R
Ryan Berry
Ok, it's a long one, but I want to make sure I cover everything...
I was running WinXP pro on my computer for several months. I decided it
was time to clean my system and do a format/reinstall etc. which I have
done several times in the past. So I backed up my stuff, rebooted with
the disc in, went through the setup, told it to format w/ NTFS, and
started installing. Left for a while, came back to find the install was
frozen at "Installing Devices" (said about 32 min remaining).
And so began my frustration. I reset the comp, and it started continuing
the install and froze at the same spot. Puzzled, I unplugged any extra
USB stuff I had plugged in, and tried again. Same thing. So I figure
must be some hardware problem, but first I'll try a different WinXP
disc. Borrow one from a friend, and try that. Same thing. So I unplug my
sound card. No go. Swap video card, no go. Pop in some different RAM, no
go. Different keyboard, mouse, no go. In frustration, I run the Western
Digital low level format utility and wipe the disk absolutely clean.
Format again, no success.
So now I'm getting ticked. I take the drive out, plug it into the other
computer in the house and pop the Windows cd in. Run the install on my
drive. Of course, no problems at all. Take hard drive back to my
computer, and start up. I see the Windows logo, and almost shout with
joy. But then, it locks up as the little status bar is scrolling across
the screen. RARRRR. Reboot, same thing.
Now heres the interesting bit: I can log into safe mode just fine at
this point. So I go into the control panel, install drivers for every
piece of hardware I have and try again. Locks up, same place.
Now I really don't know what to do, so I say screw XP, I'm going to try
Win2k. So, reboot with the Win2k disc, sure enough, no problems at all
in the install. So now I'm in there, and decide to push my luck. I put
the XP cd in and try to do an upgrade directly from 2000. I watch
nervously as it goes past the point in the install where it usually
locks up and finishes. At this point of course I'm ecstatic. Not for
long though....when it restarts after the install, guess what? That's
right, it locks up as the loading bar is scrolling again! *#!!#%$!%&*
At this point, I'm nearly insane. I have one last idea. I grab a floppy,
get the latest bios update for my motherboard and the ASUS flash utility
and flash my bios, something I have never done before. I manage to do
that succesfully, and try installing XP one last time. Nope. Why god why??
So, I hurl the XP disc across the room, put Win2k back in, and install
that (fine again). That's where I am now, running Windows 2000. Now, I
can live with that for the time being, but I really would like XP back
and I can't figure out any reason why it shoudn't work. So, I am really
hoping someone somewhere has an idea. Any idea. Thanks for reading my
incredibly long sob story, and hopefully someone can help me. I wasted a
whole weekend on this, so it'd be much appreciated.
By the way, I ran the compatibility checker and came back fine. And none
of my stuff is overclocked or anything.
I was running WinXP pro on my computer for several months. I decided it
was time to clean my system and do a format/reinstall etc. which I have
done several times in the past. So I backed up my stuff, rebooted with
the disc in, went through the setup, told it to format w/ NTFS, and
started installing. Left for a while, came back to find the install was
frozen at "Installing Devices" (said about 32 min remaining).
And so began my frustration. I reset the comp, and it started continuing
the install and froze at the same spot. Puzzled, I unplugged any extra
USB stuff I had plugged in, and tried again. Same thing. So I figure
must be some hardware problem, but first I'll try a different WinXP
disc. Borrow one from a friend, and try that. Same thing. So I unplug my
sound card. No go. Swap video card, no go. Pop in some different RAM, no
go. Different keyboard, mouse, no go. In frustration, I run the Western
Digital low level format utility and wipe the disk absolutely clean.
Format again, no success.
So now I'm getting ticked. I take the drive out, plug it into the other
computer in the house and pop the Windows cd in. Run the install on my
drive. Of course, no problems at all. Take hard drive back to my
computer, and start up. I see the Windows logo, and almost shout with
joy. But then, it locks up as the little status bar is scrolling across
the screen. RARRRR. Reboot, same thing.
Now heres the interesting bit: I can log into safe mode just fine at
this point. So I go into the control panel, install drivers for every
piece of hardware I have and try again. Locks up, same place.
Now I really don't know what to do, so I say screw XP, I'm going to try
Win2k. So, reboot with the Win2k disc, sure enough, no problems at all
in the install. So now I'm in there, and decide to push my luck. I put
the XP cd in and try to do an upgrade directly from 2000. I watch
nervously as it goes past the point in the install where it usually
locks up and finishes. At this point of course I'm ecstatic. Not for
long though....when it restarts after the install, guess what? That's
right, it locks up as the loading bar is scrolling again! *#!!#%$!%&*
At this point, I'm nearly insane. I have one last idea. I grab a floppy,
get the latest bios update for my motherboard and the ASUS flash utility
and flash my bios, something I have never done before. I manage to do
that succesfully, and try installing XP one last time. Nope. Why god why??
So, I hurl the XP disc across the room, put Win2k back in, and install
that (fine again). That's where I am now, running Windows 2000. Now, I
can live with that for the time being, but I really would like XP back
and I can't figure out any reason why it shoudn't work. So, I am really
hoping someone somewhere has an idea. Any idea. Thanks for reading my
incredibly long sob story, and hopefully someone can help me. I wasted a
whole weekend on this, so it'd be much appreciated.
By the way, I ran the compatibility checker and came back fine. And none
of my stuff is overclocked or anything.