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Windows XP keeps rebooting at same point during install.

I recently upgraded my Motherboard including, Ram and Processor. The Operating System is XP Home. I started to have problems when reinstalling the operating system after the upgrade. The computer would shut down then have to work it's way back to where it was and then if I was lucky it may carry on a little further through the setup stage before again rebootng and starting over.
I finally managed to totally install but PC would crash all the time.
I worked out the problem was the new Moherboard which was faulty so I swapped Motherboard etc and now all that setup does is advise that setup is restarting and then screen goes blank and system reboots and it does this all the time when it reaches this stage. It looks lke the hard drive has become corrupt and even when I run Scan Disk and repair the problem won't go away. Now I could format and do a clean install but the data on the CD is very important.
Any help would be great.

Cheers Roy

CrazyOne

First try using the free diagnostic utility from the vendor of your disk to check for problems with the disk.

fujitsu
http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/download/hard-drives/#diagnostic

IBM and Hitachi
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

Maxtor/Quantum
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm

Samsung
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/hdd/support/utilities/utilities_index.html

Seagate
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html

Western Digital
http://support.wdc.com/download/
www.westerndigital.com

CrazyOne

strip the machine down to just a mouse, keyboard, video adapter, floppy drive, one hard drive, one CD drive and/or disable all on board devices not needed to install the OS.

CrazyOne

Repair
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

Visual aid to the above procedure
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
Click on How To Run a Repair Install

You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;312369

Data Loss May Occur After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;312368

CrazyOne

>>>the data on the CD is very important.

I don't understand if the data is on the CD then what does that have to do with doing a fresh install?

NZRoy

ASKER

Sorry CrazyOne the data on the Hard Drive not the CD.

SOLUTION

CrazyOne

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NZRoy

ASKER

OK - So placing in to another machine will add another drive which I can then explore to find the necessary files. Is that what you mean. If this works then a fresh install won't be a problem because of the backup.
Thanks for your help so far it has been appreciated.

CrazyOne

>>>So placing in to another machine will add another drive which I can then explore to find the necessary files. Is that what you mean.

Yes. If you get something like access denied on some the folders and files then it is just a matter of...

HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&sd=tech

HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove File and Folder Permissions in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Huseyin1

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NZRoy

ASKER

I'm going to try this today and I'll let you know how I get on. This site is amazing as you people get back to me so quickly. How does this points thing work? Let me know so that I can give you some.
Cheers Roy, New Zealand

CrazyOne

Ummm when you have decided that your problem is solved there are two ways to assign the points

https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi68
https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hi69

NZRoy

ASKER

Hi Team - Sorry I didn't get back earlier but been busy. Crazyones idea of transfering the drive to another machine worked as I was able to view the folders on the added drive. But as Huseyin1 suggested it was a problem when it came to opening the files. All the folders and contents transfered but when it came to open them, a few I couldn't read the contents off or transfer the ownership of the file to myself so I am going to have to try the format of the drive thing and see how I get on.

WEINBERGER

Had same problem. Windows XP especially the OEM and DSP versions do not allow major hardware changes. Ram and CPU is fine , but when changing motherboards it will not accept new motherboard. I have had this happen on 4 different occassions with clients.
Unfortunately the only way I was able to save it is to delete all partitions and reformat the drive.
Note if you have important data on the machine then I suggest installing the drive as a second harddrive in another machine and then copy the data that you need across.
You will not be able to use the drive as a bootable drive until formatted.

NZRoy

ASKER

Thanks for the comment Weinburger - Cheers Roy