the tech talk but who's to say this guy is under par? If he doesn't understand something about he'll tell me. Besides, this forum is aimed at people with moderate knowledge for computers, so again, spare me the condescending speech, it's not like I'm intentionally trying to confuse him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qarth Posted January 2, 2002 Share Posted January 2, 2002 Whoa let me reiterate: GENERAL PUBLIC :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3nd3r Posted January 2, 2002 Share Posted January 2, 2002 Clean your master boot records it will work then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 How do i do that, in the bios? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 BananaMan: Winxp and Win2k had been on the system before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaMan Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 To clean the Master Boot Record, grab a Win 95/98/Me boot disk, once you are at the dos prompt type "fdisk /mbr" (without the quotes) Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 I did it but it didn't work :( Is it supposed to open something up cause i type that and pressed enter and it just went back to A: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywonka69 Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 have u tried reformating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 yea, everytime i try and install windows i use the format in the setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaMan Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 Yeah, when you do that it will just return to the A: prompt, so that musn't be doing the trick. Where does the installation fail? Does it give a message? You could also try going into FDISK and do the spring clean thing, delete all partitions and then restart 2k/XP setup so as the installation creates a new raw setup partition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 I dont want to buy a new one yet, it had Winxp on it before i formatted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 It fails like 25% through the hard detection thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted January 3, 2002 Veteran Share Posted January 3, 2002 I had this same problem when trying to install Windows 98 SE on my desktop system. I called Dell tech support and they made me go through the process of formatting individual addresses. I don''t remember how to do it or what it's called but maybe someone who hadn't thought of this can explain it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwizman Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 What BananaMan said is good advice. You should check the HCL --the Hardware Compatibility List on the MS website. If your install still fails, you need to do a slow "from dos" format. None of this "format /q" crap; "format C:" will check for bad blocks and mark them so they are not used. Also with linux, are you doing a quick format, or a thorough one? I have had a similar problem where bad blocks were the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 cwizman: i have had win2k and winxp on the computer before and i haven't installed any new hardware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 cwizman: i have tried format C: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwizman Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 When worst comes to worst, you need to isolate your problem. Take out some of your unneeded hardware, if it still fails, take out more. If you get down to just your hard drive and cdrom, then you know it's your hard drive because your cdrom works. If your hard drive is the problem, try swapping it with a different one. If it still fails, then it could very well be a bios-related problem. I know this suggestion involves lots of unneeded trial-and-error, but it's a last resort, sure-fire way to solve your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaMan Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 Even if you've had XP or 2k on there before it's still worth checking the HCL, sometimes these problems can just surface. What someone above said was a good idea too, if you're computer was built by a big name (ie. Gateway, Dell, Compaq, etc.) give them a call and look at their website for Flash BIOS upgrades and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravel5839 Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 I dont know what this worked but it did: After the Win2k installation failed the C: was formatted to NTFS I put in the Win98 boot disk and ran fdisk I deleted the non-dos partition I exited and rebooted then ran fdisk again and make the partition, rebooted Did format c: ran fdisk /mbr ran smartdrv went to e: (cd-rom) went into i386 dir typed winnt WORKED!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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