ok i'll try that. im really hoping its not the parts because i dont want to send any back =\ well what should i do if it is the memory? is there any way to fix it myself?
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XP/Comp Cant Load Properly
My comp specs: Pentium 4 2.4GHz HT, Asus P4P800 MB, Kingston HyperX PC3200 512mb, Seagate 120GB HD, ATI 9600Pro 128MB. (its a custom built pc)
My problem is that XP won't load up properly. Its getting so irritating, I've used XP home and pro, burned copies, real copies, upgrade copies, etc. but it ALL has the same problems. I partitioned many times, and tried installing it many times. The setup will always have a file that it cant copy. example of some files it can't copy are autochk.exe, kernel32.dll, ole32.dll, shell32.dll, etc. I've tried installing many times and each time its a different file or different sets of files. Sometimes it goes all the way through the installation with missing files and when XP loads up, there are so many problems (problems like: crashing, the blue screen, physical dump of memory, starting up with nothing but the wallpaper, explorer crashing, etc.)
I also tried using the recovery console and following instructions that I found on this site and others but it hasn't been much help. The same problems still followed. And I don't think any of my pc parts are bad because there was a time when I first built this comp and it worked good, but i decided to reformat it and then the problems started. (the first time i put everything together and tried to load xp it said "ntdll is missing" but i used the xp boot disks and it worked)
Any more info you need? Just reply.. I need help PLEASE, this computer is irritating the heck outa me!
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Answers
Memory is cheap. Replace it with brand new memory from one of your local computer stores. If that fixes the problems then you can send the other memory back. If not, you have just doubled your memory.
It could also be other incompatible hardware. Try the compatibility checker at http://www.pcpitstop.com/x
Have you dnloaded and installed the new MB drivers for the ASUS? Came out 11/11/03
Try the upgrade and let us know if it did the job. (There also seems to be many new drivers for this board. Might want to get any new ones while you are there.)
File Type BIOS
File Name P4p81012.zip
File Size 400251 bytes
Version 1012
Date 2003/11/11
FE
ok i finally got new memory, and the win xp setup goes through smootly. But I have a 120GB hard drive but only 32 GB show up. And when I partition and install win xp on that, first it tells me to put in a bootable disk or cd, and now it tells me that there is a error loading operating system. whats the problem now?? i gotta get a new hard drive?? =\
Is this a Maxtor Drive...? if so, we worked on a similar problem last month...
http://www.experts-exchang
Have you installed and run this Seagate HD installation kit?
http://www.seagate.com/sup
thanks for the reply.. yeah i tried that. it formats the hd to 120gb but when i try to setup the winxp, it still comes out to 32gb.
maybe i should give you guys more details.. i can only go to winxp setup by pressing f8 on the boot up screen. if i just leave it on its own, it says that there is a 'ntldr is missing, press ctrl alt del to restart' so many problems.. =( any ideas?
You cannot format a volume larger than 32 gigabytes in size using the FAT32 file system during the Windows XP installation process. Windows XP can mount and support FAT32 volumes larger than 32 GB (subject to the other limits), but you cannot create a FAT32 volume larger than 32 GB by using the Format tool during Setup.
If you need to format a volume that is larger than 32 GB, use the NTFS file system to format it. Another option is to start from a Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition Startup disk and use the Format tool included on the disk.
i cant even install xp =\ this is what it does: first boot from xp cd, then partition, then installs setup files, then restarts computer, then stops there. it goes to c drive and it says to put in a bootable floppy or cd. the weird thing is that when i boot from cd from that screen, it just restarts and does everything all over again. i guess the problem is that i can't finish winxp setup.
You might want to boot to the Recovery Console (r at the first screen) and run chkdsk -r to have it check your hard drive for errors. You can also dnload drive diagnostics from the disk manufacturer to ck your HD.
You may even have a bad XP media cd. In this case, call Microsoft or take it back to the store you purchased it from. They should be able to help...
