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re: XP installation problem Friday, October 7, 2005 at 7:45 pm Posted by Ken (930 messages posted) SATA hard drives require that you install a driver from the manufacturer's floppy disk when you see this screen during Setup. Are you doing this? You need to press F6 to install the SATA driver from the floppy. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: XP installation problem Friday, October 7, 2005 at 10:17 pm Posted by James (4 messages posted) I have done this a few times and I do remember doing this, but I don't get to that part.(where it says press F6 if you have a third party ...blah blah....) It doesn't say that at the bottom and the floppy drive keeps trying to read something and when I put the SATA driver diskette in (that I have used before) and hit F6 even though it doesn't say to do so, nothing happens. On Friday, October 7, 2005 at 7:45 pm, Ken wrote: > >SATA hard drives require that you install a driver from the manufacturer's floppy >disk when you see >color=red>this screen during Setup. Are you doing this? You need to press >F6 to install the SATA driver from the floppy. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: XP installation problem Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 4:59 am Posted by Ken (930 messages posted) The "press F6" instruction at the bottom of the screen occurs VERY early in the install process, usually within a minute or so. If you are not even getting this far, you may have a problem with your Install CD, or your CDROM drive. With 1 GB of RAM, you don't even need a hard drive in the PC to get ALL the setup files loaded (into RAM) and take you to the screen where you specify the install drive. Then it will tell you no drive was found. See this link for more info. As far as you having a RAM virus, I haven't heard of any that can persist beyond a system shutdown, which flushes the RAM. See this thread also. If you have a second CD drive in your PC, try installing from it. If you have access to another PC, try your WinXP Install CD in it and see if you get past the initial Setup screen. Try disconnecting the SATA drive power cable and data cable to eliminate it as a possible source of conflict (you won't get to install fully, but you'll narrow down the cause). Try another known good stick of RAM by itself. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: XP installation problem Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 5:00 pm Posted by James (4 messages posted) I tried installing with no hard drive, no power to them and one stick of RAM at a time(I have 2 512s) It didn't work either way. They're both Kingston and one of them is only maybe 3-4 months old. It's just weird that neither one of them would work. I don't think it's due to a virus. I haven't had a chance to try the cd in a different PC, but I have made setup floppy diskettes directly from the MS website and that didn't work either. Also, I might have mislead you in saying that it was a virus. I apologize. While I have been getting a lot more viruses lately, it's this spyware called surfsidekick and it is very persistent. Everything else, I could get rid of except this one. It keeps rewriting itself. Nevertheless, I just want to be able to put a new hard drive in my PC. So, do I get new RAMs? On Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 4:59 am, Ken wrote: > >The "press F6" instruction at the bottom of the screen occurs VERY early in the install >process, usually within a minute or so. If you are not even getting this far, you >may have a problem with your Install CD, or your CDROM drive. With 1 GB of RAM, you >don't even need a hard drive in the PC to get ALL the setup files loaded (into RAM) >and take you to the screen where you specify the install drive. Then it will tell >you no drive was found. See >color=red>this link for more info. > >As far as you having a RAM virus, I haven't heard of any that can persist beyond >a system shutdown, which flushes the RAM. See >color=red>this thread also. > >If you have a second CD drive in your PC, try installing from it. If you have access >to another PC, try your WinXP Install CD in it and see if you get past the initial >Setup screen. Try disconnecting the SATA drive power cable and data cable to eliminate >it as a possible source of conflict (you won't get to install fully, but you'll narrow >down the cause). Try another known good stick of RAM by itself. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: XP installation problem Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 5:50 pm Posted by Ken (930 messages posted) So, do I get new RAMs? I wouldn't be ready to do that just yet. Get this RAM tester. Scroll down to where it says "Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)" and make the floppy, boot to it on your ailing PC with both sticks of RAM in. Let it test thoroughly (all tests a couple times, it will take quite a while). I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out they both come up clean. Also, whenever you are using only one stick, make sure to put it in the first RAM slot (closest to CPU). I tried installing with no hard drive, no power to them You need to also disconnect the data cables. A bad hard drive with a data cable still connected (and no power cable) to it can still lock up a system. I have made setup floppy diskettes directly from the MS website and that didn't work either. This shifts the focus away from the Install CD and the CDROM drive, though I would still try the Install CD in another PC if you can. Suggestions: 1. Run the Memtest on your RAM 2. Disconnect the power cable AND data cable to the old drive. 3. Re-connect the power cable and data cable to the new drive. 4. Enter the BIOS, and see if the new drive is being recognized by the BIOS. If it isn't, look around in the BIOS for other settings related to SATA drives and controllers - make sure they are all enabled. 