WinXP won't install or run - blue screen at boot

[terryoa]

Hi All - any advice welcome on a problem that's had me beat for weeks -
Every time I try to install XP it crashes to blue screen on first re-boot. Win 98 installs & runs OK. I have managed to sucessfully install XP (in a dual boot configuration) only by temporarily moving my hard drive onto a spare machine but when re-connecting on my main computer only Win98 will run - XP again blue screens with a suggestion that I check hard drive and drive controllers. The problem is that I have already tried changing hard drive, memory, graphics card, CPU and MoBo (one at a time of course) but still the same problem persists :-(

Setup is:
Asus A7N8X Mobo (latest Bios)
Sempron 2400 (have also tried with Athlon 3200XP)
Leadtek Geforce4 Ti4200 graphics
512MB PC3200 RAM
Western Digital 80MB 7200 HD

Any advice most welcome.

 

[ski]

If both O/S's are on the same HD, then did you install Win 98 first?

 

[terryoa]

Hi Ski

Yes I intalled W98 first. However I got the same problem when I tried to install XP on its own onto a newly formatted primary partition!! - seems like its hardware but I've changed just about everything (also tried a different PSU which I didn't mention in my post).

 

[ski]

If you repartitioned and reformatted the entire HD before trying to install XP, then see if it installs on a different HD.

If the problem persists, then the CD may be defective.

 

[terryoa]

Tried two HD's - same problem. However it did install OK(& subsequently run OK) when I transfered the drive to my spare machine so the CD & drive seem OK. Following this I put the drive with the now "fully working" dual boot installation back in my main machine but once again only W98 will run & XP blue screens. very strange! thanks though for your suggestions.

 

[franklin97355]

Have you swapped the cd drive in the suspect computer?

 

[terryoa]

Hi franklin

Sort of - I had tried installing from both my CD & DVD drives with the same result but now I have an installation which works fine on my spare machine there should be no need for file access from the CD with the HD back in my main computer.

 

[ski]

There may be an incompatible hardware item or 2 in the subject system.

Did XP ever work in that machine?

Also, what is the exact text of the blue screen error messages?

 

[terryoa]

Yes it used to work until it blue screened whilst in service - following which it never worked again on the original machine even though I replaced each hardware component in turn, including the MoBo.
Error message is - "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down...................check for viruses (clear), remove newly installed HD's or controllers (n/a), make sure HD is properly configured (it is), run CHKDSK (OK)
Tech info
***STOP: 0x0000007B(0xF894D640,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)
When I try a safe mode boot it gets to windows\system32\drivers\mup.sys then blue screens (not sure what mup.sys is or what file it is reading)

 

[Freestone]

Unless chipsets are very similar, I'm not surprised XP doesn't run when it's installed on one machine then the hard drive is transferred to another system. The Asus A7N8X uses the nVIDIA nForce2 chipset. What type of motherboard is in the other system?

Do you have APIC enabled in the A7N8X BIOS when you try installing XP?

 

[ski]

Get a Windows 98 boot floppy with fdisk installed on it(or you can make one at

http://www.bootdisk.com),

boot from the floppy, run fdisk to repartition and reformat the HD while it's installed in the subject system, install Win 98, and install Win XP.

 

[terryoa]

Hi Freestone. The other chipset is a Via but I didn't recognise this difference as a possible problem - especially since W98 works OK. Sorry for my ignorance but what is APIC?

Ski - that's pretty well what I did when I first tried to install (though I used Partition Magic DOS boot disks to format (FAT32) and partition). However if all else fails maybe I will just have to start over.

Thanks Guys for your interest.

 

[Freestone]

APIC is an acronym for Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller. More than you probably want to know can be found at

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/io-apic.mspx.

This setting is called APIC Mode in the A7N8X BIOS, and should be found near the bottom of the Advanced BIOS Features page. I have the Deluxe version of this board, but I'm betting the BIOS is very similar in our models.

APIC mode should be Enabled for Windows 2000 and XP, and I'm curious to know if it is enabled in your suspect system. Windows 9x does not support APIC mode, though I've installed and run 98 with this setting enabled.

Assuming this is enabled, what STOP code do you receive when installing XP in the suspect system?

 

[terryoa]

Confirm APIC is enabled. Stop code is
***STOP: 0x0000007B(0xF894D640,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)

nb: I still wonder if there is a driver issue since when starting in safe mode it blue screens after the apparent loading of mup.sys (windows\system32\drivers\mup.sys) but I have no idea what was being loaded next.

 

[mainegeek]

terryoa,
In the bios disable the on board USB and LAN (network adapter).

 

[terryoa]

Hi Maingeek - OK I disabled USB & LAN but same problem :-( Anyone know how I can find out which driver was trying to load after the (apparently) successful mup.sys? - I'm still suspicious of this but I'm no expert (obviously).

 

[mainegeek]

Do you have a USB 2 Card intalled?

 

[johng75]

i had that exact same error on a win 2000 machine....
you will need a good working comp with a floppy and internet

http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

go to this site and download the boot disks for you xp operating system be it xph or xpp

after all the disks are made go to the infected machine and start with disk one, this will look like you are booting off of the cd itself,
delete the partition and reformat the disk full mode.

restart the machine with flopy one in the drive, and the xp cd in the drive, make sure you boot off of the floppys and not the cd. go through the steps and choose to install xp.

hope this gets you through your problem


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention
of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body,
but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up,
totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

--"WOW-- What a Ride!"

 

[Freestone]

Please bear with me as I try to understand the failure mode.

Is the ***STOP: 0x0000007B occurring when doing a clean install of XP (deleting partition, recreating primary partition, then format) in the suspect PC, or is this the error code you are receiving when you install XP in your spare machine then move the hard drive back to the suspect machine?

 

[terryoa]

Mainegeek - no, I don't have a USB2 card

Hi Johng75 - thanks for the advice. If I can't fix it I will do a complete new install but I did in fact start from this position first time I set up!

Freestone - To clarify - I had that error message on the suspect machine when first attempting a clean XP-only install (after the first re-boot). I then sucessfully installed W98 after which I tried to add XP as as dual-boot option - same error message when selecting XP from the boot menu.
I then moved the drive to my spare machine where I completed a sucessful install of XP (as dual boot) and both W98 and XP were then operating OK. At this point I re-fitted the drive into the suspect machine and got exactly the same error message when selecting XP!

thanks guys for your interest