Windows 2000 installation hangs everytime

[Quisquose]

I'm being driven nuts by a bastard Windows 2000 install that will not complete on my new PC under any circumstances.

It all started out fine, I did a test install of Windows 2000 slistreamed with SP4 and that worked. Then I NLited the install (nothing was added at all, I just removed useless components). That worked fine as well.

Then I was collecting drivers for my new hardware so that I could add those via NLite. I was checking out options in the BIOS and managed to hose my perfectly fine NLited SP4 install, because I stated booting with AHCI enabled (where as the install had been done as standard IDE). Needless to say, switching back to IDE mode in the BIOS made no difference and the install had been trashed.

No worries I thought, I'll just re-install ........ That was the beginning of my 48 hours of hell.

No matter what I did, I just could not get Windows to complete an install. I made sure that I completely deleted any partitions on the disk and the re-created and formatted them (just to be sure).

It all goes fine up to the GUI install part where it says "Installing Devices". The progress bar moves very quickly and smoothly up to 50% then it slows down, and then at approximately 55% the CD-ROM stops spinning, all hard disk activity stops and the PC locks up (can't move mouse pointer). I tried leaving it for up to 20 minutes to see if it would start up again but it didn't. I also tried several re-boots to see if the install could pick up where it left off previously (and hopefully skip the troublesome issue) but again that did not work either.

So then I went back to the pre-NLited version of the ISO and burned that to CD again, but that hung at exactly the same place as the other installs. I then re-created a new ISO from fresh files but that didn't work.

I tried re-setting my BIOS to defaults (not that I had altered that much anyway) and tried installing on to 2 different hard disks, but all the time it was the same 55% hang issue at "installing devices".

I was just about to start yanking out hardware to see if that would help (the only thing I could remove is the sound card as that is the only add on apart from the graphic card) when I decided to try my XP install instead of Windows 2000. This worked, so the issue is Windows 2000 specific.

I'm really hoping someone can help, as I am so p****d off right now. I did have a look through some of the log files from the install (not that any of it makes the slightest bit of sense to me) and DTCSetup.cat was the last file to be mentioned in a few of the logs, so I did a search on that file and found some people who'd had issue with it. In one thread (on MSFN) it said that the file is not really neeeded and that it could be rem'd out of Syssetup.in_, Txtsetup.sif and Layout.inf. I did this and remade the ISO and it still didn't work. However, I've done so many re-installs now that the log that had the most errors in it has been overwritten. Strangely, subsequent installs did not generate hardly any error messages (despite hanging at exactly the same place as before)

I'm at a total loss as what to do next. Can anyone offer some advice please, to at least point me in a direction so that I can narrow down the investigation. I wonder if it might be graphic card related (Powercolour ATI Radeon X1950 Pro) as the problem occurs around the time when the screen flickers (on a normal install) although I don't actually ever get to that point.

I've attached a log file which may (or may not) be of some relevance. My NLite settings attached to next post.

Thanks!

..... and here are my NLite settings (it wouldn't fit on my previous post).

These settings actually worked fine the first time I tried it, but all subsequent attempts (including total remakes) have not worked since.

Edited December 21, 2006 by Quisquose

[Speeddymon]

I'm being driven nuts by a bastard Windows 2000 install that will not complete on my new PC under any circumstances.

It all started out fine, I did a test install of Windows 2000 slistreamed with SP4 and that worked. Then I NLited the install (nothing was added at all, I just removed useless components). That worked fine as well.

Then I was collecting drivers for my new hardware so that I could add those via NLite. I was checking out options in the BIOS and managed to hose my perfectly fine NLited SP4 install, because I stated booting with AHCI enabled (where as the install had been done as standard IDE). Needless to say, switching back to IDE mode in the BIOS made no difference and the install had been trashed.

No worries I thought, I'll just re-install ........ That was the beginning of my 48 hours of hell.

No matter what I did, I just could not get Windows to complete an install. I made sure that I completely deleted any partitions on the disk and the re-created and formatted them (just to be sure).

It all goes fine up to the GUI install part where it says "Installing Devices". The progress bar moves very quickly and smoothly up to 50% then it slows down, and then at approximately 55% the CD-ROM stops spinning, all hard disk activity stops and the PC locks up (can't move mouse pointer). I tried leaving it for up to 20 minutes to see if it would start up again but it didn't. I also tried several re-boots to see if the install could pick up where it left off previously (and hopefully skip the troublesome issue) but again that did not work either.

So then I went back to the pre-NLited version of the ISO and burned that to CD again, but that hung at exactly the same place as the other installs. I then re-created a new ISO from fresh files but that didn't work.

I tried re-setting my BIOS to defaults (not that I had altered that much anyway) and tried installing on to 2 different hard disks, but all the time it was the same 55% hang issue at "installing devices".