5. Check your motherboard manufacturer for BIOS updates. Look at the BIOS revision histories specifically for problems related to SATA drives. If there is a newer BIOS revision available that would fix this problem, you can flash the BIOS. This is something you should do only if necessary, and as a last resort. A failed BIOS update can lead to a dead motherboard. 6. Are you using a 3rd party SATA controller or is it built-in to the motherboard? Do you have both? If so, try the other one. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: XP installation problem Sunday, October 9, 2005 at 4:10 pm Posted by James (4 messages posted) Ran the Memtest. No errors. I am guessing that it means the RAMs are OK? or is this not necessarily true? I did disconnect the data cables from the HDs when I disconnected the power cables. They were still attached to the mobo, but not to the HDs. The weird thing is I haven't changed anything in BIOS and it worked fine last time I installed on SATA Oh, by the way, SATA is built in to the mobo.. Is it possible a virus or malware of some sort could have modified the settings? I have never 'flashed ' the BIOS and I don't really feel comfortable doing it, knowing that it could really mess things up and the fact that I don't know if in fact it IS the BIOS. I will look forward to your response Ken. (Thanks a lot for your assistance so far) Also, I don't really have any access to another PC for me to try the CD in, but I will keeping looking. On Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 5:50 pm, Ken wrote: > >So, do I get new RAMs? > >I wouldn't be ready to do that just yet. Get >color=red>this RAM tester. Scroll down to where it says "Download - Pre-Compiled >package for Floppy (DOS - Win)" and make the floppy, boot to it on your ailing PC >with both sticks of RAM in. Let it test thoroughly (all tests a couple times, it >will take quite a while). I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out they both come >up clean. Also, whenever you are using only one stick, make sure to put it in the >first RAM slot (closest to CPU). > >I tried installing with no hard drive, no power to them > >You need to also disconnect the data cables. A bad hard drive with a data cable still >connected (and no power cable) to it can still lock up a system. > >I have made setup floppy diskettes directly from the MS website >and that didn't work either. > >This shifts the focus away from the Install CD and the CDROM drive, though I would >still try the Install CD in another PC if you can. > >Suggestions: > >1. Run the Memtest on your RAM >2. Disconnect the power cable AND data cable to the old drive. >3. Re-connect the power cable and data cable to the new drive. >4. Enter the BIOS, and see if the new drive is being recognized by the BIOS. If it >isn't, look around in the BIOS for other settings related to SATA drives and controllers >- make sure they are all enabled. >5. Check your motherboard manufacturer for BIOS updates. Look at the BIOS revision >histories specifically for problems related to SATA drives. If there is a newer BIOS >revision available that would fix this problem, you can flash the BIOS. This is something >you should do only if necessary, and as a last resort. A failed BIOS update can lead >to a dead motherboard. >6. Are you using a 3rd party SATA controller or is it built-in to the motherboard? >Do you have both? If so, try the other one. > > > > > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: XP installation problem Sunday, October 9, 2005 at 5:06 pm Posted by Ken (930 messages posted) Ran the Memtest. No errors. I am guessing that it means the RAMs are OK? Yes, as I suspected your RAM is perfectly fine. I did disconnect the data cables from the HDs when I disconnected the power cables. OK, let's keep the old drive isolated (both cables disconnected), and plug both cables back in to the new drive. Is it possible a virus or malware of some sort could have modified the settings? Yes, that's possible. I haven't heard about a lot of recent BIOS capable viruses with WinXP. But certainly, BIOS viruses exist. See this link for one of the first and most feared ones. It's also possible that your BIOS settings have been either reset to default values, or are losing some of the changes from default that you have made. I have had this happen, both by installing/switching hard drives around, and by the CMOS battery being low. See this link for some good BIOS info. You never did say if your BIOS is recognizing the new drive. I have never 'flashed' the BIOS and I don't really feel comfortable doing it, knowing that it could really mess things up and the fact that I don't know if in fact it IS the BIOS We need to explore the BIOS issue more thoroughly. Post back with your motherboard make/model, and BIOS version. You can see the BIOS info on the screen when you first boot up. Hit the pause key to freeze the screen and copy down the info. I can find your motherboard manual online and we'll make sure your settings are all good. I will see if a BIOS update would do you any good. If you do end up needing one, you just have to do it and pray! I have done a fair number of them and (knock on wood) have a perfect record so far. Oh, by the way, SATA is built in to the mobo.. We may need to revisit this situation. A PCI SATA Controller card could tell you if there's a problem with your motherboard's SATA Controller. Also, I don't really have any access to another PC for me to try the CD in, but I will keeping looking. Yes, do that. Do you have just one CDROM drive? I have one PC with 2 CD drives and drive 2 will hang a WinXP Install at the Setup screen right AFTER where yours hangs. Drive 1 works fine so I've not had to fix it. You could try putting your CDROM on the other IDE channel and see if that makes any difference. [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum