Windows will not install

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by sillyfishyboy, May 21, 2007.

  1. sillyfishyboy

    sillyfishyboy Geek Trainee

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    While trying to do a full format and reinstall of windows (something I try to do once every 6 months or so). I ran into a pretty serious glitch, the windows setup screen loads up giving me various options to format, install etc, strangely when I first tried it, it told me that the drive was unformatted or damaged, so I formatted before installing initial files, the setup then restarts in order to continue, however once restarted it goes straight back to the initial setup screen where I can reformat or overwrite existing windows installation???. (every now and again it still claimed that the drive was damaged and needed to be formatted) I wondered if this was the drive (sata) so I tried installing on my backup drive. still no luck. I also wondered if there was a problem with my windows disk, so tried installing a version of linux which hung pretty early in the process. I have a few more ideas to test when I get a chance, hopefully tonight. such as making backup the master and removing sata before installing, and replacing dvd drive with old standby. However I did want to check with you guys opinions regarding faulty ram/cache which I dont really know how to check (other than replacing with spares (which I dont have))

    Thanks
    Sillyfishyboy
     
  2. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Memtest86 is a program to test the RAM, which is what I suspect as a possible culprit. You can burn this to CD or put it on a floppy and boot off the media. In any case, let it run 3-8 hours (while you sleep would be a great time) and make sure you're not coming up with any errors.

    Also, obtain your drive manufacturer's drive diagnostic tools and see if there's an issue with the drive.
     
  3. sillyfishyboy

    sillyfishyboy Geek Trainee

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    thanks very much Big B. I have been running memtest for about 30 hours (while I was away) and have found 4 errors. Is there any way I can check if this really is what is causing the problem? I have heard that a faulty processor can also give these results.

    All errors are at 1200-1500mb (using 2x1gb sticks) so does this mean that all errors are on the stick in the second slot? Or will I have to run memtest seperately on both sticks? Also, as I will have to replace a stick, can I just replace the one with errors, or do I need to keep them as a manufactured pair?

    Also, just wondering if these errors could have caused multiple BSOD's before I tried to reformat, or is it more likely that these would have been caused by more mundane registry and driver conflicts?

    sillyfishyboy
     
  4. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Well, I'd test each stick individually, starting with the problematic stick. Try it in more than one slot to make sure you don't happen to have a bad memory slot. You should be able to replace the faulty stick with another. Check with the company that manufactured it about a replacement first, as that's typically the cheapest (assuming it's under warranty). If the processor was faulty, you're more likely to end up with a non-functional CPU.
     

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