Somebody Please Help! System installation woes

Samba

So I finally got all my parts (bar the gfx card) and is as follows

XP2600+
Asus A78VX Mobo
1 x 256 Corsair XMS 3200 (running at 333 for the time being)
(now the manual states that only approved ram would work, if this was the problem, surely I would not even be able to install squat)
1 x 40 Gig Maxtor 7200 rpm (of which I bought of Cyrus and am begining t have more and more suspicions that it is the cause of my woes)
1 x 8 gig maxtor
CD rom drive
Geforce II GTS Pro.


So here is my prob, Firstly I tried to install win2k Pro from boot disk, set up worked no problems formatted the disk etc, lovely!.


Then it reboots after all the display screens etc Screen simply goes blank and nothing happens!

So I thought right Ill upgrade from 98, that installed grand had it up and running, I upgrade from windows to 2k reboot, same deal Blank screen.


Any suggestions are so greatly apreciated, im ready to throw it out the window

maxheadroom

will it boot in safe mode in Win 2K?

Samba

I haven't actually managed to get past the 2nd part of installation upon reboot 1st phase of installation it goes to a blank screen.


What I am baffled by is that 98 runs fine, but I hate 98 with a passion, want 2k installed, may try xp

Samba

Just realised, sorry mods this is more of an OS problem than it is Hardware or anything, sorry for causing any hassle, please move to MS apps/OS, thanks.


I searched that forum and found what was a similar problem. The primary master Drive (40g) is stramgely partitioned and was meant to be given to me unpartitioned, however that was not the case.


The initial installation process is not reading the volume of the disk and supposed partition correctly but as an 80 gig and 50gig partition.

I ignored this and installed on the supposed 80 gig partition and converted it to NTFS, still no joy, blank screen upon reboot .

SouperComputer

aside from the stuff you have probably already done, (latest BIOS, coservative settings etc) you could try a bootlog and read it from the recovery console.

Might give you a clue as to whats getting on the OS's nads

Cyrus

the hd was givin to him formatted and set up with one primary partition set as c:

the reason samba thinks its partitioned is because its coming up as 38.7 gigs in win 98 but as i explained when u format a hd u lose space on it

the best thing ud do is download power max or maxblast from maxtors hd and completely wipe the hd and set up a primary partition and then install win 2k.

afaik win 2k uses ntfs maybe it doesnt like the fat32 format.

Webmonkey

When you format you put a Filesystem on the drive, thats where the space is allocated to. The smaller the partition the more space you save as the cluster sizes are reduced. So its good to partition.

Why don't you just us FDISK to delete the partition and format it with FAT32. I don't like NTFS as it is uncompatible with some programs and is a lot slower Filesystem as to FAT32 because its high in security as it has to access the registry everytime you open a file to get rights to do so.

./Webmonkey

Cyrus

(of which I bought of Cyrus and am begining t have more and more suspicions that it is the cause of my woes)

So I thought right Ill upgrade from 98, that installed grand had it up and running

i think this should explain to you that its not the hd thats the problem, also the fact that win 98se reports it as a 38.7 gig hd also disproves ur theory that there is more than one partition. u said there was remnants of an os that i had on an 8 gig partition on that hd, there is no 8 gig partition on it. it must be something else mate.

Webmonkey

Usually, when Windows 2000 won't boot, the OS goes partially through the boot sequence before failing. When the boot process fails, the system will lock up completely, go to a blank screen (or reboot), or generate a blue screen of death. The type of failure can help you to know what to look for. For example, if the system boots to a blank screen, it usually indicates a corrupt or incorrect video driver (or a video driver that's set to the wrong resolution).

you could try booting into safe mode and install your graphics drivers from there and then reboot normally

pickarooney

Format the 8 gig drive and install win2k on it, then boot up and examine the 40 gigger, see if you can spot any potential problems. You could also leave the setup this way, as 8 gigs is plenty for a system partition. Well, it was back in my day, when we had to glue stacks of floppies together to make enough space to install Duke Nukem...

KdjaCL

Cyrus could be correct win2k hates FAT , and you formatting it may have buggered the MBR (somfin i did quite recently ).
The drive isnt recognised cos windows cant see the 1st boot part of it.
Windows will load but just as its finished it buggers up.

