Should I just reformat my hardddrive???

[fretman]

This is a follow-up to a previous post concerning an issue I was having with my system after a new motherboard was installed. I finally found out how to do the Windows repair process. Anyways, during the installation phase of the repair process I got prompted to locate a file A3.dll for my sound card. I located the file and clicked OK. However, the installation process would not continue. The completion percentage would not move. The screen would go blank and then reappear. Then the system would reboot and the installation process would restart. This keeps on happening.

Are there any recommendations on how I can complete the repair process or is it just time to call it a day and do a clean install and lose all my files on my harddrive.

 

[Liquidlen]

It would be good if you filled in your hardware and OS info in your profile .The guys will respond faster and with more relevent info to solve your problem.
P.S. Did you try cancelling/skipping/ the Sound install portion to see if Setup could finish you can always install the card after.

 

[fretman]

It would be good if you filled in your hardware and OS info in your profile .The guys will respond faster and with more relevent info to solve your problem.
P.S. Did you try cancelling/skipping/ the Sound install portion to see if Setup could finish you can always install the card after.

Yup....I cancelled the process one time and the same thing happened. Screen would go blank and then machine would restart the installation process again and again.

I'll update my profile now.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

It would seem to me that you have more or less exhausted every option available to you so a complete reformat and reinstall now seems the only option left.

I know that this is probably not what you want to do but sometimes it`s the only way to resolve a problem.

Regards and good luck Howard :grinthumb

 

[Liquidlen]

Howard might be right,but what about remove the sound card > complete the install>find the latest drivers for Card > Install it in the Windows GUI. EHHH! Maybe!

 

[fretman]

It would seem to me that you have more or less exhausted every option available to you so a complete reformat and reinstall now seems the only option left.

I know that this is probably not what you want to do but sometimes it`s the only way to resolve a problem.

Regards and good luck Howard :grinthumb

It would be sad but it might come down to that.

 

[poertner_1274]

Have a look in the How to repair Xp/2000 thread, I have replied with a possibility.
Also after reading this thread I think liquidlen has a good idea about removing the sound card.

Post back whether this helped or not. Thanks.

 

[fretman]

Have a look in the How to repair Xp/2000 thread, I have replied with a possibility.
Also after reading this thread I think liquidlen has a good idea about removing the sound card.

Post back whether this helped or not. Thanks.

No can do. I removed the sound card and the installation process would not complete. Will do a clean installation instead.

 

[Liquidlen]

When you removed the sound card did you reset the cmos.Since your attempting a repair the bios might respond if they were at defaults.

 

[fretman]

When you removed the sound card did you reset the cmos.Since your attempting a repair the bios might respond if they were at defaults.

I didn't try that....and unfortunately a clean installation has been done.

 

[Liquidlen]

It still is the best answer in the long run! get a Disk image backup when you have a good reload configured,really makes life easy down the road.

 

[fretman]

It still is the best answer in the long run! get a Disk image backup when you have a good reload configured,really makes life easy down the road.

Would a disk image be helpful if the original problem of not being able to boot up was caused by a faulty motherboard? I'm not too familiar with disk imaging.

 

[Liquidlen]

Absolutely;
Done correctly ,disk imaging software can place an exact replica of your partitions back on a fresh format in a matter of minutes( depends on amount of Data and hardware speed)
What I do is get a fresh load operating until I am confident that the system is stable and the main programs For basic operation configured.(network,firewall and a couple of utilities)That is all I put on my C:\ drive.Then I make an Image.

I do another set of backups after I have installed my programs on my next partition.
.Any devastating problems eg. and I have a choice as to how far back I want to go.
Virus,Bad program >format new image in no time.
Hardware damages are a little more involved depending on the OS. XP has issues depending upon how extensive the change is .But there are relatively easy work arounds.
I place my backups on a USB HDD for all machines in my LAN.
I use Drive Image 7 ,which is now Symantec Ghost which uses the same engines .
Do a little investigation it will be worth it.

 

[fretman]

Absolutely;
Done correctly ,disk imaging software can place an exact replica of your partitions back on a fresh format in a matter of minutes( depends on amount of Data and hardware speed)
What I do is get a fresh load operating until I am confident that the system is stable and the main programs For basic operation configured.(network,firewall and a couple of utilities)That is all I put on my C:\ drive.Then I make an Image.

I do another set of backups after I have installed my programs on my next partition.
.Any devastating problems eg. and I have a choice as to how far back I want to go.
Virus,Bad program >format new image in no time.
Hardware damages are a little more involved depending on the OS. XP has issues depending upon how extensive the change is .But there are relatively easy work arounds.
I place my backups on a USB HDD for all machines in my LAN.
I use Drive Image 7 ,which is now Symantec Ghost which uses the same engines .
Do a little investigation it will be worth it.

Thanks for the advice.