Desperate here. Installing XP: Endless restarts

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slyven

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 6, 2005
Messages
162
Hey. I just got a new setup which was pre-built but XP was not installed. I installed XP first and it worked fine (OEM XP Pro with SP2.) then for some reason the mouse and keyboard refused to work. So I just decided to re-install windows as i really didn't have the time to solve that issue (needed my PC fast).

However, during this second install XP has been restarting endlessly and I have absolutely no idea what exactly is going on. It restart when I boot from the CD and tried to re-install. It re-starts when i let it boot and it goes to try and finish the windows install.

I am desperate. I really need this pc to work. ANy help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sounds like you may be jumping the gun, You only need to let it boot once from the dvd. The second time it comes up boot from dvd, press any key, just let it go, without pressing anything. it will continue on with setup. It will give you the option of a clean install or a repair. Just choose clean install ,quick format etc.
 
Oh, i know that. Thats the problem. When I try to let it install normally after the blue screen 'phase', it keeps endlessly restarting.
 
Nuke it, (delete the partition) and start over. Then hope it was just a random glitch that won't happen again. If it happens again then start testing hardware like your memory and hard drive.
 
How do i test my HDD and Mem? And delete the partition? I am guessing that is eqivalent to formating the HDD when installing windows?
 
umm, if you need to test without windows, one way is to download the ultimate boot disk. just google it. it is a bootable cd that contains apps to test hardware. good luck.
 
slyven said:
How do i test my HDD and Mem? And delete the partition? I am guessing that is eqivalent to formating the HDD when installing windows?
Click to expand...
You should be able to download a free utility to test your hard drive from the drive makers site. An ISO that you can burn to CD or an image file to create a floppy you can boot from. To test your ram download memtest and run it from a floppy. You would be guessing correctly. If you boot from your XP CD and start the install again you will get the option to delete the partition and or format the drive. You can do it all during the XP install.
 
Is it a SATA or a PATA drive? If the latter, I had a problem where I ran into a similar problem, fixing it by attaching my HDD to the primary IDE channel, not secondary.
 
slyven said:
How do i test my HDD and Mem? And delete the partition? I am guessing that is eqivalent to formating the HDD when installing windows?
Click to expand...

The diagnostic tools available on the hard drive manufacturer's website are the best ones to use for testing the hard drive. Memtest86 is best for testing RAM. Both will come as bootable CD images.


Wiping the drive is simply a matter of, during the early stages of installing Windows XP, selecting the partition where Windows is currently installed, deleting it, and then creating a new partition in the now available 'unpartitioned space'. I've explained the procedure a bit more fully on pages 2 & 3 of my "Clean, fresh install" guide at Techwrighter
 
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