Xp setup keeps restarting.

[Benzo]

recently i have been having serious problems with my new computer that i just put together. Everytime i try to install windows xp the install will go through the format smoothly but at some point either during the copying stage or the actual xp installation the pc will restart either resulting in the xp install restarting to 39 minutes or a blue screen of death. I have tried easily 20 times using different hardrives, both sata and ide and different xp cd's and cd-rom drives. this tells me that it is either the processor or the motherboard. however, when i put in a live linux cd it worked fine with no problems. I really have no patience left with this problem so I come to all of you for some ideas and / or help. any input will be greatly appreciated. thanks so much!

Mobo: ASUS M2N-E SLI
Processor: AMD Athlon 64x2 4600+
RAM: G.SKILL DDR2 PC2-6400 2x1GB
Video: XFX GeForce 7900 GS PCI-e x 16
HDD: 250 GB IDE
CD-ROM: DVD R/RW

 

[pc techguy]

try taking out your graphics card and 1gb ram. sometimes xp wont install on a new system with more than 1gb ram.

 

[nickc]

try taking out your graphics card and 1gb ram. sometimes xp wont install on a new system with more than 1gb ram.

this is BS look at most systems today, most have 2gig of mem. the one I am on at this minute has 3 gig of mem. and has since it was built and windows was installed the first time another computer I built as 4 gig and has since it was built and Windows was installed the first time.

 

[garytman]

This same thing happened to me once. I kept trying to install windows xp over and over again. Sometimes I got further, sometimes I did not. Sometimes I got that screen of death your talking about. My solution was this, I simply cleaned off the windows xp cd and installed again. To my amazement! It worked perfectly!

 

[Benzo]

sorry, in my first post i forgot to mention that i had tried installing with one Gig and Two Gigs and an assortment of different positions in the slots on the mobo. Also, when i did try two gigs i got a pfn_list_corrupt error which is a memory error so after pulling out one i had did not get that again. i'll see if i can take a picture of the blue screen but i haven't attempted again recently due to being so pissed off at the situation. but i will try again soon so you can see what's goin on. i have tried genuine cd's, cracked cd's, genuine cracked cd's and none of it makes a difference, at a different point in setup ALWAYS after the format it restarts a few times and generally ends up in a BSOD or it will keep looping the install but never manages to finish.

 

[Tedster]

obviously you're having ram problems.

read: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic65114.html

 

[Benzo]

here is my motherboard:
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=101&l3=370&l4=0&model=1419&modelmenu=2

here is my ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231098

my motherboard supports DDR2 800 which this ram is. so i don't think it's a compaitibility problem. if i'm overlooking something please tell me. Unfortunately there is only one floppy drive at my house and the other computer is a mac. so it has proven difficult for me to get memtest on a floppy and boot from it. Also, just wondering why it's obvious that it's a memory problem and not something else. I realize that when i got the PFN_LIST_CORRUPT that it was a memory problem but when i downsized to one gig i never got that again. thanks much. hopefully it is as easy as the RAM issue, i'd be happy to just return it and have everything work easier. in the meantime i could try to borrow a friend's DDR2 and see if i can at least get xp loaded. Thanks again.

 

[hikosj]

Yes I definitely I agree with some of the previous posts. I think you have some bad RAM try replacing it and re-install.

 

[pc techguy]

this is BS look at most systems today, most have 2gig of mem. the one I am on at this minute has 3 gig of mem. and has since it was built and windows was installed the first time another computer I built as 4 gig and has since it was built and Windows was installed the first time.

Like I said d/h it has happened on occassion, it probably did work for u, but do u have the same specs as this guy, ie: same mobo, hdd, ram, etc. if not then think b4 u open ur mouth.

Try a quick format. instead of a full one and see if that helps. I done that on a desktop with the same problem yesterday and it worked.

 

[AlbertLionheart]

Sh*t happens. This has to be bad or incompatible RAM.
One other trick depends on the motherboard but if you can reset all the BIOS options to fail-safe it sometimes works. All you have to remember is to put it all back to optimum when installation is finished and beware BDSs in the future - you will know where the problem is.