I can't even reinstall XP!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Big Bill
  • Start date Start date
B

Big Bill

I tried to go for that repair idea but it's an option I wasn't
offered. Did I want to install into the partition indicated, it asked,
so I thought, what the hell yeah, there's no files on there I want to
recover, I'm still setting the machine up for use, so I went ahead.
Now the screen says

STOP: blah blah (fatal system error)
the windows subsystem system process terminated unexpectedly with a
status of yada yada (lots of numbers, you know what system errors look
like...)
The system has been shut down.

I dunno what immediately preceded that as I was in the kitchen making
a coffee.

I'll have another play and see what i can get out of it. Watch this
space. Doesn't sound good, though, does it guys? I'm starting to
wonder if the drive itself hasn't gone funny.

BB
 
If you want help in these newsgroups you'll have to be more specific than
"STOP: blah blah" or "status of yada yada".
 
I tried to go for that repair idea but it's an option I wasn't
offered. Did I want to install into the partition indicated, it asked,
so I thought, what the hell yeah, there's no files on there I want to
recover, I'm still setting the machine up for use, so I went ahead.
Now the screen says

STOP: blah blah (fatal system error)
the windows subsystem system process terminated unexpectedly with a
status of yada yada (lots of numbers, you know what system errors look
like...)
The system has been shut down.

I dunno what immediately preceded that as I was in the kitchen making
a coffee.

I'll have another play and see what i can get out of it. Watch this
space. Doesn't sound good, though, does it guys? I'm starting to
wonder if the drive itself hasn't gone funny.

BB
Click to expand...

Hey! Guess what? I tried again and it succeeded and I now have a new
clean version of XP installed. It sits right alongside the old
corrupted version. Yup, they're both there. One boots fine (obviously)
and the old version still is stuck in that can't boot cycle. Any ideas
now pretty please?? I don't think they should both be allowed to
co-exist although it's a big old drive, 200G or so.

BB
 
Big said:
Hey! Guess what? I tried again and it succeeded and I now have a new
clean version of XP installed. It sits right alongside the old
corrupted version. Yup, they're both there. One boots fine (obviously)
and the old version still is stuck in that can't boot cycle. Any ideas
now pretty please?? I don't think they should both be allowed to
co-exist although it's a big old drive, 200G or so.
Click to expand...

"I have two installations of XP on the same partition" -
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#20

Malke
 
Big said:
Hey! Guess what? I tried again and it succeeded and I now have a new
clean version of XP installed. It sits right alongside the old
corrupted version. Yup, they're both there. One boots fine (obviously)
and the old version still is stuck in that can't boot cycle. Any ideas
now pretty please?? I don't think they should both be allowed to
co-exist although it's a big old drive, 200G or so.

BB
Click to expand...

Yes, what you have is called a parallel installation. You can now use
that installation to try to fix the original installation, call it the
supreme Recovery Console, or a Recovery Console a la NT4.

Do you expect to keep and use this new installation? You can if you
want to but you will have to activate it and you will have to live with
the %systemroot% folder not being in the default location. In my
opinion it's not the best of practices, but that is an opinion only.

A repair installation (aka In-Place Upgrade) would have installed "atop"
the old installation, in the same folder. If you want you can backup
your files then blow the whole thing off with a format and do a full
installation, it's up to you.

John
 
If you want help in these newsgroups you'll have to be more specific than
"STOP: blah blah" or "status of yada yada".
Click to expand...

I searched for the codes in Google and could't find them. I didn't
think it likely folk here would have them memorised. Anyhoo, I got
past the problem, but my new one is I now have two versions of XP
installed. The plot thickens...

BB
 
Yes, what you have is called a parallel installation. You can now use
that installation to try to fix the original installation, call it the
supreme Recovery Console, or a Recovery Console a la NT4.

Do you expect to keep and use this new installation?
Nope.

