XP installation/repair problems (URGENT)

[rajb29]

hey guys, i have a serious problem here....

I installed "Fifa 2006" today, but the installation was interrupted because it was being installed on a disk too small for the game (i know, its stupid).... so i thought i wuold install on another drive... but restarted the computer because I hadnt in a while.... however... windows XP would not start!!

I then found this forum on my older computer (this one), and attempted to repair XP... it repaired succesffully, but the same problem persisted as windows XP was not started....

I then decided to reinstall windows XP, and by doing so, installed a second operating system on the same drive... but renamed the windows folder to "windows2"... I then began to install XP... but for the past 45 minutes, the messages shows "Setup will complete in approximately 37 minutes".....

I had about 2-3 GB of space on the drive that I was installing it onto... and I was wondering what i should do to fix the problem/get out of this situation....

If i were to turn off the computer via the power switch... would it mess everything up??? because i was thinking of doing that, and then installing windows on one of my partitioned drives that has alot more space (30-40 gigabytes)..... however, i would not turn off the computer during this "stalled installation" without consent here first

ANY HELP would be GREATLY appreciated... thank you very much, and i hope to see a reply soon ...

 

[rajb29]

i had just realized, if theres some way i could get out of this installation, i could use the feature of resetting XP to a previous settings...

however, what is the safe way to turn this off while its half way through installation???

 

[Spike]

Erm, I think it should be ok, but sods law does come into play here (anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong, or so the law states).

If I recall, just for reference of any possible further help required, Setup T=37 is at the Installing devices stage isn't it?

 

[rajb29]

Erm, I think it should be ok, but sods law does come into play here (anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong, or so the law states).

If I recall, just for reference of any possible further help required, Setup T=37 is at the Installing devices stage isn't it?

sorry i didnt understand the second part ?? Setup T=37??

my page is at the installing stage.. i need to get out... is that what ur referring to?

 

[Peddant]

but for the past 45 minutes, the messages shows "Setup will complete in approximately 37 minutes"..

If the hard drive is showing no sign of activity,no light or sound other than the idling sound,you should be OK,to switch off.

 

[rajb29]

there is sign of activity.... the screen dots on the bottom right are still moving, the light on the computer is still flashing .....

 

[Spike]

OK, a little general knowledge for you

XP's setup process doesn't guess the time left. The time left that it displays is actually scripted according to what stage of the setup it is at. t=37 is supposed to mean 37 minutes to go, but is in fact a hard-coded estimate based on a normal installation where everything goes well, on a machine of "average" speed.

In short, t=37 means that setup is at the stage where it tells you "37 mins remaining". Can you confirm that this is at the "installing devices" page?

 

[rajb29]

yes it is at the installing devices page.... what stage is T=37??? does that mean it has done nothing???

 

[Spike]

lol. wish I'd never mentioned it now. T=37 means it's at the installing devices stage, that's all, as you've just confirmed.

If you take the minimal risk of restarting your PC, before it restarts, try unplugging any unnessecary hardware (USB/firewire items, your printer, etc).

It may not help, but on the other hand, it might - just a troubleshooting step.

Note that I said "minimal" risk, not no risk. Though, if it's not going anywhere, it's really the only choice you have.

 

[rajb29]

ok, i restarted it... and it keeps coming back to the installation page.... it says "setup is restarting".... it automatically does this,

I dont know what to do to get out of this loop and try to possibly install XP on another drive... OR reformat my C drive and then install it.... so how do i get out of this loop?

i tried taking out the disk - and when it asks i pressed cancel - then it says setup was cancelled - but when i restart again - it just goes into this setup installation page again./.. any help???

 

[Spike]

As I said, as a possibility, try unplugging all unnessecary hardware/peripherals and try it again.

If you don't want to try it again, to the best of my knowledge it's a case of editing out the appropriate boot.ini entry from the recovery console or using bartPE, but I'm not 100% sure on this.

 

[rajb29]

ok i removed the perrifferals and am now trying again.. thanks - but do u know where i could get instant help on what to do from there IF this doesnt work.. or if there are other complications...

ive also noticed that it stops at the same place every time i try to get through the 'installing devices' stage... about 1/8 to 1/6 the way through

 

[rajb29]

oh yeah, i also have a USB keyboard attached to the USB on the fornt of the computer.. would that cause anyproblems?? should i unplug that?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

Maybe the easiest thing to do, would be to take out your hard drive and put it in another computer as a slave drive. Get your important data off of it and reformat the drive.

Put it back in your system and reinstall Windows.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

 

[rajb29]

thanks, i may try that if nothing else works... i was told to try to remove all but one stick of ram (possibly faulty ram)... i will try that aswell...

but is there any way to format the C drive through dos??

 

[howard_hopkinso]

If you have a floppy drive, you can use a 98 boot floppy and run fdisk and delete all partitions. However, this won`t save you important data.

Regards Howard