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karma29
10-18-2005, 10:56 AM
Ok, not sure where to start. I'm in the process of replacing a bad hard drive in a Compaq Presario for a guy at work. Everything went smooth as usual with the install but, when I get to installing the New OS it gets to a certain point in the pre-install (Windows Setup) and stops when it says "Setup is starting Windows" then it freezes up. I've tried different Windows Disc. Tried Windows 98,2000 and XP all seem to do about the same thing. I've replaced the IDE cables, and Power Connectors for the HDD and the Cd-Rom. I've tried 2 different Cd-roms, I checked the BIOs and it reconizes both The new HDD, and the Cd-rom. and now I'm kinda running out of ideas.. Only thing I haven't really tried is a Bios update but don't think that would make a difference anyways. I'm afraid it might be the Mobo gone bad.

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreaciated guys Thanks in Advance

Karma
Dagatech
10-18-2005, 10:58 AM
could be a physical problem with the new drive, hd manufacturers usually have a tool on their website that you can put on a floppy disk or cd and boot to, which will scan the hard disk for you.
karma29
10-18-2005, 11:04 AM
I forgot to mention. The HDD is a Western Digital WD800 80gb. It came with a Data Lifeguard Tools Diagnostic cd. When I try to run this cd it starts off fine, but when it gets to the lifeguard tools part it freezes up just like the OS disc do. Thats what lead me to believe it was a CD-Rom read problem. But I've tried 2 roms new cables and the whole 9 yards. I'm gonna try running the disc again and see if it gets any further.

thanks for the advice Dagatech.
z-lite
10-18-2005, 11:24 AM
Try running a fitness test just to make sure the HD is in good shape: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/downloads/dft32_v405_b00.exe
That'll make a bootable floppy which you can run on the HD and see how it performs. If it's good, then the motherboard is probably going bad too. Before jumping to conclusions though, see if the old HD passes the fitness test. Try to run these tests on another machine so we that we know its not the machine.