- All Forums
-
General
-
Television
-
DVDs & Films
-
Hardware
-
PCs & Mobiles
-
Photography
-
Music
-
Gaming and Consoles
-
MAD
-
Sports
-
Trading
-
Retailer Reviews
-
Bargain Buckets
-
Region Hacks
PCs & Mobiles Forum - Odd XP install problem, help please! - Page 1
Elite Donator
Recently got hold of a couple of cheap spares/repairs laptops and thought I'd check 'em out.
Laptop one, Esystem 3083 appears to work so far but needs a hard drive caddy/connector so can't check further than a boot of MiniXP on Hirens.
Laptop two, an old Win98 machine that might end up as a photo frame or some other experiment, again appears working and again no HDD but not devoting much time to that one for now.
Laptop three, and the main reason for the thread, a Compaq Presario 2500 with no Ram, hard drive or PSU.
I fudged a PSU to get it working (when I say fudged... made a converter for the end of my own lappy PSU so it runs with that.)
Ram is the same DDR3 as the Esystem so moved that in to test and booted Hiren's to MiniXP.. worked fine.
Decided to use an old hard drive (it's a standard 2.5" IDE connector so it slots in without a caddy) and fired in my XP SP3 disc (courtesy and thanks once again to our usual fixer of these issues 
)and it seemed to start the install fine, running through the "copying files" stage with no issue.
Then it got to the bit when it says "Setup is starting windows", when it normally brings up that screen asking for the product key etc, and the laptop shuts down.
Doesn't hang, doesn't do anything else, just shuts down like all power has been yanked from the unit. I can then hit the power key and do the exact same thing again.
I'm guessing there's a hardware fault but I've run the tests on Hiren's and all are returning normal results so I don't know where to go next with it... any and all help appreciated.
TIA
Jimbo : oÞ
"There's that word again... is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull in the future?"
Elite
does sound like a hardware problem,
hard drive
memory
psu
if you've run the hard drive check programs and memtest86Quote:
Jimbo 
Þ says...
I fudged a PSU to get it working
does seem like most likely problem
Elite Donator
Quote:
admars says...
does sound like a hardware problem,
Yep, but run MiniXP and all is well, hard drive reports all ok, memory passes all tests etc etc.
When I sau fudged the adapter, all I've done is convert the end plug into the correct size, it's still carrying the correct voltage, polarity and amperage so although it's possible it seems unlikely the PSU is an issue.
Also remembering this works up to the point of "Starting Windows" on the install to then shut down, instantly press the power button and it will again start the setup and load the files to hard drive.
My head hurts with it 
Jimbo : oÞ
"There's that word again... is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull in the future?"
[edit] Scratch that, just got the PSU I ordered from Fleabay for it (£4 with no mains lead, new... probably can't leave it on it's own without it burning the house down but four quid and delivered in 2 days FFS! I'm ordering another! LOL) and it seems to be progressing the install although it took two attempts to get it going.... wondering if a dead battery needing a trickle of a charge coulda been the issue but give yerself a pat on the back admars, it looks like you were right 
[/endedit]
This item was edited on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, 11:46
posted by Rob Shepherd on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, 12:06
Super Admin
Is it too late to say, have you tried turning it off and on again?
Editor
DVD REVIEWER
MYREVIEWER.COM
My Flickr Photostream
posted by MADTheOgster on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, 17:28
Elite Donator
Ram is the same DDR3 as the Esystem so moved that in to test and booted Hiren's to MiniXP.. worked fine.
Decided to use an old hard drive (it's a standard 2.5" IDE connector so it slots in without a caddy)
DDR 3, but only an ide rather than a sata drive ? thats an odd arrangement ..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forever
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elite
Good point, that Esystem'ss a 5 year old laptop, the compaq older so I'm guessing it's not ddr3 memory!
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=3083&Cat=RAM
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Presario%202500%20Series&Cat=SSD
ddr1, where did the ddr3 come from? maybe it physically fits, and works ok for basic tests but as soon as windows starts it goes wrong.
same could be said for psu problem, works for basics, but when it needs some oomph, goes wrong.
oh, just seen your edit, good luck, have fun!
This item was edited on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, 19:20
posted by Rob Shepherd on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, 23:02
Super Admin
If the ram fits the same socket, I think it will work but just at a slower speed, as a general rule.
Editor
DVD REVIEWER
MYREVIEWER.COM
My Flickr Photostream
Elite Donator
Quote:
admars says...
ddr1, where did the ddr3 come from? maybe it physically fits, and works ok for basic tests but as soon as windows starts it goes wrong. Erm, oops.
I only meant to post "the same DDR as..." but my head was a bit up my hind one.
Had a serious amount of grief today trying to fit a walk in bath but the Compaq now works it seems.
Battery on it is totalled though so that's next thing to look at once all it's drivers are installed.
Jimbo : oÞ
"There's that word again... is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull in the future?"
posted by Bezzawezza on Wednesday, 19th October 2011, 14:09
Elite
Try changing the SATA setting in the bios from AHCI to ATA or vice versa. I have a similar problem all the time and this fixes it
Elite Donator
I'll keep that in mind Bezza, for now it appears to be working 
Jimbo : oÞ
"There's that word again... is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull in the future?"
