Hardware problems with newly built PC 2

[meckeard]

Hi,

I have a PC that I just assembled. I can get to the start of loading windows 98, but right after I hit enter to start the loading, my PC displays an error. Something about Microsoft windows needs a minimum of xxxx bits to load windows. After it displays this message, it locks up.

I am not sure why this happens, as my hard drive has plenty of space. Here is what I have:

Abit KA7 Motherboard (default settings)
Classic 650mhz Athlon CPU (Used & untested)
2.3 Gig Quantum Hard Drive (Used, but worked in previous PC)
256 Stick of Kingston Ram (new)

I fdisk'ed the hard drive & reformatted it. No luck. I even swapped in a different drive. Same error. I swapped RAM with my other Athlon PC, same thing. I upgraded to a bigger fan thinking maybe the CPU was heating up fast & locking. Same error.

The only thing that I have not ruled out is the CPU. I bought it used and it was not tested. Can this be the problem?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[edfair]

High memory error. Using a boot floppy? Himem.sys in the config.sys file? Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[meckeard]

Ed,

Yes, I am using a win98 boot disk.

After I fdisk & format the C drive, I navigate to the
CD-ROM drive. This is where my Windows98 install disk
is. I then run setup. It's right after I confirm that I want to continue that I get the error.

Mark

 

[Mulga]

A wild shot in the dark... Try cleaning the cd.

 

[tlcscousin]

Try fdisk /mbr
I have had this problem before, and have formatted a few times and even tried other W98 disks.The only thing that worked for me was wiping the master boot record. It was almost as if the MBR was corrupted.

 

[Jakespeare]

The 2 previous posts were right on.

I have one thing to add:
I ALWAYS install Windows (except XP) from the hard drive.

Copy your Win98 folder from the Windows 98 CD onto your hard drive and install from there. BOOT TO DOS...... the A:
promt,,,,,,,
*** and do NOT load anything,,,,,no CD-ROM drivers. Just the DOS prompt.

Go to the Win98 folder where all the setup files are and type "setup" and go.
It is MUCH faster and a more reliable way to install Windows.

 

[meckeard]

Hi,

OK, how do I get the WIN98 files from the CD Rom to the hard drive?

Also, I am now able to get past my first error. I had to delete & recreate my partition and reformat the drive many, many times. Now I can get to the screen where windows starts to load. The first thing it does is copy filed from the CD to the hard drive. But, when it gets to 100%, it freezes. And that is where I am stuck.

If I can get the files to the HDD, I will try that. And way to copy the files from the CD Rom to the Hard drive via DOS?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[tlcscousin]

From DOS prompt change to the CD-ROM drive usually E when booting with a startup disk.It is usually shown on the screen just above the A:> then from the
E:>xcopy *.* c:\ /E/G/H/K

 

[edfair]

To keep things separated out, I normally make a win98in directory on the hard drive where the setup.* goes and a win98 sub where all the like files from the win98 on the cd go. Copy across the setup from the root and xcopy across the win98 stuff with /v. Keeps all the extraneous stuff off.

As far as the problem, I still suspect memory. Probably because of a 5 week training glitch on a personal machine. This one, in fact. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[meckeard]

Ed,

How can I narrow it down to my memory?

I do have 2 older sticks of 16 megs ram. I also have another PC with a SOYO MB that has 2 sticks of 128 megs. I did swap them once, but was never able to get as far as I can now. Should I try again?

Oh, and just to update everyone, I can now get Windows 98 to start loading. Unfortunately, it locks up about 1-2 minutes into the install.

Thanks,
Mark