So i have this old computer from work that was working.

I get it home and go to start it up and it is stuck in a boot loop where i get the screen to select safe mode, normal, etc and any one i pick it just restarts

so i say fuck it and reformat

well i have reformatted and reinstalled either 2000, 2000 server, xp pro, 2003 about 30 times and every time with all the systems, the installation hangs up at the splash screens after formatting and installing all the set up files

i have updated the BIOS for the motherboard to the lastest version

the mother board is a Super P6SBA, intel 440bx pentium III 550 MHz, some random 15 GB HD, some random ATI video card

memtest ran with no errors

i have searched the knowledge base and there was one article that matched but it was for intel 4 processors and the fixes didnt work...i have searched google and come up with solutions that havent worked

i only need the computer to use the CD drive over a network because im too cheap to get the dock for the IBM X41t that i just ordered so if i cant fix it, it is no big deal

anyone have any advice?

5/23/2006 4:00:52 PM

try to install it with as few componets on the computer as possible,

5/23/2006 4:11:20 PM

yeah, just mobo, proc, cd-rom, hd, graphics card

-aka nothing in USB and no peripherials

5/23/2006 4:47:29 PM

yeah well taking everything out didnt work

im still having issues

anything else?

5/25/2006 1:27:36 PM

Might be the HD. I tried to install Windows 2000 on an old 8.4 gig HD and the installation hung at 97% when it was formatting. Try a a different HD (if you have a spare) and see if that works.

5/25/2006 2:09:12 PM

You are using a legal copy of the OS right? Are you using a burnt CD with updates slipstreamed?

Anytime I've seen this problem it has always been a problem with the install media.

I've something else similar happen with a laptop. For some reasons installing linux and then installing windows worked. Something in the linux installation fix whatever windows didn't like about the computer.

5/25/2006 2:09:18 PM

yeah, all the software has been legit, i started to use the copies at work when the copy of xp sp2 didnt work

then i tried the original xp pro cd i have...no dice

the best i can ever do is the splash screen after the first restart to finish the installation

^ what verison of linux did you use?

^^ i dont have one lying around but i need another one, so now sounds like a good time to upgrade

[Edited on May 25, 2006 at 3:33 PM. Reason : sp]

5/25/2006 3:23:03 PM

^ I had a laptop that wouldn't take an XP installation no matter what I did. I tied everything possible to get it to work. After a few days I said, "fuck it" and installed mandrake linux. Mandrake worked like a champ. A few days later I tried to install XP again on a lark. XP installed without a hitch. Why did it work? I don't have a clue.

5/25/2006 4:37:22 PM

well ill try linux for the hell of it to see what happens

5/25/2006 4:55:29 PM

oh so how fucked up is this

i have a copy of windows 98 se and i installed it for shits and giggles

and it fucking worked

so i was like score, ill try to upgrade to 2000

didnt work, it still hung up in the exact same place

does that give anyone some insight?

5/25/2006 8:54:28 PM

that happens a lot for some reason.

it sucks yo.

5/25/2006 11:18:09 PM

You seriously haven't run DFT on the hdd? methinks bad sectors...

5/26/2006 2:24:47 AM

because it doesnt feel like a bad drive

every time ive installed 2000, xp, xp sp2, or 2003 it gets hung up after the first restart at the splash screen

i would expect more randomness than that or crashing as the computer copies the files over before the restart, the files coping is flawless

[Edited on May 26, 2006 at 9:06 AM. Reason : .]

5/26/2006 9:05:24 AM

all of those installations use a similar kernel and whatnot, so if you have corrupt sectors in a certain spot, it may manifest similar problems with all of those installs.

just a theory. give it a try perhaps. hitachi makes it, drive fitness test

5/26/2006 5:32:21 PM

even if you ran memtest, i would try some different ram. if can't get different ram and have two sticks in there now, try it with one stick, then the other. i have a bunch of pc100/pc133 if you need some.

get a $15 hdd from someone, try it on that one. download the fittness test or whichever utility for the hdd youre using.

i assume you did a full format with each install...not a quick format. you can also use one of those hdd programs to 0 out the drive (low level format), then install.

reset the cmos via battery or jumper

5/26/2006 7:44:37 PM

I've seen instances where a drive that was reformatted but still used the original partition hung up repeatedly on XP installs.

Try deleting the partition, then install from scratch.

5/26/2006 9:28:53 PM

ok so it is a WD drive and i ran the diagnoistics

quick scan once, full scan twice with no errors

i tried different media with no results

i am going to remove some ram to see what i can get

thanks for the help so far

5/28/2006 6:11:37 PM

oh and be sure to try a different video card too, pci would work

5/28/2006 6:36:22 PM

ok so trying out all three sticks of ram one at a time didnt do anything

i have zeroed out the drive three times, nothing

i am ready to throw this thing off my balcony into the pool

im going to try a different harddrive and a different agp video card for shits and giggles

5/29/2006 8:06:53 PM

Quote :

"im going to try a different harddrive and a different agp video card for shits and giggles"

yeah if you do that and no luck then trash it (though i would do pci instead of agp)

5/29/2006 11:17:52 PM

i dont have a pci video card

5/29/2006 11:43:37 PM

If you do decide to get rid of it, I might be willing to take it off your hands depending upon the price.

5/30/2006 9:06:21 AM

well the new harddrive didnt do anything

5/30/2006 11:02:43 PM

well i tried running a knoppix live cd in failsafe and it got hung up doing whatever it is supposed to do after it loads the floppy drive drivers

something is completely fucked i guess

5/31/2006 11:41:05 AM

I think at this point you're down to a CPU or motherboard problem.

5/31/2006 11:49:48 AM

I've worked through this, but I can't remember for the life of me what I did. I want to say it worked after I disabled serial ports, parallel ports, etc. in the BIOS and I later narrowed it down to one of the Serial ports. You may want to try disabling all the onboard stuff and going from there.

5/31/2006 4:23:46 PM

ahhh, now thats a good idea.

5/31/2006 4:34:17 PM

i did that

i disabled all the serial ports, parallel, fdd

still the same result

and knoppix disables all that stuff when it boots in failsafe

5/31/2006 9:09:53 PM

ok i tried it again

i disabled the fdc, serial, parallel, usb, and the ide channel that the cd-rom drive wasnt on

there is no hard drive installed now

all the onboard hardware that exists except for the PCI stuff was disabled

shit still hangs up

nothing on the mobo looks bad or blown

it is killing me because it will end up being something simple

5/31/2006 10:03:40 PM

try a different video card. i have a pci for $5 if you want.

5/31/2006 10:16:29 PM

I had this happen to my old computer. I tried a different hard drive, cd-drive, other cds, and took apart the whole thing. None of that worked and no online fixes worked. I never did fix it but I think it was a problem with my mobo or cpu because i upgraded those and have had no problem since.

I sold my old cpu and the guy has not said he's had a problem with it so that makes me think the mobo was bad.

Hope you have better luck with this than I did.

5/31/2006 10:29:57 PM