Having a problem installing Windows

[stinger608]

Well for one thing, it could be a bad cd rom!!!

If you have another cd rom, put it in and try it again. It sounds like the drive may be having issues accessing the data on the disc.
Now of course that could be due to the fact that the disc itself is bad, and if that is the case download alcohol 120 trial and isobuster and burn a new copy of the OS.

But before going through all the downloads and burning try a different cdrom
It might not even be that bad, but I have had many cdroms that would not get some data off of discs and another one would do just fine!

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

I was going to suggest that. Reburn a copy of that CD. It should be fine afterwards.

[Gig-O-Ram]

Wow...so many replies! But that's what happens when you reply in the morning and then have to go work almost 11 hours...

I will be back in shortly to answer you guys...I gotta go eat :)

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by Gig-O-Ram

Wow...so many replies! But that's what happens when you reply in the morning and then have to go work almost 11 hours...

I will be back in shortly to answer you guys...I gotta go eat :)

I should consider eating soon. It's 9:16pm here.

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Did you delete any partitions that were on the drive and create a new one to format and install windows on or did you just hit enter on a partition that already happened to be there for some reason?

I had a windows disk that must have been scratched or something (it looks fine though) but everytime I try to reformat and install with that disk it freezes or gets a BSOD. My other two windows install disks work perfectly though. So I'd say it sounds like a messed up disk rather than your new HDD messing up. Just for kicks, you could also try moving the jumper to Master and see what happens...

What I did was this...I unpacked the drive from it's packing, put it in the case, hooked it up, put the case in it's spot, hooked everything up in back, powered it on and the system told me I needed to format the volume - which I did (the long format). After the long format was done, it told me that it could not format the drive and it showed the majority of the drive plus an extra 8MB partition that wasn't there when I started. I wonder now if that is the partition that holds the partial install...

Originally Posted by Blondie

Try switching the jumper as was mentioned. Next, go to western digital and download the data lifeguard tools, you should be able to format the drive using that.

Correct me if Im wrong, but even if he's using a 160 gig drive with SP 1, it still should see there is a HD in there, just not report the correct size? I'm only running XP sp1 in this computer, I have a 160 and 200 gig drive, both are seen fine.

I also think you may have something else going on. How much ram do you have? Also how many sticks? When I built a computer for my stepson, his mobo had a bad Dimm 0, putting the ram in another slot fixed the error.

The jumper is the first thing I'll address, since that's easy. If I get Lifegaurd tools, and put it on a CD, will I still be able to run it, even though the drive is having a problem?

The system has 1GB of RAM (2x512MB PC3200 I believe)

Originally Posted by stinger608

Well for one thing, it could be a bad cd rom!!!

If you have another cd rom, put it in and try it again. It sounds like the drive may be having issues accessing the data on the disc.
Now of course that could be due to the fact that the disc itself is bad, and if that is the case download alcohol 120 trial and isobuster and burn a new copy of the OS.

But before going through all the downloads and burning try a different cdrom
It might not even be that bad, but I have had many cdroms that would not get some data off of discs and another one would do just fine!

As far as I know, the CD ROM itself doesn't have any issues. It is the ROM that has been in there from day one, and was likely used to install Windows originally. I suppose I could try my ROM in there, but I'm not sure it's necessary.

[Hitman]

Weird things happen when you use a messed up XP disc for an install. I think thats your main problem right there.

[screwballl]

I have this exact drive (or a brother: WD1600JB-00GVA0)
I have to have mine set to Master at all times if it is the main drive, otherwise no jumper or CS gives me the same problems

[polobunny]

No jumper = MASTER without slave.
Jumper at middle = MASTER with slave.

[Gig-O-Ram]

I'm going to be working on the problem more tonight and maybe if I have time this weekend.

I was able to get a copy of WDLG Tools set up to boot from a floppy, and I was able to get the drive formatted again, as I wanted to do. I tried running the Windows setup again, and I got as far as I did the first time, and got a BSOD and a message in the boot log about the Windows signature being invalid, which leads me to believe that the CD key is no longer viable. So, before heading off to sleep last night, I stopped by Newegg and picked up an OEM copy of WinXP Pro SP2 for a decent price (about $100 less than retail). I will have to wait for the disc to get here before I can proceed, but in the meantime, I will need to format the drive once more, and then take care of the jumper issue and probably reset BIOS on the board just to be sure.

QUESTION: Do you need to reset BIOS if you change the CPU? I tried to put my old P4 3.2Ghz onto her board once in place of her P4 2.8 for an upgrade, and the system wouldn't even power on. I put her 2.8 back in, and everything was fine. But it occured to me later that resetting BIOS - which I didn't do - might've been the reason why it didn't work.

If the install fails again, I may go ahead and RMA the drive and get another one. I already have the RMA# if I need to use it, but hopefully a new copy of XP, and a proper jumper setting will take care of the problem.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Gig-O-Ram

I'm going to be working on the problem more tonight and maybe if I have time this weekend.

I was able to get a copy of WDLG Tools set up to boot from a floppy, and I was able to get the drive formatted again, as I wanted to do. I tried running the Windows setup again, and I got as far as I did the first time, and got a BSOD and a message in the boot log about the Windows signature being invalid, which leads me to believe that the CD key is no longer viable. So, before heading off to sleep last night, I stopped by Newegg and picked up an OEM copy of WinXP Pro SP2 for a decent price (about $100 less than retail). I will have to wait for the disc to get here before I can proceed, but in the meantime, I will need to format the drive once more, and then take care of the jumper issue and probably reset BIOS on the board just to be sure.

QUESTION: Do you need to reset BIOS if you change the CPU? I tried to put my old P4 3.2Ghz onto her board once in place of her P4 2.8 for an upgrade, and the system wouldn't even power on. I put her 2.8 back in, and everything was fine. But it occured to me later that resetting BIOS - which I didn't do - might've been the reason why it didn't work.

If the install fails again, I may go ahead and RMA the drive and get another one. I already have the RMA# if I need to use it, but hopefully a new copy of XP, and a proper jumper setting will take care of the problem.

It's a good idea to reset the bios, especially if you're replacing your CPU for a different speed on. The 3.2ghz and 2.8ghz don't have the same multiplier and it might not detect it automaticly when you put it in.