Machine freezes when installing XP

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membrane

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I've tried XP Home and XP Pro but both freeze when installing network with 32 minutes left.
I've cleaned the heat sink and checked for cooling paste and that's fine. I thought it might be the bios needing updated but i can't find any for the board.

Ant help will be very welcome.
 
The most common cause of the problem you are descrbing is that XP does not like a piece of hardware on your system. does the mobo have built in lan or do you have a nic card? if it is a nic card remove it from the system and try installing XP. cheapo genric or defective nic cards are one of the most common sources of problems in XP installs.
 
is this a newlybuilt computer and a fresh install of XP or is this an older PC you are trying to load XP on?
 
It's old, the board doesn't have built in ethernet and no agp slot. But it came with xp home on it. The cpu is a celeron that's all i know about it. It's a friends machine. Maybe about 4 years old.
 
It sounds like there is a defective component then. if there is a device or a component on the mobo has gone bad then XP will not want to install. the only other thing to check would be to make sure the disc you are using to install is not defective.
 
This might sound silly, but have you tried waiting an incredibly long time? I've had systems that would appear to hang for 15-30 minutes at the spot you mentioned, but then they would magically begin to work.

Here's another person with a possible solution to your issue.
http://nitinpai.wordpress.com/2006/09/23/xp-installation-the-34-minute-hiccup/

nitinpai said:
XP Installation - The 34 minute hiccup
September 23rd, 2006 — nitinpai

You want to install XP professional and suddenly you realize that it freezes up at the mention of 34 minutes remaining! You try all your efforts to make it running but nothing seems to be working to your dismay. You try checking your RAM, checking for any bad sectors in your hard drive, even your motherboard (as I have done) but cannot make a conclusion as to what’s the answer to your woes.

So what is the solution to the defamed 34 minute XP installation hangup problem?
Its as simple as deleting a simple file which caused the installation to freeze.

* Let the XP hang up at 34 minutes remaining for the first time
* remove the CD from the CDROM and reboot
* Dont enter the CD when the installation asks for it, instead open the DOS prompt (Shift + F10)
* goto C:/Windows and type setupapi.log, hit enter
* The setupapi.log file opens in a notepad
* Scroll to the very last few lines in the file and search for the word “inf”
* You will notice that in the last few moments the installation created a file with the extension “.inf” before dying out (in my case it was the faulty modem for which XP created the file mdmcxpt.inf).
* It means that the device mentioned in the last few lines is faulty and you have to make the installation skip through it.
* Close the notepad and go to the folder C:/windows/inf in command prompt
* Browse through the files to find the “.inf” which was related to the faulty device.
* Straightaway delete the inf file (eg: del mdmcxpt.inf)
* now put in the XP installation CD and Continue the installation

It will not put in the drivers related to the faulty device and so it wont freeze this time !!
 
Hard to believe but I seen this caused by a duff hard drive, Are you using RAID?? And in bios drive settings what you got your drives set to, I.E - On, Off, Raid On.
 
Thanks for your replies guys.

Erm have left it previously for over an hour when i had a nap :p, but nothing happened but the rom stopped.
When i looked in the setupapi.log it seemed to be the netspa.inf file, but when i connected to windows\inf i found that there was no files in the directory :(

The HD is an old 40GB Maxtor, I have had problems with Maxtor before and wiil check it out.

Cheers
 
Tried with different HD no good. Tried installing with only the HD and CD ROM connected and then with a different rom but no good. Still freeves at 32 mins installing network. It can't be the disc tried XP home and pro sp2 and sp1
 
If you BIOS has the options, disable onboard audio and other integrated devices... The goal is to simplify things to minimize problems with windows until we can get it installed.

Also, try installing Windows using "Standard PC" instead of "ACPI". Begin a fresh Windows install again... At the beginning of the "Windows Setup" screen it will say, "Press F6 to load 3rd party SCSI or RAID drivers". Press F5 (not F6). Shortly after, you'll be prompted to choose a HAL layer. Choose "Standard PC". This may help you if the issue is caused by the detection of hardware.
 
If you BIOS has the options, disable onboard audio and other integrated devices... The goal is to simplify things to minimize problems with windows until we can get it installed.

Also, try installing Windows using "Standard PC" instead of "ACPI". Begin a fresh Windows install again... At the beginning of the "Windows Setup" screen it will say, "Press F6 to load 3rd party SCSI or RAID drivers". Press F5 (not F6). Shortly after, you'll be prompted to choose a HAL layer. Choose "Standard PC". This may help you if the issue is caused by the detection of hardware.

Thanks Rick! I've been trying to solve this issue for weeks! Had a Dell Inspiron 8100 that I had to reformat, but windows XP setup kept freezing with 35 minutes left. You name it i tried it (disabling everything in bios, installing XP but not SP2, multiple SP2 discs, removing all hardware....). Your advice to set HAL layer to "Standard PC" did the trick. Excellent advice.
 
Great help man... I was googling since 2 days & night to fix installation process on Dell Inspiron 1150 with Windows XP Home Edition but " RICK " your help really helped... Thanx alot
 
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