Time Laptop reinstall xp question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Chapman
  • Start date Start date
G

Greg Chapman

A friend's Time Computers laptop hard drive started playing up, so I bought
a Samsung replacement and stuck it in. That was the easy bit. Now I know
about the dreaded hidden partition business, but I figured formatting the
drive and reinstalling with an OEM XP disk (with Service Pack 2) and then
using the laptop's XP code stuck underneath ought to do it.

Well, it worked, and they accepted the reg number. But then I kept getting
blue screens all the time - it just wasn't happy (except in Safe Mode).

So then I took it home and tried installing again with my XP CD (SP1) and
this time, I couldn't even install it at all. I'd get a blue screen during
insatallation, or be told such and such a file was corrupted and couldn't be
copied. I thought this was crazy - a new blank drive and a pukka XP disk -
how could it not work? I tested the new drive and the memory and they were
fine. Then I tried an ME install, and that was fine too!

Anyway, eventually I put the old drive back in and made a disk image using
Paragon Exact Image - currently free on magazine CDs, by the way, then
managed to get that back onto the new drive and everything's just about OK.

My question is, why can't I do a new install? In another post OldDemdike
mentioned something in the BIOS relates to the installation - is that
something to do with it?

Cheers

Greg Chapman
 
Greg said:
formatting the drive and reinstalling with an OEM XP disk (with Service
Pack 2) and then using the laptop's XP code stuck underneath ought to do
it.
Click to expand...

That should be fine.
But then I kept getting blue screens all the time - it just wasn't happy
(except in Safe Mode). [...] My question is, why can't I do a new install?
Click to expand...

1) The system might require specific manufacturer's versions of device
drivers for certain hardware in it, to operate reliably. Your clean XP
installation would have installed generic Microsoft versions
(which *usually* are more stable and not less so, but exceptions have been
known to happen).

If there are driver downloads available from the manufacturer and the system
is stable enough that you think you could get those installed, it might be
worth a try. Also, the specifics of your blue screen errors might give a
hint which driver, specifically, is acting up.

2) What service pack level was the original XP install at? BIOS upgrades
are sometimes needed for new service packs, particularly with laptops --
that would also apply to a clean install with the service pack integrated.

3) "Flaky, with random variance in luck" explanation probably shouldn't be
completely discounted, either. Perhaps you have some intermittently failing
hardware and it only seems like it has something to do with the clean
install, due to the timing when it chose to act up. If so, the owner will
eventually observe some problems with the old, ghosted install, too.
 
The XP CD Key may be "very specific" and be keyed to the original version of
XP.

You would need to make sure that all the drivers get re-installed correct.
Makre sure that you also install the correct laptop motherbaord chipset
drivers. chipset drivers usually tell Windows "how" to correctly access
the motherboard. The basic drivers that XP installs may not be enough the
get the system working correctly.


Chris Priede said:
Greg said:
formatting the drive and reinstalling with an OEM XP disk (with Service
Pack 2) and then using the laptop's XP code stuck underneath ought to do
it.
Click to expand...

That should be fine.
But then I kept getting blue screens all the time - it just wasn't happy
(except in Safe Mode). [...] My question is, why can't I do a new
install?
Click to expand...

1) The system might require specific manufacturer's versions of device
drivers for certain hardware in it, to operate reliably. Your clean XP
installation would have installed generic Microsoft versions
(which *usually* are more stable and not less so, but exceptions have been
known to happen).

If there are driver downloads available from the manufacturer and the
system is stable enough that you think you could get those installed, it
might be worth a try. Also, the specifics of your blue screen errors
might give a hint which driver, specifically, is acting up.

2) What service pack level was the original XP install at? BIOS upgrades
are sometimes needed for new service packs, particularly with laptops --
that would also apply to a clean install with the service pack integrated.

3) "Flaky, with random variance in luck" explanation probably shouldn't be
completely discounted, either. Perhaps you have some intermittently
failing hardware and it only seems like it has something to do with the
clean install, due to the timing when it chose to act up. If so, the
owner will eventually observe some problems with the old, ghosted install,
too.
Click to expand...
 
Yves said:
The XP CD Key may be "very specific" and be keyed to the original
version of XP.
Click to expand...

Then the key wouldn't be accepted by setup or wouldn't activate. Nothing
having to do with the product key should cause blue screens of death.
 
Thanks for your replies.
If I'm doing a clean install onto a freshly formatted drive, how would I
install the drivers beforehand?
Actually, I do remember an opportunity to install something during the XP
installation. Is that when?

Greg
 
Greg said:
Thanks for your replies.
If I'm doing a clean install onto a freshly formatted drive, how would I
install the drivers beforehand?
Actually, I do remember an opportunity to install something during the XP
installation. Is that when?

Greg
Click to expand...

Hi I saw my name mentioned!
The Time/Tiny WinXP notebooks both had a BIOS DMI string AND a keyfile
on the hard drive which were both required to allow the SLP reloads to
work. However if you have a clean hard drive and also a "proper" setup
CD there should not be a problem. I think its more likely to simply be
a compatibility issue with the drive itself - if I remember correctly
some notebooks were iffy about what they would use, and some of the
Samsung drives were especially problematic. Some of the ex Time/Tiny
staff are running a support forum at http://www.tinycon.com
Could be worth you asking the question there
OldDemdike
 
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