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Windows XP Pro Installation Freeze

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by ccu_geometro

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Just recently I've tried to install Windows XP Pro on a friends computer. First thing I did is removed all his partitions and created an NTFS partition and formatted it in WinXP Setup. Installation goes through almost smoothly, then at 7 minutes left, halfway through the Saving Settings bar, it freezes, no response from mouse keyboard ect. Ive tried this over 4 times, it freezes at the exact same spot every time with 7 minutes remaining. Ive searched for problem this but most people seem to have it freezing at the 30 min. range when installation of drivers occur. I would really appreciate some help. Thanks

39 replies

by cmate

You say you deleted the partitions and created a new NTFS partition. How did you do this? Did you let the XP CD clear the drive and set the partitions or did you use something like Seagate's DiskWizard for Windows or some other manufacturer. I have found sometimes it is best to just start the whole process all over again ... let the XP Install CD do it all for you ... delete and reset the partition again and let XP do the formatting. Another point to consider is to attach a different CD drive and do the install from there. Sometimes the CD drive can stick at reading some part of a disk. Good luck!!

by ccu_geometro

Well, when I deleted the partition and created a new one, I did use the WindowsXP CD, and chose a full format to NTFS, I've already tried a different drive earlier and had the same exact problem, I've even tried a different CD, and from what I experienced the CD I am currently using is fully functioning. The only thing I can think of is some type of conflict on the PC.

by wilson_hoe

from my experience on support, normally we escalabe the problem to hardware. Your hard disk have problem.

by good old dog

have a truly clean system. Remove the power supply plug and open the case. Disconnect ALL unneeded devices such as a 2nd CD drive and your floppy drive (if you have one). Remove any PCI network cards, sound cards, USB adaptors and modems from the motherboard. Disconnect ALL printers, scanners, speakers, hubs etc. You want to have keyboard, monitor and mouse only hooked up for an install. Boot the machine and hit the required key to enter your BIOS. Make sure the time is correct and the BIOS sees your CD drive and hard drive. Disable ALL Serial Ports (Com1,2 etc.), Parallel Ports (LPT1), Lan, Audio, Game and Midi Ports and Raid Controllers to avoid possible conflicts. Re-enable these after O/S install as/if required.
Set the Boot Order: Your CD drive as 1st device and your hard drive as 2nd.
Insert Windows XP Disc and exit the BIOS saving your changes.
At the first Boot Screen, keep tapping the F5 key to select the correct HAL for your motherboard/CPU combination (Windows sometimes messes this step up). Usually it is ACPI or Multi-Processor ACPI for Intel Hyper-Threading/Core2 Duo and AMD Dual-Core Processors. Use your arrow keys to select. Follow the on-screen prompts and make sure you do a FULL FORMAT not a Quick Format.
When you have finally booted into Windows make sure you install your chipset drivers before ANY other drivers.

Good Luck

by tricare

I had the same problem...stopping at the same spot. I got Microsoft involved and they finally said it had to be in my computer although I have two other identical hardware items in the same office that had a good installation. I ton't think they really knew or cared at that point. It drug on for over a week back and forth with them.

I did the same thing, re-partitioned and formatted my drive, but it did no good.

Good luck.

by jk1265732

If you have 2 sticks of memory take one out.
Start fresh, put the cd in, delete all the partions..
If your xp cd does not have sp2, Make the system
partion under 120mb. If you are using a Hard
drive that came on a dell system, buy a new
primary drive and use the dell drive for files
or backup.

by toughguy000

Had many frustrating experiences with bad memory in the past, It causes "File not found" errors when reading cd's causing the windows installer to crash. run http://www.memtest.org/ and see if that helps you determine if its your memory or HD thats gone.

by ccu_geometro

Hmm, Im coming down to the Hard Drive or RAM, I'm almost certain its the Memory, since you said you had File Not found from reading cd's, well I tried installing windows 2000 server and I would get that error.

by thensley2

I suspect a driver problem. I will step out and say video - wild guess. Retail XP Pro will not install on certain HP machines and other proprietary boxes. Does the PC meet minimum requirements? Did you run the compatibility software? Try removing all but basic hardware requirements. Perhaps you have done all these steps. More information is needed.