I was just about to start yanking out hardware to see if that would help (the only thing I could remove is the sound card as that is the only add on apart from the graphic card) when I decided to try my XP install instead of Windows 2000. This worked, so the issue is Windows 2000 specific.

I'm really hoping someone can help, as I am so p****d off right now. I did have a look through some of the log files from the install (not that any of it makes the slightest bit of sense to me) and DTCSetup.cat was the last file to be mentioned in a few of the logs, so I did a search on that file and found some people who'd had issue with it. In one thread (on MSFN) it said that the file is not really neeeded and that it could be rem'd out of Syssetup.in_, Txtsetup.sif and Layout.inf. I did this and remade the ISO and it still didn't work. However, I've done so many re-installs now that the log that had the most errors in it has been overwritten. Strangely, subsequent installs did not generate hardly any error messages (despite hanging at exactly the same place as before)

I'm at a total loss as what to do next. Can anyone offer some advice please, to at least point me in a direction so that I can narrow down the investigation. I wonder if it might be graphic card related (Powercolour ATI Radeon X1950 Pro) as the problem occurs around the time when the screen flickers (on a normal install) although I don't actually ever get to that point.

I've attached a log file which may (or may not) be of some relevance. My NLite settings attached to next post.

Thanks!

..... and here are my NLite settings (it wouldn't fit on my previous post).

These settings actually worked fine the first time I tried it, but all subsequent attempts (including total remakes) have not worked since.

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned is RAM. Try running a memtest on your RAM. If that checks out clean, then it is possibly your graphics card, although I havent ever seen an issue that 2k couldnt get around that xp could.

[nuhi]

Quisquose, I just tried your setup in the VMWare and it worked.

But I didn't want to download all those hotfixes. So, you could download VPC or trial VMWare and see is it hotfixes or your pc somehow. Meaning if it works in virtual then you'll have to play with that bios little more...or something...

I used 1.3beta.

[Quisquose]

Hi nuhi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply (and for confirming that my setup works for you). At least that is one thing that I can rule out.

I was planning to use VMware to test out all my registry tweaks and silent installs, but I have not got to that point yet (seeing as I can't even install).

There are a couple of other reasons why I haven't got round to using VMware yet; the first is that the problem I'm seeing occurs during hardware detection and device install, and a virtual environment won't be able to replicate / emulate the particular hardware combination that I've got in my new PC. Secondly, the PC that I am replacing is really very old (PII 233MHz) and running VMWare on that would be a real stretch.

I think I'll try a 2 pronged attack; first install XP on the new PC so that I can test the Windows 2000 hotfixes and Service pack in VMWare. Then, if there are no conflicts or problems, I'll go back to real hardware boots to test the device detection and install procedure.

Hopefully the problem will disappear now that I have totally started again from scratch, but if it hasn't, then the testing above should help me narrow down where to look.

[Quisquose]

Just thought I'd post an update with regards to the problem outlined above (in other words Windows 2000 failing to complete an installation and hanging at 55% on the 'Installing Devices' setup page).

After spending inordinate amounts of time re-installing different Windows 2000 versions, my conclusions were as follows:

• Any NLited version of Windows 2000 based on USP5.1 plus added hotfixes would not complete.
  (Could be any one of the above software causing the problem, or it could be a hardware detection issue).
  
• Any NLited version of Windows 2000 with just USP5.1 (and no hotfixes) would not complete.
  (Hotfixes probably not causing the problem. I could be removing too much with NLite).
  
• USP5.1 (on its own) manually slipstreamed into Windows 2000 (no NLite at all) would not complete.
  (NLite ruled out as culprit. Maybe USP5.1 is to blame).
  
• Using Official SP4 (instead of Gurgelmeyer's USP5.1) + Microsoft hotfixes would not complete.
  (I might have incorrectly included a hotfix that clashes with an update already included in SP4 and USP5.1).
  
• Repeat the above installation but leave out all hotfixes (therefore using SP4 only). This does not complete.
  (Therefore it can't be a Hotfix issue, or Hotfix + Service pack clash. Also it can't be USP5.1 to blame).
  
• OK, Back to basics. Remove surplus hardware. Install original Windows 2000 (no service packs). This does complete the install.
  (Possibly a hardware issue?).
  
• Re-do the above installation, but using Windows 2000 with SP2. Leave hardware installed. This does complete the install.
  (Hardware is ok. Looking more like it's an SP4 issue - which would explain why USP5.1 also won't work).
  
• Re-do the above installation but this time using Windows 2000 SP3. This does complete the install.
  (Maybe something has been fixed by uninstalling then reinstalling the hardware).
  