Complete reinstall w2k and do a 100% format not a quick should fix it.

if you dont get it fixed i buy the HD off you for €3

kdjac

Webmonkey

I don't agree, windows 98 worked fine on the drive and Windows 2000 doesn't hate FAT32 it just prefers to have a more secure filesystem like NTFS. This shouldn't cause a blank screen to appear. I am almost 100% sure that its the graphics card thats uncompatible with the OS. Go online, find the latest Windows 2000 drivers for your graphics card, boot into safe mode, install the drivers and restart. Everything should work ok then.

./Webmonkey

RicardoSmith

To tell the truth, it could be anything, but its unlikely to be the drives. (I've installed w2k a lot and I've rarely seen a problem related to the HD) However its very likely a driver problem. I'd disconnect everything except the bare min you need to install the OS. I'd even try a different graphic card if you have one available. Then once you have it installed add the components one by one. I'd also try a different set of gfx drivers too if you have them. I seriously doubt its problem with w2k and fat32. Its very happy with either NTFS or FAT32.

Samba

Cyrus, you are very persumptious there, I asked you to give me the Hard drive FORMATTED and UNPARTITIONED which was NOT the case it was partitioned to 8 and 32 gigs and there were still OS components on it and now a refund is out of the question eh?

The goods were not sold as agreed, thats plain and simple.

I had to delete your partitions and format the HD and from that moment win2k would not install. THEN I installed 98.

It is for this VERY reason i wanted the HD formatted and unpartitioned.

I have not got time for this Sh!te and I made that clear to you, obviously you didn't hear me, but keep your money........

I asked you in a pm what the HD reged for you in windows as I thought there may have been ANOTHER bloody partition to deal with, im gonna sstop typing as im only getting annoyed, please dont reply on this thread again.

Also Hard drive originally registered with win2k as an 80 gig.

______________________________

Ive tried making new partitions etc......same deal so I really doubt it is a gfx card driver problem, has no one ever experienced this?

From the very first time I tried to install win2k I have had this prob. Ive installed win 2k no problems before from fresh with the exact same setup, but a different Hard Drive :rolleyes:

Cyrus

double post ooops

Cyrus

sorry this still aint working out mate, see my pm


i had the same problem with my new hd and win xp, i tried to reinstall a win xp ghost image i had and it seemed to work but it hung just before i got to the logon screen.

i tried an upgrade from win 98 (which installed fine) same problem, so i did a low level format with power max(as i said on maxtors site) reset up a primary partition and it installed fine so maybe that helps ya

ill do install it for u if u cant and if i cant ill give ur cash back okay

Webmonkey

:eek:

Lionel Vinyl

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by Cyrus
sorry this still aint working out mate, see my pm
....ill do install it for u if u cant and if i cant ill give ur cash back okay

Can't say fairer than that can you? Samba you should give him a chance to help you resolve the problem before getting all hot and bothered. I've had many trades with Cyrus, always A1.

donaloconnor

I agree, Partitioning and Formating a drive isn't that much of abother :cool:

Spunj

(now the manual states that only approved ram would work, if this was the problem, surely I would not even be able to install squat)

On my last build one of my sticks of RAM was faulty. I had problems very similar to yours; blue-screens on install, reebots etc. It took me days to get Win 2k installed. I even ordered a new HD because I was convinced it was a HD problem.

I ran MEMtest86 (it makes it own boot disk so you dont need an OS installed) and it showed the faulty stick. Install was smooth after that. I'm not sure how it will diagnose a mis-matched stick thats not faulty, so maybe you can get the proper RAM for a lend to test.

Not saying its definately your RAM, but its worth investigating.

RicardoSmith

Like I said earlier disconnect everything except the min req to install. Then add the components one by one.

toil

as someone said,
get the maxtor tool,
completely wipe drive - mainly the mbr!
I had a problem like this a few days ago......
There are too many different things here that it could be,
Start drive ff from the begining


toil

Samba

Thanks lads,

It was nothing that was said in the thread that got me hot and bothered......but anyway.


Got win2k installed after much termoil, the drive had not been correctly formatted through the maxtor utility and was the cause.