Ugh, windows install headaches.
TheGreenDoctor
Regular
A month and a half ago my main system stopped working (no warning, one day just would not power on) so I decided to upgrade. BIOSTAR A780L3G AMD 780L Motherboard , 6 core AMD Phenom II Processor running at 2.8GHZ, and Crucial 2GB PC10600 Memory. The existing H/W is a an old 40 GB maxtor HD, a Western Digital Caviar 320 GB HD, an older Sony CD RW drive and a Diablotek 500 watt power supply.
When I initially installed the new parts, I was able to retain the install I was using on the 320 GB WD drive, which is broken down into 3 partitions: 60GB system, and 2 100GB+ storage partitions. I used Norton Ghost to back up a fresh install and periodically re-imaged the system partition, installed any updated software available at the time and then ripped a new back up. While the system currently runs ok, I know that starting over from scratch with a fresh install is the best way to go.
Today (yesterday) I decided to reinstall Windows for the new build. I backed everything up, popped in my XP Pro disk and after it loaded I noticed discrepancies in the partition sizes (only 2 patitions, one at 131000 MB and one at 171000 MB). I aborted the install, but then the system would not boot. I installed a 500GB WD drive I had as a spare and tried installing to it. The install BSODed with a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error about halfway through the driver install right after reboot. after checking BIOS settings, and disconnecting everything but the CD and 500GB drive getting the same issue I gave up. Luckily, I had a backup from 2009 on the 40GB Maxtor drive that I Ghosted the the 500GB drive, and was able to run data recovery software on the 320GB drive and restore it.
However, now I'm right back where I started and I spent 5+ hours working on this and have nothing to show for it but an empty 6 pack of Budweiser. I've always read bad things about Biostar boards, but I tried this one because it had IDE and a FDD header. At this point I think its probably an issue with the board, but I want to make sure I didn't forget to check something.
Any ideas why this thing keeps BSODing when I try doing a clean reinstall on a new, freshly formatted drive?
When I initially installed the new parts, I was able to retain the install I was using on the 320 GB WD drive, which is broken down into 3 partitions: 60GB system, and 2 100GB+ storage partitions. I used Norton Ghost to back up a fresh install and periodically re-imaged the system partition, installed any updated software available at the time and then ripped a new back up. While the system currently runs ok, I know that starting over from scratch with a fresh install is the best way to go.
Today (yesterday) I decided to reinstall Windows for the new build. I backed everything up, popped in my XP Pro disk and after it loaded I noticed discrepancies in the partition sizes (only 2 patitions, one at 131000 MB and one at 171000 MB). I aborted the install, but then the system would not boot. I installed a 500GB WD drive I had as a spare and tried installing to it. The install BSODed with a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error about halfway through the driver install right after reboot. after checking BIOS settings, and disconnecting everything but the CD and 500GB drive getting the same issue I gave up. Luckily, I had a backup from 2009 on the 40GB Maxtor drive that I Ghosted the the 500GB drive, and was able to run data recovery software on the 320GB drive and restore it.
However, now I'm right back where I started and I spent 5+ hours working on this and have nothing to show for it but an empty 6 pack of Budweiser. I've always read bad things about Biostar boards, but I tried this one because it had IDE and a FDD header. At this point I think its probably an issue with the board, but I want to make sure I didn't forget to check something.
Any ideas why this thing keeps BSODing when I try doing a clean reinstall on a new, freshly formatted drive?
Comments
IRQL errors relate to Interrupt Requests - either a driver is unable to access hardware (the hardware is broken) or the hardware isn't able to work with the driver (the driver is broken).
But as it's a fresh install, it would be faulty hardware.
I don't know but I'd replace the disc-drive, if that doesn't do it - it's either the motherboard or a bios setting.
C) The HDD, Hiren Boot Disk is your friend.
In most cases it's just the RAM.
Both times were ram related. Take a ram out & test it.
Watchoo talkin bout? 6 empty cans....It wasn't a complete waste of time then. :thumbsup:
Yeah, but I didn't need the headache WHILE I was drinking.
Yeah, something corrupted them, but that doesn't explain why it did the same thing on a new, freshly formatted drive.
I missed that little detail on my 1st reading. You may have a corrupt EPROM on the HDD controller for the MB.