• Try again using Windows 2000 SP4, to see if something has inadvertently been fixed. This does not complete.
  (Hmm.... problem still exists. Re-installing hardware hasn't changed anything. Maybe it's something in SP4).
  
• Install SP3 again (as this version is known to work) and compare the installation logs with the SP4 logs.
  (No significant errors found in SP4's logs, but the last entry before hanging at 55% referred to 'EHCI'.
  

Doing a web search for some more information on what EHCI was (seeing as I'd never heard of it) pulled up one forum particular thread:

http://www.techspot.com/vb/post359468-8.html

This post mentioned Asus motherboards (which I am using) and issues when installing Windows (which I am experiencing).

I went to my BIOS and looked for the EHCI handoff setting. It was set to disabled. I flipped it to enabled (just to see what would happen) and tried to install SP4 again.

This time it worked! So then I tried to install USP5.1 with Hotfixes and NLite tweaks, and this also worked!

So the issue of the service pack discrepancy between SP3 and SP4 was a red herring. For some reason you can install on SP3 (and earlier versions) with EHCI disabled in the BIOS, but for SP4 and later you must enable EHCI for Windows to be able to complete an install. (At least that's the case on my Asus motherboard).

I can now understand why ISOs that I had made previously (which worked fine) suddenly stopped working. When I first built my new system I did a quick rough test to see if Windows would install OK (and to check that none of my new hardware was faulty). I then set about properly configuring my system. This started by me updating the BIOS (which was very out of date) on my motherboard. The Asus forums give strict instructions to clear the CMOS both before and after flashing the BIOS. Failure to do so has resulted in a trashed BIOS and a totally dead motherboard. So that's what I did, and in the process all of my BIOS settings got returned to their defaults. Asus (in their wisdom) have chosen 'disabled' as the default setting for EHCI. As I didn't really understand what that setting was, I left it at its default value after performing my BIOS upgrade.

I still don't really understand what EHCI is, but it's something to do with the handling of USB and how it's passed from BIOS control to OS control (depending on how the system is being used - i.e. hardware POST or OS Loading).

This kind of makes sense, as devices such as USB mice are available way before Windows drivers for them are loaded (and so it's probably being controlled by the BIOS at that stage). At some point this has to be handed over to the OS, and I think that this might be occurring at the 55% point of the 'Installing Devices' Windows Setup page.

On subsequent inspection, you do see the mouse pointer disappear at this point and then re-appear about 15 seconds later (provided it hasn't hung), so maybe that's what's going on at that point.

Apologies for this ridiculously long post, but hopefully people experiencing similar problems will stumble across this thread when Googling, and it will save them from tearing their hair out for days on end.

If I had not found that TechSpot post by Sharkfood, I'd probably still be thinking that the problem was in SP4.

[Speeddymon]

Just thought I'd post an update with regards to the problem outlined above (in other words Windows 2000 failing to complete an installation and hanging at 55% on the 'Installing Devices' setup page).

After spending inordinate amounts of time re-installing different Windows 2000 versions, my conclusions were as follows:

• Any NLited version of Windows 2000 based on USP5.1 plus added hotfixes would not complete.
  (Could be any one of the above software causing the problem, or it could be a hardware detection issue).
  
• Any NLited version of Windows 2000 with just USP5.1 (and no hotfixes) would not complete.
  (Hotfixes probably not causing the problem. I could be removing too much with NLite).
  
• USP5.1 (on its own) manually slipstreamed into Windows 2000 (no NLite at all) would not complete.
  (NLite ruled out as culprit. Maybe USP5.1 is to blame).
  
• Using Official SP4 (instead of Gurgelmeyer's USP5.1) + Microsoft hotfixes would not complete.
  (I might have incorrectly included a hotfix that clashes with an update already included in SP4 and USP5.1).
  
• Repeat the above installation but leave out all hotfixes (therefore using SP4 only). This does not complete.
  (Therefore it can't be a Hotfix issue, or Hotfix + Service pack clash. Also it can't be USP5.1 to blame).
  
• OK, Back to basics. Remove surplus hardware. Install original Windows 2000 (no service packs). This does complete the install.
  (Possibly a hardware issue?).
  
• Re-do the above installation, but using Windows 2000 with SP2. Leave hardware installed. This does complete the install.
  (Hardware is ok. Looking more like it's an SP4 issue - which would explain why USP5.1 also won't work).
  
• Re-do the above installation but this time using Windows 2000 SP3. This does complete the install.
  (Maybe something has been fixed by uninstalling then reinstalling the hardware).
  
• Try again using Windows 2000 SP4, to see if something has inadvertently been fixed. This does not complete.
  (Hmm.... problem still exists. Re-installing hardware hasn't changed anything. Maybe it's something in SP4).
  
