🚀 go-pugleaf

"Steve" <snoopydog@accesswave.ca> wrote in message
news:XvG1a.254319$C8.902515@nnrp1.uunet.ca...
> Hi All..
>
>     I have a rather weird computer problem. Reloading the operating system
> (WinXP Home) and it gets as far as "Starting Windows" and stays there for
> HOURS, I let it go all day to see if it would start but no go.
>     I loaded Windows ME on it and it worked fine. Tried XP Pro and no go
> either. The reason for the reload was some weird activity going on, might
> have been a virus.
>     Did FDisk and format after that and still no go. Anyone have any ideas
> why this won't load XP but will load Millenium? I'm stumped!
>
>     Steve
>
>

How far into the installation process did you get? Did the installation
itself complete and it just won't boot?  It is strange that ME would work
but XP won't.  I do know that XP can be pickier about RAM than Windows 9x
is.  You could download MemTest86 from http://www.memtest86.com/  This
program will create a boot disk that you can use to test your memory.  It
will take a good hour or so to do a full set of tests and if it reports any
errors or faults, your RAM is suspect.

If that yields nothing, something that you can try assuming you are
comfortable with installing and removing hardware is to try to install XP on
a basic hardware configuration with no extras.  It is possible that XP is
trying to load an incompatible driver for a piece of hardware that you have
installed and that is causing it to freeze up.  How you would do this would
be to strip your computer down to only having the basic components: the
power supply, motherboard, one stick of RAM, the processor (with heat sink)
and the video card and keyboard.  Then run the Windows setup.  If Windows
installs fine with these components, you know that they are all good.  Then
you can one at a time add back in your sound card, extra RAM sticks, network
card, modem, and whatever other things you had.  As soon as it locks up
after you add an item, its a good bet that that item is either faulty or
incompatible in some way.  If it won't install with even a stripped down
configuration, you then know that the problem exists with one of the core
pieces of hardware.  If you don't have extras lying around to test for this,
your best bet may be to go to a computer store to get it tested.