Windows XP Pro install problems

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Citizen Philip

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Oct 11, 2005
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I've lurked here quite a bit, but never really posted. I bought a totally new system from the ground up, installed all my hardware into my new frame and Windows XP Pro (OEM) will crash during the OS installation.

I have a new Athlon X2 processor, 4 Gigs DDR Ram (2 sets of matched OCZ pairs), Asus MVP mobo, X1900 XT. I do have a sound card installed and a "Benq" DVD burner. I have a sata raptor 80GB and an older IDE HDD as well.

As I understand it, only 3 of the 4 gigs are being recognized: which I was abit annoyed not to see on the website and only in the mobo manual. I have both sets still installed. I have the sound card installed as well (X-Fi Platinum).

Currently I am trying to install the OS to the raptor and have disconnected the IDE drive. I am running off of the BIOS default settings. It seems to hang during the install at 39 or 34 minutes, frequently ending in a system restart.

I am going to try to remove the second matched pair and the sound card. Is there any other things I could try?
 
Minimum memory ,,minimum components are the best way to start.. no sound card etc etc...just the basics.... KISS= keep it simple stupid ( not a slam by the way)

make sure the bios is updated ..if the mobo has video onboard then dont install that card till later .....
 
I can do the hardware and the software, I have a phobia about ruining my components: in a perfect world I would install the hardware and move to the software. In the past I kind of...*cough* runined a processor and mobo with... unintelligent decisions made regarding their installation, namely: I didn't want to remove the mobo off the chassis removable frame when I was putting in a new processor. The end result was a screwdriver bouncing off the mobo more than a few times as I applied enough pressure to the CPU heatsink clip to torque the board out of shape. Dead mobo and processor.. ;)

Tonight I am going to rip out what I don't need (gently) and try without all the extra bits and pieces. Would there be any default bios settings that are known to cause issues?
 
If you still have problems with a minimal amount of hardware, then run memtest and the WD diag. As far as the memory issue, the 3 GB or so limit was pretty widely known / available to search and read about. It shouldn't be an issue, because 4 GB on a desktop PC is beyond overkill...even for gaming / video editing. You could easily sell 2 GB of that memory back, and not notice any type of performance or functionality loss.
 
I've tried using the SATA and the IDE HDD to install with the same results. I will however check the CD that game with the mobo for any SATA updates that might help it along.

I don't really mind having 3 of the 4 gigs: I'm keeping it around for Windows Vista. What I don't know is: Should I remove the extra matched pair or leave them in; will that have an effect?

Since my install failures do not always yield the same result, one confirmed install failure was a memory related issue when I looked it up on the Microsoft website.
 
Citizen Philip said:
I've tried using the SATA and the IDE HDD to install with the same results. I will however check the CD that game with the mobo for any SATA updates that might help it along.

I don't really mind having 3 of the 4 gigs: I'm keeping it around for Windows Vista. What I don't know is: Should I remove the extra matched pair or leave them in; will that have an effect?

Since my install failures do not always yield the same result, one confirmed install failure was a memory related issue when I looked it up on the Microsoft website.
Click to expand...

Take out 2 gigs out of the 4 gigs, then sell them to me for cheap.
Or sell them to someone else for what you paid for them.
It's overkill right now, and for another year or more, give or take.

And about keeping them for Vista, ummm I would take the money now and worry about vista when it gets here. "But that's just me".

Maybe we will need 4 gigs per computer when Vista gets here.
Don't know too much about Vista, except I think it's gonna ship being 32 bit first so you memory might still be going to waste waiting until Vista 64 bit gets here.

Someone will correct me soon enough though. "Keep watching".


And update everyone of your drivers and use KISS.
I like that, I never heard KISS before. :D
 
It sounds like the problem isn't hard drive related then. I would take out one set of the memory chips and then run memtest on them.
 
I would agree to at least take out the rest of that memory and try again. It should work but problems with that much memory aren't unheard of. You might also try MemTest since that might reveal "easy" errors.

What kind of power supply are you working with?
 
When I get home this evening, I'll go down to 2 gigs and go for the reinstall and report back as to the results. As for my potential extra RAM, I'll keep that around until I can find an OS that supports it, and run my games well: I won't hold my breath.

Is this memtest a specific utility I can use once it is installed? Such as this? http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

I have the OCZ 520 watt Powerstream PSU. I find it amusing that it has such a pretty chromed finish that is concealed inside a case ;)
 
After removing one pair it installed and loaded with no problem. Spent the rest of the evening setting everything else up. Tonight I'll see what I can do about the RAM.

Thanks for the help.
 
Citizen Philip said:
After removing one pair it installed and loaded with no problem. Spent the rest of the evening setting everything else up. Tonight I'll see what I can do about the RAM.

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Alright sounds like you've done a good job isolating the problem. The power supply should be sufficient for what you're doing, errors like this happen most often with power, memory, or overheating, you found that it's memory.

To test your memory later on I would just put in one stick at a time (only run 1 stick, see how it works, if it does, good, if it doesn't, you know that it's the problem). You can also use a utility like Memtest http://www.memtest86.com/ which is here. It is a really commonly used tool and can find your memory errors. Read about how to use it and try it out.
 
I would run memtest also and see what is going on. When I first put my system together, my RAM defaulted to 2-2-2-6 timings, but the BIOS did not supply enough voltage at default settings. I got a few random errors when trying to install Windows. Before I went any further, I ran memtest and got the RAM sorted out. Windows then installed fine, and everything else is history.
 
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