You can if you
want to but you will have to activate it and you will have to live with
the %systemroot% folder not being in the default location. In my
opinion it's not the best of practices, but that is an opinion only.
Click to expand...

It's one I agree with.
A repair installation (aka In-Place Upgrade) would have installed "atop"
the old installation, in the same folder. If you want you can backup
your files then blow the whole thing off with a format and do a full
installation, it's up to you.
Click to expand...

I have no files, there were none on the original installation. I have
something I can stick in there to reformat it, I think. It's a sata
drive, by the way, if that makes a difference.

BB
 
Big said:
It's one I agree with.




I have no files, there were none on the original installation. I have
something I can stick in there to reformat it, I think. It's a sata
drive, by the way, if that makes a difference.

BB
Click to expand...

If you can't repair the original installation the only sensible thing to
do would indeed be to format and reinstall Windows from scratch. You
won't need the SATA drivers because you have already shown by installing
Windows to an alternate directory that your XP setup CD can recognize
the drive. If Windows can't detect the drive then you have to press F6
at the beginning of the installation process and have the SATA/Raid
drivers on a diskette for Windows to load. If Windows needs additional
Mass Storage Device drivers to install, and you don't go through the F6
routine, it will load the setup files, prompt you to accept the EULA and
then it will give you a message saying that it can't find any drives to
install Windows on. It's an all or nothing situation, you can't make a
mistake on it, either you need them or you don't.

After you accept the EULA you will be shown available disk(s) and
partition(s) to install and you will be offered the choice to
delete/recreate/format the partition. Just read and follow the
information on screen, it's not rocket science. The only thing to watch
for, if you have more than 1 partition, is to abort the setup program
after you recreate and format the drive then start again and install on
the newly formated partition, that avoids surprise drive letter
assignments, like having Windows end up installed on drive "D" or other.

To avoid problems, it is recommended and good practice to disconnect all
external devices except the keyboard, mouse and monitor when you install
the operating system. Don't have printer, USB drives etc connected to
the computer during the installation, install these devices after
Windows is properly setup. And have your device drivers close at hand.
The first driver that should be installed after Windows is installed
is the chipset driver followed by other motherboard driver if any are
supplied. Then you can install the Video drivers et al.

Good luck

John
 
If you can't repair the original installation the only sensible thing to
do would indeed be to format and reinstall Windows from scratch. You
won't need the SATA drivers because you have already shown by installing
Windows to an alternate directory that your XP setup CD can recognize
the drive. If Windows can't detect the drive then you have to press F6
at the beginning of the installation process and have the SATA/Raid
drivers on a diskette for Windows to load. If Windows needs additional
Mass Storage Device drivers to install, and you don't go through the F6
routine, it will load the setup files, prompt you to accept the EULA and
then it will give you a message saying that it can't find any drives to
install Windows on. It's an all or nothing situation, you can't make a
mistake on it, either you need them or you don't.

After you accept the EULA you will be shown available disk(s) and
partition(s) to install and you will be offered the choice to
delete/recreate/format the partition. Just read and follow the
information on screen, it's not rocket science. The only thing to watch
for, if you have more than 1 partition, is to abort the setup program
after you recreate and format the drive then start again and install on
the newly formated partition, that avoids surprise drive letter
assignments, like having Windows end up installed on drive "D" or other.

To avoid problems, it is recommended and good practice to disconnect all
external devices except the keyboard, mouse and monitor when you install
the operating system. Don't have printer, USB drives etc connected to
the computer during the installation, install these devices after
Windows is properly setup. And have your device drivers close at hand.
The first driver that should be installed after Windows is installed
is the chipset driver followed by other motherboard driver if any are
supplied. Then you can install the Video drivers et al.

Good luck

John
Click to expand...

Many thanks, I'll archive this too.

BB
 
You're welcome. A final tip, about your printer, when comes time to set
it up install the software before you plug it in. For most printers
that makes it easier to properly install. Read the instructions
provided with the printer.

John
 
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