Problem installing windows on new rig

[Capnstabbin]

I recently purchased a new mobo, dual core cpu, video card and power supply in an effort to massively boost performance. The physical installation went smoothly, and everything switched on without a single hitch. The first time I switched my system on, it of course showed the mobo manufacturer screen. After switching the cd-rom to being first on the boot sequence (installing Windows XP home), I let it do it's thing and begin to format the hard drive and install windows.

It took quite some time to start booting from the cd, much longer than I had ever seen it take in the past (Technically I'm a noob at this, but I've still done a little bit). After formatting, my system rebooted, and I was expecting to see the windows xp installation screen, to go about setting up user name, time zones, and so on. Instead, it took a very long time to do anything, then booted from the cd again, prompting a format yet again.

It seems it's stuck in an endless loop and it just refuses to actually install windows after the files have been put on the hard drive.

If any of what I just said makes any sense whatsoever, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Btw, these are the specs of my computer (as far as I know, remember, noobie)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+
Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe mobo
Asus 7600 GS 512 mb GPU
1 GB PC2700 DDR-RAM (two sticks of 512, from when the computer was once a dell machine, *audible gasp!*)
600w power supply
IDE-cabled CD-r/rw, and dvd-r/rw
80 gig IDE Hard drive (the one I'm trying to install windows on)
300 gig SATA hard drive.


If I missed anything important, let me know.

 

[fastco]

Take out the cd after the install and see if it boots from the hard drive.

 

[Capnstabbin]

Tried that actually. So then, after taking a bloody long time, instead of booting from the cd it says "Please reboot and select proper boot device, or insert proper boot media into selected boot device and hit a key".

If I hit a key, it just says the same thing. I even tried changing the boot sequence so it would go from my hard drive first, same old message.

 

[fastco]

Did the install take about 40 minutes? Do you think it installed correctly? Did you make sure the second boot device is IDE-0 or Hard Drive?

 

[Capnstabbin]

The install took about 10 minutes, it was a "quick" format. I'm pretty darn sure I installed it correctly, I've installed windows several times before on several different systems, but I suppose I could be wrong.

The boot sequence is as follows for when I am trying to install windows off the cd:

1-CD-rom
2-Hard Drive
3-Floppy Drive

 

[fastco]

Doesn't sound to me like Windows installed properly. It takes longer than 10 minutes. Can you get into Safe Mode? f8

 

[Capnstabbin]

What I described is as far as I got before I quit, frustrated and tired from being up half the night trying to make the damn thing work.

I'll try again tonight, see if I can get into safe mode, or see if I can install windows a different way, not the "quick" format.

Thanks fastco, you basically confirmed my belief of windows not installing properly, that's enough to make me keep trying

 

[iss]

it sounds like the 80GB is not being recognized as a boot drive. you should check the bios to ensure that the 80Gb IDE shows up as a boot drive also check to make sure that your other IDE devices are showing up in the bios.

 

[Capnstabbin]

Iss, if for some reason the 80GB doesn't show up on the BIOS, what then? Check the connections? It IS showing up for the windows install, so I doubt it's the connections...hmmm.

 

[nork]

Are you using an ultra 66\100 cable?

Another possibility would be a damaged boot sector on your hard drive. This is common. The best way to fix this and to make sure your hard drive is in perfect order is to go to the hard drive mfgrs website and download their diagnostics program. Once you are inside that program you will find a "write zeroes to hard drive" command. Use that to write zeroes to your hard drive. When finished your hard drive will be in the same condition as when it left the factory, minus any wear and tear, and your boot sector will be fine as well, minus any virus it could have picked up along the way as well! Often a bad boot sector is the cause of problems when installing win xp. I use the zero write program before all installs that i do.
To use the hard drive diagnostics you download it and it gets put on a floppy disk. To access dos you will have to have or make a win98 boot disk. Use the boot disk to get to dos and then insert the floppy with the diagnostics software, start the diagnostics software and find the "zero write" command and use that.
Then go ahead with your win os install.
Also, i would suggest you only have the minimum that you need when installing windows xp.
Im not sure on the sata as your other hard drive when using a pata drive as the main c: boot drive. Perhaps you should leave the pata out until you have windows installed?
Another possibility would be the win xp install cd being bad. Try and copy the cd onto a hard drive of another machine. If the cd will copy then its likely ok. If it wont copy then there may be a problem with the cd.

 

[iss]

It can show up in the bios without being set as a boot device. one of the first things I would do is disconnect the sata drive bothe sata cable and the power. if boot then shows "no boot deice or some such other mesage then you know that the 80Gb is not showing up as a boot device. also, have you checked to make sure that the IDe device is on the primary IDE and jumpered as master. ( or if it is onthe primary alone you could try removing the jumper as most drives built in the past few years should not be jumpered if they are alone on the ide cable. might also be worth the trouble of trying a different IDe cable.

 

[nork]

I agree with iss. I would go with his suggestions first, but once the bios sees the hard drive then i would still suggest you run the "zero write" program. It only takes a few minutes and makes sure the hard drive is in perfect condition.

 

[Capnstabbin]

I'll do what Iss suggested first, then go from there if that hasn't solved the problem. I know for sure that the cd for windows xp is working, so that eliminates at least one possibility.

I have a funny feeling that the BIOS just isn't reading the drive for any number of the reasons you guys have listed. I'll give it a shot tonight (at work at the moment), and if I fix it, you can be sure I'll be back to tell you guys how it worked.

Thanks for the answers!

 

[nork]

A few more things. Some hard drives have different settings for one drive on the ide connector and for 2 drives on the same connector, like western digital. So make sure you have it jumpered correct.
Also, the sata has to be enabled in the bios and you have to add in the sata drivers before installing windows.
However, as i said, you might want to install windows on the ide drive and have the sata drive completely uninstalled and simply install it afterward.
If, in the end, all fails, then i would suggest you do a zero write on the ide hard drive.

Go to the hard drive mfgrs website and download their diagnostics program. Once you are inside that program you will find a "write zeroes to hard drive" command. Use that to write zeroes to your hard drive. When finished your hard drive will be in the same condition as when it left the factory, minus any wear and tear, and your boot sector will be fine as well, minus any virus it could have picked up along the way as well! Often a bad boot sector is the cause of problems when installing win xp. I use the zero write program before all installs that i do.
To use the hard drive diagnostics you download it and it gets put on a floppy disk. To access dos you will have to have or make a win98 boot disk. Use the boot disk to get to dos and then insert the floppy with the diagnostics software, start the diagnostics software and find the "zero write" command and use that.