by steve.wilson

I have just had a similar problem, if your system has two memory sticks take one out and reboot. Things should go okay. You can then replace the other stick once up and running.
I tried this with both sticks thinking one was faulty but both (individually) booted the system.
Although this worked I still had a similar problem after downloading updates and then rebooting.
I even tried a new HDD and got the same problem.
I ended up sending the whole package back. Initially they said it was a faulty processor, however it turned out to be a faulty motherboard.
Hope this helps.

by the_webninja9

I have had this Problem, with an IBM NetVista, using an Intel MotherBoard with an Ambios Bios Chip.
I went through the same Process Trying to Figure it all out, and talked to a bunch a people about it.

I was Convinced it was a Messed up Bios Driver. But the people at Ambios assured me that it was not the Bios Drivers and they insisted that it was Intel's Motherboard Device Drivers which could not be detected by XP. So what you have to to is First get the Motherboard Model numbers and Manufacturer. Then you have to use a different Computer to Download the Device Drivers for that Motherboard. Then when you are installing XP there is a Place where is Says "Click to install RAID Drivers" I think you can use this to Install your Motherboard Drivers prior to the Setup of XP.

Check with the Motherboard Manufacters.
But I decided with the Computer I had this Problem with that I would just Buy another Motherboard. I Found a used Server motherboard at Evertek for only $40 bucks, and I can stick 2 1 GHz Chips in there and have Twice the machine with half the Problems I had before.

I recommend junking the Motherboard, but that's just me. I would rather support companies that make my life easy than to Pull my hair out trying to make Garbage Work right.

I hope this helps you.

the_webninja@yahoo.com

by the_webninja9

I just remembered I had another Computer a long time ago that had a Problem like this that would kick off the CD Rom Drive at the Driver installation point in the Set up Process which would cause it to Freeze up.

I Fixed this Problem by first enabling the Bios Virus Detection in the Cmos, and it detected a Virus. I then Scanned the Computer from a Clean Boot by shutting off the Computer and sticking in a clean Floppy made with a Clean Computer, containing Mcaffee Rescue software on it, and it detected and cleaned the MIB Virus which is embeds itself in Track Zero of the Harddrive, but it also can reside in the Memory so it can copy itself to any Floppy or any other Drive you have. But if you shut off the Computer it wipes it from the Memory. Then you Boot with a Mcaffee Disk and you can clean it. For more info about this Virus visit the Mcaffee Website.

I hope this Helps.

the_webninja@yahoo.com

by dshurtz

I think it needs more RAM 1 gigabite is not to much

by at computers

I Was Loading Windows XP Pro SP2 On My Mother Computer And It Freezed Up at 6 Min. Remaining. BAD SECTORS on HARD DRIVE will cause this! REPLACED HARD DRIVE! Normal installation Went Well. Same thing Happened the other day on my buddies Laptop. I Swapped Hard Drives And Fixed The Problem!

by harveyb1

Before you go out and buy a new hard drive, purchase a product called Spinrite from grc.com.

It uses a self booting cd and will either fix bad sectors or mark them bad so operating system will not see them.

Good luck.

by wilson_hoe

this is the common error in doing services line. normally we advise user to change hard dick older then 2 years. Most of the pc user of my client, does'nt know how to maintance their pc and install some kind of p2p software which are the main cause.

by noprisoners

I've had the freeze problem you described, I clocked down the bus speed in the bios to 100MHz, just for the install only, which then worked fine, afterwards, reset Bus speed back to normal.

Steve

by stuoutlaw1

When the install goes that far it's usually done with the cd for the install part(copying files etc as they should be in ram by this time) and I've Found the hard drive to be the culprit a number of times in an install that fails that late

by ccu_geometro

Thanks for the help guys, I narrowed it down to the hard drive and/or memory, It might be memory, but I've tried with one stick, and alternated with other, both didnt work alone either, even in different RAM Slots, but then again that could mean that they are both corrupt. Im going to reformat, and install WinXP on my PC later using his hard drive. Ill keep you guys posted.

by nradisic

I had the same issue...trying to reinstall Windows XP Media Edition, I had repeated freezes at 28 minutes. I tried every suggestion under the sun and the last thing I tried was taking first one memory stick and voila! I had to go back and reinstall from scratch, by erasing the partition with the original re-install and starting from square one, but once the bad stick was removed the installation completed. It took me days to get to this point...

by mikifinaz1

I ran into this issue with two computers that both makers said shouldn't have an issue. I also contacted Microsoft about the problem and all they were able to do was scratch their heads.