FE
ok i got winxp to finish installing. i had to delete this disk starter thing from the seagate utility cd that was installed into the hard drive. i think the hard drive is good and has no errors because i tried the hd test from seagate and it came out with no errors.
well i went to the computer management in my computer and i dont see any unpartitioned drives. i went to the storage -> disk management. and it says: Volume: C: Layout: Partition Type: Basic File System: NTFS Status: Healthy (System) Capacity: 31.48GB Free Space: 29.58GB %Free: 93% Fault Tolerance: No Overhead: 0% and this is under disk 0. where did all my other 90GB go??
That is fine. Your OS is definitely not seeing the entire drive. Back to square one, eh? Let me think on this, as I have seen it before, but I just cannot come up with the answer... May have to read some of the Seagate Docs. Large hard drives occasionally need an update or special considerations...
FE
I think I screwed something up again. I couldn't find a way to install the drive overlay except by just formating it all over again with the seagate cd. But when I have the drive overlay installed, I can't install winxp. If I delete the drive overlay, I'll be able to install winxp. There is another problem.. now the hd capacity is only 11 GB. @_@ this is driving me crazy!
Check out this link for large hard drives....
http://www.seagate.com/sup
Are you using Disk Wizard utility?
http://www.seagate.com/sup
I will be out at a client's site most of today, but I will try to take another look at this issue this evening.
But if I were you, I would throw the XP cdrom into the drive and boot to the text setup screen. Use XP disk to delete your present partitions. Then reinstall the Seagate utility, put XP cd back in the machine and tell me what XP is seeing as the hard drive and if it is seeing the whole drive, let XP format it.
I deleted everything completely from the hard drive to start fresh. It took a very long time. I put in the XP cd to install it but deleting everything didn't help. The XP setup only shows 1 unpartitioned space and it is only 11GB. I don't know if I should partition again with the Seagate utility because either its going to take more space and hide it? or its going to do the same thing that I tried to do this whole time, which is pretty much keep that 11 GB.
If that DDO is suppose to help, it is interferring with the WinXP installation because it won't let the setup continue after the dos setup part.
No, those commands only are used to fix the boot sector or mbr. they have nothing to do with the lack of space in the partition or the hard drive itself.
After further thought, you might want to try it anyway. I would also run the chkdsk -r command before running the fix commands. You have nothing to loose at this point. Go ahead and see what happens...
FE
Somehow I got the 120GB back. Well, not exactly 120 but at 117GB and I'm happy with that. I don't know what exactly made it come back because I didn't do anything special. I tried the fixmbr but it didn't help it. What I think fixed it was the seagate utility cd.. I partitioned the hd using the 'easy (recommended) way' instead of the 'advanced' settings. I don't think I did anything wrong in the advanced settings but I guess I might have.
Well, that problem is solved, but now the WinXP setup doesn't work. It sets up all the basic files for installation and after the reboot it goes to a screen and says that 'windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows root>\system32\hal.dll please re-install a copy of the above file. Is there any easy way to install this? I tried to copy and expand the file from cd in the winxp recovery console but no luck.
From the frying pan to the fire... I knew it had something to do with installing the overlay..!! Sometimes I wonder if these large hard drives are even worth it...!! :) BTW: 117 GB is the actual size of the drive in bytes.. Manufacturers tend to round up when advertising the total space on the disk.
The hal is generated during setup by the installation of the OS. A corrupt Hal usually requires a reinstallation. Have you tried the repair option in the text setup? (I don't mean the initial repair which takes you to the Rec Console.. Go past this in text setup and when it finds the OS already installed, then go to repair...)
In the mean time, I will try to find out some more..
FE
Well I got good news.. I finally got it to work!
The hal problem.. I don't see the repair option in the winxp installation, i dont know why. I saw it before, but now it isn't there. Strange.. But I got the winxp installed by deleting the overlay from the hard drive and installing winxp again. I thought it would'nt recognize the 117GB, but it did and from there everything went smoothly.
Thanks a lot for your help! The next thing I gotta figure out is how to network this computer with my other computer. I'm just going to play around with it and hopefully can figure it out, if not I'll just post again.. @_@ anyways, thanks again!
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by: arjanhPosted on 2003-12-20 at 02:52:16ID: 9977189
Sounds like a hardware issue anyway, most likely the memory. Try using some memory checking tools like http://www.memtest86.com/ to check your memory.