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romandas
Asked: 2009-06-29 15:08:33 +0800 CST

What causes a Windows XP (32-bit) CD not to boot?

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Trying to install a fresh copy of Windows XP w/SP2 onto a system that was recently upgraded with a new motherboard (ASUS P5Q Pro), 8GB RAM, and a Core 2 Quad (why aren't these called 'Core 4s?).

The setup CD gets as far as 'Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration', then the screen goes black and stays there. Not sure what the problem is, but I'm guessing something to do with 8 GB and/or the quad core.

Any ideas? I was expecting to have to provide some SATA drivers to it, but it doesn't get that far.

windows-xp boot

7 Answers

    1. Make sure your motherboard isn't set to raid mode.
    2. If you have SATA drivers or RAID drivers make sure you load them with F6 at the beginning of the install.
    3. Make sure you unplug or disable any unnecessary hardware.
    4. If you have alternatives, try the onboard VGA and not the PCIx display card.
    5. Try taking out 4-6GB of Ram, to see if you can get past it. The 32 Bit XP can only address 4 GB of RAM anyways (before memory addressing for video, BIOS, and other devices).
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  2. Best Answer

    There are several reasons the system could hang at that point of startup. I will go over a few of the causes.

    First off external devices. If you have anything connected via usb, esata, firewire remove them all during the install. See if your bios has an option to disable legacy usb devices.

    Secondly is the hard drive itself. I assume its a SATA drive. Make sure it's connected to the first port on the motherboard usually SATA 0. Also make sure the drive is actually blank. If there are any old linux partitions on the drive that certainly could cause an issue.

    Edit* I suppose that since you are installing a 32 bit os on a system with 8gb of ram might cause an issue, but i doubt it. XP 32 is only going to recognize about 3.5gb of that ram.

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  3. Grab a copy of Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) and run that for at least one full cycle. There's a chance you've got some iffy RAM.

    Edit:

    Out of curiosity, what happens if you boot the CD with the all the hard disk drive(s) in the machine disconnected? Obviously, it won't install this way. I'm just curious if it hangs the same way. I'm seeing some posts on other sites from people who found that an existing installation on the hard disk drive was causing this type of hang that you're seeing.

    Edit 2:

    Ahh! My psychic powers pay off. What's on those drives now? You might try plugging-in only the drive you want to install onto. I would bet that if you plug in a completely empty disk (zeroed-out with a "disk nuke" utility or some such) that it'll boot the CD fine. My guess is that you're tickling a bug here.

    The debug-checked version of NTDETECT.COM could tell you what's going on, but getting that onto the Windows XP CD in a bootable fashion is going to be a lot of work. I'd see if you can muddle thru the install w/ a wiped disk, as I've suggested, and then see how she boots when you plug all the disks back in.

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  4. I haven't had any issues installing WinXP (SP2 or otherwise) where it asks for SATA Drivers (and I have the P5Q Pro MB). I've always been able to boot and start up without any issues. If you think that there might be a hardware issue, try pulling 2 of the 4 sticks of RAM and see if it continues. I've seen that cause issues on other systems...

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  5. Check the CD Drive, I've had installs lockup/crash because the CD Drive was flaky.

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  6. Make sure that hardware installed properly. Try to reassemble hardware components.

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  7. Slipstream (using nlite) both SP3 and the SATA drivers.

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