[mikieears]

I'm trying to do clean install of win xp on my gateway W34OUA laptop.

I'm attempting to do such by using an installation cd. I set my bios to read the cdrom first. I can get through the "loading setup files." But when that finishes it says "starting windows"

it never gets past that. nothing more happens, it just stays at that screen till i turn off.

I've been browsing so many forums and tried a few things. I reset the bios to default, i've taken out the HD and use a second laptop to reformat it. I've made sure ALL parts of the laptop are plugged in correctly, no matter what i cannot get past this part.

Ty in advance for any help

 

[Nofew]

Sometimes this happens to me when I'm installing Windows XP on a virtual PC. For some odd reason, the process of starting windows can take over ten minutes. During that time it may appear to be frozen (No disk activity or changes on screen, CD drive spinning down, etc). Try waiting half an hour and see if it continues.

This doesn't mean that the computer will always be slow, just the beginning of the setup will be.

 

[mikieears]

I'll give it a shot. Its so odd how it just goes dead silent, I figured after like 2 min that it was frozen. I will post back when I've tried that. TY

 

[mikieears]

Well 25 min in and its still at "setup is starting windows" :sigh:

I can't for the life of me grasp how it can load the files yet this is where it hangs up.

Also This is disc 2, the first disc I used I threw out since I suspected a error must have occurred when burning the img. I used a different comp for disc 2. Hard to believe both would have the same error

 

[Nofew]

Oh, you've downloaded the file? Perhaps it has downloaded incorrectly. Have you checked the MD5 sum or SHA with the server you got it from? These are codes usually near the file or included in a .zip or .rar that you can use to check if the file has been downloaded properly. Check Google for more information, I'm not fully sure how to use them. I just know where they are and what they do.

 

[mikieears]

Oh, you've downloaded the file? Perhaps it has downloaded incorrectly. Have you checked the MD5 sum or SHA with the server you got it from? These are codes usually near the file or included in a .zip or .rar that you can use to check if the file has been downloaded properly. Check Google for more information, I'm not fully sure how to use them. I just know where they are and what they do.

Actually when it was loading this time I pressed F5 instead of F6 to install third party stuff. A menu popped up and I selected standard pc i486

POW! Got past that god awful screen

 

[Nofew]

I forgot about that! Well, it only goes to show you experianced people can't see obvious things and newbies can't see complex stuff.

This makes me wonder... What's smart really mean?

 

[Riskyone101]

Hello and Welcome to TSF,

Did the xp cd come with the laptop?
or did you download it?