My opinion is that the driver setup feature is failing for some reason, even with drivers that the OS should recognize and install.

I had to dual boot the machines or do a clean install for a positive install. I had a third machine that I had to drop kick the install three times before it would take.

Talk about the run around, Microsoft jacked me around even after I explained the issue when it came time to get a activation code. One of the reasons I am shifting to Linux before moving to Vista. Sorry, Microsoft I don't want to go where you are going.

by faust

Had this problem today... I swapped out drives thinking I had a bad drive, same issue with a new drive.

The solution:

Eject the Windows XP install CD from your CDROM and watch it complete.

Amazing...

by sbyrd07

yup, sure enough eject the cd and it will finish the countdown.. i registered just to post this, it really does work! i couldn't believe this when i read it and i couldn't believe that's all it takes to fix the problem. tried reinstalling windows 4 times.. just take the cd out..

by edwardhorne

Was having a similar problem and sure enough ejecting the cd seemed to fix it. Ejected right when it started the last step.

Also registered just to say that it had worked for me.

by jschmidt

I just wanted to say thank you. I have been trying to load XP SP2 on 2 different machines and 3 different hard drives for the past 2 days with the same problem and your solution took care of the problem

by thats_mister_bob_2_u

Also registered just to drop a thank you.

What a weird fix, thanks for the idea though

-Dan

by haohaowan2

so simple, i never thought of it, stumbled upon this and works.

i hhad it stuck at 9 minutes with everything going at the save settings and the minute i took out the CD, it prompted me that there is no cd. I clicked continue and voila it goes.

thanks a bunch

by effchomsky

I, like so many before me, have also registered to thank the poster for this solution. I was having the same problem with an install of Server 2003 R2...

thanks!

by silversoul

Tried over and over again, and just about to try this method. If this works you're a legend!
I never thought of it,
Will update post :)

by enemies86

Never came across this problem before. Reinstalling Windows XP Pro on a Foxconn Motherboard and been stuck on this issue.

Ran Memtest on the Memory for hours, worked fine. Swapped out hard drives, disabled all non-essentials in the CMOS. Tried pretty much everything short of replacing the Motherboard and as soon as I ejected the CD, fine.

Registered just to post this. Thanks again.

by clutchjuice

Popping out the CD worked! I searched for far too long for a fix that easy. I feel so stupid too, I kept opening and shutting the drive. Even cleaned the disc, but continued to put it in. Funny thing is, when I would pop it out for a second, it would get closer to completion. I stopped doing it when I didn't see any more progress though. Either way you are genius! Thank you!!!!!

by coolprathik

I almost gave up the installation stuff. But just wanted 2 giv a last try to ur technique and it worked.. Hats of buddy... U rule...

by lite cooper

Amazing!!!
After 9 hours of trying everything ... a simple eject ...
Should I write :) :) :) or :( :( :( ...

Thank you very much!!
( I also registered for only to say THANKS!! )

by electromdc

I ejected the CD, and it didn't continue. Then I noticed that the memory card dreader (fits in a floppy drive bay) had a blinking light. I unplugged the data cable to the memory card reader (system powered on, xp install still paused) and it worked!!! So, if cd eject alone doesn't work, try unplugging un needed stuff. BTW it was a Dell xps 400.

by t_the_t

To keep this thread alive... I too found this fix. The key is ejecting the disk just before the last sequence. I also had a bad stick of RAM that was freezing it well before this stage, and a floppy in the A drive lol.

Thanks dude!

by saltrent

WOW! I can't believe I disassembled the entire machine, device by device, and the solution to this horror was to eject the CDROM.

by joinedforthispost

After trying to install XP 7 or 8 times, each stalling at 7 minutes, I finally found this post!

Thanks!!!

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