XP Hangs during Installation

[shidoran]

I've never had a problem with this before, we had a virus and I installed Norton to get rid of it (which had its own problems) but I gave up and decided to reformat. Now windows XP won't even install properly. It copies the files over fine, formats fine, I've tried both FAT32 and NTFS for the C: partition but as soon as it restarts the computer and the windows xp logo comes up, it hangs. Have reformatted it over and over but it's the same. Any ideas?

Appreciate any help, I need my computer back ;_;

 

[Old Rich]

Did you disconnect all external peripherals except the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and be sure those are not USB, or wireless. Any internal USB card should also be removed.

 

[shidoran]

Howdy,

Yeh I tried all that... I've reinstalled XP before after a format with no problems. I'm starting to think my HDD has been corrupted, but I'm not sure if I need a new one or whether I have done something wrong. Should it be FAT32 rather than NTFS? My other two HDD's are FAT32 Format, and the computer is about 5 years old now. Still, I have an older computer wherein the HDD has never ended up anything like this. I haven't touched the hardware connections to it or anything.

Hrm...

 

[Old Rich]

I use NTFS with XP . . You can download and run diagnostics from the drive manufacturer to rule out of confirm drive failure:

Samsung http://www.samsungelectronics.com/hdd/support/utilities/utilities_index.html
Seagate http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
Maxtor/Quantum http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm
Western Digital http://support.wdc.com/download/
IBM/Hitachi http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT
fujitsu/Seimens http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/download/hard-drives/#diagnostic
IBM/Hitachi http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

 

[shidoran]

Hmm thanks for that. I guess I can give that a shot. I assume this problem isn't related to my copy of XP. When it goes to reboot the computer, should it attempt an XP startup? something tells me it should go back into the installation and continue from where it left off.

 

[shidoran]

Just as a follow up for anyone else that may be reading, I am perfectly comfortable with playing with BIOS settings, Drive partitions and medium level computer technical stuff if there isn't an easy answer. Appreciate all the help though.

 

[Old Rich]

The drive passed the test? . . how do you have the boot order set in BIOS?

 

[shidoran]

I didn't notice before, but the drive has been partitioned into 3 sections. I want to backup my data before I do any diagnostics just in case - I've had a little thing go wrong before and have lost everything. (That was microsoft's fault for trying to correct errors that weren't there...)

I'll let you know how I go. It might end up that I have to format the whole drive, delete all the partitions and start again completely. Strange thing I noticed though, I tried to install win98 just so I had an OS to work with but it won't even run the setup.exe file from the dos prompt (I used a win98 boot disk to load up). That one does my head in a little.....

And in answer to your question - I had it boot from the CDROM while I was trying to get XP to work, then I changed the boot order to the floppy drive to get the win98 boot disk to load up. I can always change it around to suit.

 

[Old Rich]

I tried to install win98 just so I had an OS to work with but it won't even run the setup.exe file from the dos prompt (I used a win98 boot disk to load up). That one does my head in a little.....

Probably because it could not find a FAT32 partition large enough to install on

 

[shidoran]

Howdy all,

Seems to be a problem and I can't figure out why. I formatted the partition, and the only OS I could get on there was windows XP home. Don't ask me why, but this one works. I would prefer to put XP prof on there (I have genuine copies of both) but it still won't install. When I try and upgrade XP home to SP2 it stuffs up as well, and I have to reformat as it hangs again when the loading bar comes up. So I bit the bullet and decided that because I probably have too many bad sectors (the hdd is 5 years or so old too) I should get a new HDD. So I bought a brand new one.. funny thing though - same thing happens. since last format, I have changed the CD rom, added a CD/DVD combo and a generic 5.1 sound card. Thought it might have been the sound card so I disconnected it and tried again. Same thing. I'm running out of ideas as to what on earth the problem could be.... could it have anything to do with my motherboard?

One previous problem I had was that one of my hardware ports was stuffed so I ditched my old dialup modem to install the sound card there. Maybe it's an ongoing problem and I need to replace the board.. I don't know. Any thoughts/ideas greatly appreciated.

 

[Old Rich]

Forget formating from DOS or using the win98 disc . . boot from the XP install disc . . delete all partitions . . set up the one(s) you want and install XP . .

 

[shidoran]

The reason I was attempting to go through windows 98 is because I tried the method you mentioned numerous times with no success. I'm running out of ideas because I've done everything I feel is theoretically possible with my knowledge for the situation.. if there's anything left... let me know....

 

[devil_himself]

Can you tell us at which point the installation hangs ..... like installing drivers ... or ...