XP installation problems

[The Person]

OK, here's the deal: My bro has got all these new parts for his comp namely these:
- ATI Radeon X800GTO w/256 mb RAM PCI-E graphics adapter
- MSI K8N NEO4-F nForce4 Socket 939 ATX mobo w/PCI-E
- AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Socket 939 CPU

Here are his other specs:
- 768 mb DDR-RAM (3x256 mb)
- 80 gb S-ATA hard drive
- 16x DVD-ROM

And here's the problem. He needs to install WinXP on it, but somehow he can't. The comp boots from the CD alright, and lets him start the installation, but when the comp restarts, the installation does not continue. Instead it reboots. This happens after the reboot and the next, and the next and so on. Anybody have any ideas what might be the problem?

 

[Speedo]

It just reboots? Doesn't boot to the CD again, doesn't blue screen, doesn't show any kind of error message, nothing?

Get memtest and see if it's showing any bad memory. If it all looks good, try using another windows disk to install (doesn't matter if it's not the same version, we just want to see if that disk will install any begin setup as it should).

 

[The Person]

The problem is, we used the same disk to install XP on my comp, and then it worked. But when we put it back in my bro's comp, it didn't work (I wasn't surprised though, I know that such things rarely work), BUT it worked in Safe Mode.

Also we tried removing all RAM sticks one by one, but it didn't help. It seems like the RAM is OK.

 

[FriendlyFire]

MSI K8N NEO4-F

Make sure you Flash the BIOS a lot of people had problems with this MB.
Also you did install the drivers for the SATA HDD ?

 

[The Person]

We'll try that. And yes, we did install the S-ATA drivers.

 

[DaEezT]

What are your PSU's specs? A friend of mine had that same problem because the PSU couldn't handle the graphics card. Windows initializes it during startup and then the PC hard resets/reboots because it doesn't have enough power.

 

[The Person]

Is 300 watt enough? Still I don't really see how this is an issue, as it works in Safe Mode. Does the Gfx card use less power in Safe Mode? I don't know, which is why I ask.

 

[The Person]

We'll try that. And yes, we did install the S-ATA drivers.

Well, the BIOS upgrade didn't seem to work.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Is 300 watt enough? Still I don't really see how this is an issue, as it works in Safe Mode. Does the Gfx card use less power in Safe Mode? I don't know, which is why I ask.

In safe mode the GFX card dosnt active or use any of its "higher" functions
Iam sure the power requiredments for the GTO was 350W PSU ?

 

[The Person]

OK, that should explain why it worked on my comp. I have a 400W PSU and a GeForce 6800, which is not as high-end as my bro's. We are not sure what the output of his PSU is, but our guess is 300W, so it seems like he should have factored in a new PSU as well.

You know, I really feel foolish for not having Read The Fine Manual. But after all these tries it feels like I'll be asking a new question again when the new PSU is up...

 

[Speedo]

I don't know the exact power requirements of that card, but 300W is well below the minimum you want for a card of that generation. My bet is that that's the problem.

Try your PSU in his comp just to be sure.

 

[The Person]

Try your PSU in his comp just to be sure.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Will report back with the results.

 

[The Person]

Nope, putting in my PSU didn't solve it either. I guess that leaves us two alternatives: Either my PSU isn't poweful enough, or there is something else that is wrong.

 

[frekk]

In safe mode, do this:

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

Click the Advanced tab.

Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings to open the Startup and Recovery dialog box.

Clear the Automatically restart check box, and click OK the necessary number of times.

Restart (in normal mode).

You now may be able to see what the error is. Might be incompatible driver or software of some sort.

Another thing you might try is to use the msconfig command from the run line, hit the startup tab, and disable all to see if you can then boot to the desktop in normal mode. If so, it is merely a process of adding the startup items back one by one until you hit the one that is causing the problem.

IMO, this is probably a software or driver problem ... you should eliminate this possibility before worrying about hardware.

 

[Speedo]

In safe mode, do this:
[...]
IMO, this is probably a software or driver problem ... you should eliminate this possibility before worrying about hardware.

It's a bit hard to do that before Windows is even installed... and a bit hard for it to be a software or driver issue when no software or drivers are installed.

 

[frekk]

It's a bit hard to do that before Windows is even installed... and a bit hard for it to be a software or driver issue when no software or drivers are installed.

Well, he says it works in Safe Mode, which means Windows has been installed, there is simply some error coming up as Windows boots, but well after the machine posts. 90% chance this is not a hardware problem (or at least not a critical one). Clearing the reboot on error setting gives him a really good chance of determining what that problem is.

He *has* installed his SATA drivers. I don't think it's likely they're the problem, but you never know.

Also, its entirely possible there is a ton of software on there. He says list his "new" hardware, then lists his "other" specs. The HDD is in the "other" (presumably old) list. Is there a previous installation of Windows there? If so, what version? Any other software on that disk? Has the disk been formatted? etc etc ... don't know any of these things yet. But if he can get into safe mode, Windows is certainly installed.