Cannot install windows xp

[Mendez]

I just bought an Asus A7N8X Deluxe and i cannot install windows, i formatted my harddrive, then tried to install windows after it loads up all the files needed to start the installation it says "Setup is loading windows" and it just stays there and doesnt do anything

 

[Mendez]

i dont mean Windows actually installs either im talking about when the screen is blue, at the very beginning of installing windows, my specs are

AMD athlon xp 2100+
Asus A7N8X
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD-RW Drive
20 gb Maxtor IDE drive
and a 60 gb maxtor ide drive

 

[Meractik]

have you just built this system? if so i know this sounds wack but try it, take your hard drive off the master setting on the primary IDE channel and put one of your cd/dvd rom drives there remove the other from the system, and put the hd on the secondary IDE channel as master and try to boot off the cd again and install to the hd while its on the secondary IDE channel. let me know if it works. i had a similar problem with installnig windows on my athlon t-bird with a epox and abit mobo and this seemed to fix it after the OS installed i was then able to switch the drives to the correct order and boot just fine.

 

[montag451]

Well, i never.

Never heard of putting your bootable drive anywhere else but on primary master. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Try also, checking your hardware is compatible with xp.

Also, take out ALL non essential drives/peripherals including sound/ethernet/modem etc etc, or disable them from BIOS if integrated, then try installing xp.

PLEASE post back and let us know how it goes

 

[Mendez]

No luck im only able to get windows 98, 98 SE, and windows 2000 to install but NO LUCK with xp!!!!

 

[Uncle Bob]

what version of XP are you using? (retail/oem/upgrade/corportate)
are either SP1 or SP2 slipstreamed on the CD?

At what point does the setup hang? (Text mode stage or GUI stage)

Do you have any peripherals attached to the USB ports?

 

[Mendez]

I tried a XP Pro cd without any SP's and i tried one with SP1 and they just get stuck right at the beginning of the setup right after it loads up the files when the screen is blue "Setup is loading windows" but heres how i installed 98, 98SE, and 2000 i used bootdisks, i tried usint the XP bootdisks and it doesnt work. and no i dont have any peripherals, the only USB device i have pluged in is my mouse

 

[montag451]

Take out all non-essential hardware.
you dont need 4 drives to install an os.

If you have two sticks of memory, take one out, and if that doesn't work, swap them over.
Take out, or disable sound card [in bios], also NIC etc etc - any integrated [on board] devices
JUST use the absolute bear essentials for now.
Everything else can be added one at a time once os is loaded.

What psu are you using?

 

[Jeffyboy]

If you have any USB devices, unplug them. Take out any drives not necessary as well. Take out a modem if you have one in there. maybe MUP.SYS is giving you troubles. Try a ps2 mouse instead of usb.

Jeff

 

[Jeffyboy]

Also... one thing that happened to be a while ago... BIOS 1003 on my same asus board... the cmos went whacky and I couldn't update it..until after I cleared cmos... may want to try that also... clear cmos, do a BIOS update... then try installing XP

 

[Mendez]

Ive already flashed my bios to 1008-D, ill try disabling the stuff tomrrow after i get home, oh and i have a 300W psu because my old one burned, i was playing a game then you just hear a pop and my pc shut down

 

[montag451]

You will have to take out NON essential peripherals, or at least disconnect them to see what the prob is.

Tell us what you are doing, and what is happening, otherwise we cant help

Good luck

 

[Mendez]

Nope, disabling everything didint work.
heres what i tried doing i tryed installing windows XP thru just the cd and then i tried installing it thru the boot disk and that didint work either

 

[mechBgon]

Do you have a genuine Microsoft CD and a license of your own, let's start with that

Also, what brand and model of memory module(s), and how many?

What brand and model of video card?

What brand and model of power supply (yes the guys all knew that one was coming )?

 

[Mendez]

I have a real Windows XP pro cd, and ive also tried "illegal" ones they still dont work

i have some PQI PC-3200 i also tried my PC-2700 still no luck

and i have a ATI Radeon 9600 Pro

ive tried 2 diffrent power supplys right now i have some cheap Tiger Pro 300W power supply i found in my garage because my old one burned

 

[mastertech01]

Try setting the ram timings back if you are running 2/2/2/5. I had problems installing OS with PQI set to tight timings for some damned reason. I backed off to 2/3/3/6 or 2.5/2/2/5 to install. If you are overclocked set up to default to install.

 

[Mendez]

Ive tried setup defauls still no luck, but thanks for trying to help me guys! im sending my motherboard to asus on monday to get tested and if they find something wrong im getting a new one

 

[asianboi]

it can be your CPU ... I just swap my bro's cpu with mine and it passes the set up screen ... I spent hours taking out parts and finally found out it is my cpu that has problem allowing me to pass that "setup is starting windows"

You may want to try that...

 

[realtrance]

I've had two occasions in the past year -- installing on entirely different machines, one with a Windows XP Pro Upgrade disk (pre-service pack 2) on a WinME machine, one with WindowsXP Pro on a fresh machine. Both legitimate, paid-for CDs.

In the first case, my perfectly good Yamaha CRW2100SZ SCSI CD-ROM drive would NOT read the disk. I literally had to go out and buy a crappier (but still perfectly fine) TDK CD-ROM ATAPI IDE drive. Once I swapped this drive in, all sorts of mysterious errors, including blue screen with "SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILURE" and other informative messages ("try cleaning your CD") disappeared instantly, and the installation went completely smoothly.

I even had this problem after getting a fresh WinXP Pro Upgrade disk from MS. All the tech support people I talked to did a lot of head-scratching on this, but never suggested replacing the CD-ROM drive as a solution.

In the second instance, I tried installing a full WinXP Pro CD on a newly-bought Sony DRU-710A DVD-ROM drive, and had precisely the same problem. Unfortunately the almost-year-long gap between the two installation experiences led to my forgetting the horrors of the first time, so I lost another four hours of frustrated confusion, in this case putting together a SATA RAID 0 config for a friend, using a motherboard's onboard Intel RAID config setup. I spent a lot of time thinking there was something wrong with me, with my installation processes, with my understanding of how to configure the RAID 0 setup.

I literally went home, pulled out my old TDK 5300B IDE ATAPI CD-ROM drive from the computer that had saved me from my first WinXP disaster, and lo and behold, it worked the same charm on this system. The SONY DRU-710A works like a charm for every other CD/DVD my friend's thrown at it since, installing loads of software rapidly. ONLY the WinXP Pro legitimate protected-like-crazy (obviously) CD caused a problem.

If anyone else here has had this interesting dilemma crop up, I'd recommend at the least borrowing a different CD/DVD drive for installation. I have no clue as to why certain drives will work with Microsoft's disks, and others will not. Neither of the two drives I've mentioned are listed on either Microsoft's or the respective hardware manufacturer's pages as having any issues with WinXP Pro install disks -- but they do.

Fortunately I suspect MS will be doing away with this obviously broken disc-copying protection system in the future.

rt

 

[Jeffyboy]

I've seen that happen before when it freezes on the "Loading windows screen"... I would take out any un-necessary PCI cards, update the BIOS... and wait... sometimes it can hang on that screen for a few minutes... and it varies from PC to PC.

Jeff

 

[DullesGuy]

Did you download the boot disk FROM Microsoft FOR Windows XP Home/Pro? It is SIX DISKS LONG.