• Install SP3 again (as this version is known to work) and compare the installation logs with the SP4 logs.
  (No significant errors found in SP4's logs, but the last entry before hanging at 55% referred to 'EHCI'.
  

Doing a web search for some more information on what EHCI was (seeing as I'd never heard of it) pulled up one forum particular thread:

http://www.techspot.com/vb/post359468-8.html

This post mentioned Asus motherboards (which I am using) and issues when installing Windows (which I am experiencing).

I went to my BIOS and looked for the EHCI handoff setting. It was set to disabled. I flipped it to enabled (just to see what would happen) and tried to install SP4 again.

This time it worked! So then I tried to install USP5.1 with Hotfixes and NLite tweaks, and this also worked!

So the issue of the service pack discrepancy between SP3 and SP4 was a red herring. For some reason you can install on SP3 (and earlier versions) with EHCI disabled in the BIOS, but for SP4 and later you must enable EHCI for Windows to be able to complete an install. (At least that's the case on my Asus motherboard).

I can now understand why ISOs that I had made previously (which worked fine) suddenly stopped working. When I first built my new system I did a quick rough test to see if Windows would install OK (and to check that none of my new hardware was faulty). I then set about properly configuring my system. This started by me updating the BIOS (which was very out of date) on my motherboard. The Asus forums give strict instructions to clear the CMOS both before and after flashing the BIOS. Failure to do so has resulted in a trashed BIOS and a totally dead motherboard. So that's what I did, and in the process all of my BIOS settings got returned to their defaults. Asus (in their wisdom) have chosen 'disabled' as the default setting for EHCI. As I didn't really understand what that setting was, I left it at its default value after performing my BIOS upgrade.

I still don't really understand what EHCI is, but it's something to do with the handling of USB and how it's passed from BIOS control to OS control (depending on how the system is being used - i.e. hardware POST or OS Loading).

This kind of makes sense, as devices such as USB mice are available way before Windows drivers for them are loaded (and so it's probably being controlled by the BIOS at that stage). At some point this has to be handed over to the OS, and I think that this might be occurring at the 55% point of the 'Installing Devices' Windows Setup page.

On subsequent inspection, you do see the mouse pointer disappear at this point and then re-appear about 15 seconds later (provided it hasn't hung), so maybe that's what's going on at that point.

Apologies for this ridiculously long post, but hopefully people experiencing similar problems will stumble across this thread when Googling, and it will save them from tearing their hair out for days on end.

If I had not found that TechSpot post by Sharkfood, I'd probably still be thinking that the problem was in SP4.

Good work on fixing the issue. Just a little tidbit of info you will probably never use:

EHCI- Enhanced Host Controller Interface. USB comes in 3 flavors (as if version 1.1 vs version 2.0 wasnt enough of a headache) OHCI (o=open) UHCI (u=universal) and EHCI. The handoff option you are seeing is apparently something specific to ASUS boards that controls the handing off of the usb devices to the OS, as you correctly surmised. My guess is that this is handled automatically on all other boards, and perhaps ASUS knows of this causing issues with older (or newer) os's, who knows?

Back to the O/E/U HCI thing tho. If, after your machine POST's sometime, when it is on the screen where it shows you something like "Attempting to boot from CD", above that line is a page of information about detected devices. Have you ever wondered what the pause key on your keyboard does? This is the time to use it. As soon as your machine finished the POST, hit that key, and it will freeze the screen (press enter to unfreeze). If you timed it right, you will be able to read all of that glorious information.

The point of me pointing this out is that you can actually see that you have 2 controllers for USB...... WTF?! you say? Look toward the bottom, and you will see your EHCI (or it might even say Enhanced Host Controller Interface), and you will also see either UHCI or OHCI. The EHCI actually controls all of your USB 2.0 ports and devices. and the other 2 control any USB 1.1 ports and devices.

Like I said this is all useless information but I felt like sharing for those who google, find this page and are curious once fixing the issue.

[downwitch]

Just an FYI... this thread comes up first in google searching on "asus windows 2000 install hangs", so I must not be alone in having the exact same problem you were. Your solution exactly solved my problem, leaving a great deal of my hair intact.

Thanks a lot. Don't know what I'd have done 2 weeks ago!

[Quisquose]

Hi downwitch.

Thanks for the heads up about this thread appearing in Google. I was hoping that it would save some people from going through the same grief as me, but I really wasn't expecting it to get anywhere the number one search result slot in Google (and especially not in just a few days).

But it's great to know that people can easily find this thread if they need it.

I'm glad to hear that the majority of your hair is left in tact. After my experience above, I'm still sporting the alopecia / chemotherapy look

Edited January 9, 2007 by Quisquose