XP install problem

[lokijames]

Ok, I've got an AMD Athlon XP 2800, msi motherboard, 512 mb ram system where I am running into an issue installing xp professional slipstreamed with sp2.

now first this machine has had xp on before but had a bad ram chip and was experiencing errors, so i've reformatted and was trying to reinstall.. now what i get is if I let xp reformat (not the quick version) ntfs, it will get about 80% through and reboot. I've tried formatting it myself into ntfs using the ultimate bootcd that I've made.. in this case xp will start installing files, then as it gets to the end of that it starts complaining that there is some problem and cannot continue.

I've run checkdsk, memtest to test the new memory chip and a few other things. I've also noticed if i put the xp cd in and boot to it, i don't touch it just leave it on the dos setup screens, it will reboot after about 10 mins, and keep doing that over and over.

I've used a live linux cd to try and test the hd, didn't see any problems, and this ran fine when i left it on for 2 days.. also i've booted to that ultimate boot cd and left it run for over a day with no rebooting issues.

So I'm thinking its hardware.. oh and its not the harddrive, I tried another one and had the same problem.. just wondering if anyone had any thoughts.

[matthewk]

I read you tested the hard drive, but I would suggest taking that hd out and putting another in (try to install on the replacement hd).

[lokijames]

i'm guessing you mean memory.. thats the only chip i have at the moment..

if you meant hard drive.. i have tried it on 2 different drives and i know the 2nd one was working in another computer.

[BrandonS_Mil]

Does your bios have an OS install mode??? I know the dell systems i have at work do... some it helped imensly. this will basically set system ram to 256MB, if you don't have a setting, try reducing the amount of system ram to about 256MB and see if that helps.

If not i will look for something else...

[oneless]

first : you can try to install from another XP_CD , preferablly not with SP2 included/SS , only SP1 or none. if work , you need an update to BIOS .

second : be sure you have separate cables for optical drive(s) and HDD(s).

third : if you have PCI cards there , you can try when you install XP with them unplugged.

Edited June 18, 2005 by oneless