Windows wont boot or install

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
160,202
Hi guys,

No, not the same problem again. I've fixed my main machine. Wohooo!

No sooner had I fixed it, my Shuttle decided it was bored with life.

BSOD's on startup, cannot get into Windows. Won't even work in Safe mode. BSOD's range from generic stop errors, to IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL to PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA.

So I thought I'd reinstall Windows. No joy - it wont install either. Hangs at 'Setup is starting Windows'.

I've been running Memtest86 since last night and it's done a great deal of passes and found no errors.

It's a Shuttle SN45G2 NForce2 with 512Mb Corsair XMS2700, an XP2100+, a GeForce4 Ti4200 and Windows XP Media Centre edition.

Any ideas?
 
Was that the same error that another of your machines suffered from?

Sounds fishy and I don't like believing in wild coincidences. Something could be amiss with your XP image you keep installing from or perhaps even the juice being delivered to both machines?

I've known it to happen ages ago with an old office all fitted with a variety of machines. Same BSOD error, but all unnetworked. Turned out to be the 2 main plug adapters they were running off were unstable and giving erratic spikes in power. :o

A wild shot I know.
 
iCraig said:
usefull post
Click to expand...

in with him

two different PCs giving the same wierd error messages and refusing to install ?

too much of a co-incidence to be honest. What's common between them ? the XP install disc ? the power sockets ? etc.. somethings fishy (and not in a, i dont believe you way, in a something other than the PC is faulty way)
 
The messages are similar... but...

That is where the similarities end. Two different copies of XP with two different licenses, different images, and in different areas of the house.

I tracked down the problem with my main machine being with my Hiper PSU. It eventually gave me a clue by exploding, and the machine has been great since I fitted a Corsair HX520W.

I think it's an epic co-incidence.

Oh - another symptom - every time I turn the machine on, its forgotton the date and time despite replacing the CMOS battery.
 
Doesn't sound like RAM, plsu you've given it a good test anyway which yielded no errors.

It could be a faulty motherboard, but damn, you're unlucky. :)
 
[TW]Fox said:
Oh - another symptom - every time I turn the machine on, its forgotton the date and time despite replacing the CMOS battery.
Click to expand...

bingo

faulty motherboard / PSU. Somethings not quite right with the power to the motherboard.

Damn you're unlucky.
 
IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL to PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA
Click to expand...

These are commonly driver errors, update the GFX drivers and soundcard drivers to the latest available.

Usually caused by the driver trying to read/write to a memory space that is invalid.

Get the latest nvidia drivers for the GF4 and also the onboard sound drivers.

I reckon it's the gfx driver though over the sound....
 
I've had a lot of those errors over the last month or so too, I've tried different drivers but that didnt seem to work. Run memtest for several hours and passed. I have a feeling its a conflict between my graphics card (saphire x800xl 512) and my network card (belkin 54g) but I'm not confident yet. When I eventually get some spare time I'm gonna try taking out my wireless card and see if i get crashes without it. I'm hoping its that that borked rather than PSU as it will be cheaper to replace.

PK!
 
mrk said:
These are commonly driver errors, update the GFX drivers and soundcard drivers to the latest available.
Click to expand...

I cannot boot into Windows, nor can I install Windows.

I've been very unlucky lately after years of flawless PC performance :(

Motherboard/PSU - arghghg thats super hassle as its a Shuttle :(
 
[TW]Fox said:
I cannot boot into Windows, nor can I install Windows.

I've been very unlucky lately after years of flawless PC performance :(

Motherboard/PSU - arghghg thats super hassle as its a Shuttle :(
Click to expand...


Is the ram single stick or double 256 sticks ? you could try a different ram module if only 1 or remove 1 if two ?
 
Could be worth having a look to see if the caps have blown/bulging/leaking.
I've no idea if Shuttles are prone to this or not, but it sounds similar to what blown caps will do.
 
Fox, get a multimeter and test the voltages coming out of the PSU when under load.

Voltages should have a tolerance of no more than 5% - tolerated voltage range in brackets.

Orange wire = 3.3v (3.14 - 3.47v)
Red wire = 5v (4.76 - 5.25v)
Yellow wire = 12v (11.43 - 12.60v)
 
[TW]Fox said:
It's been succesfully running Memtest86 for 26 hours now..
Click to expand...


Sometimes it doesn't have to fail memtest for it to be a memory issue with that system configuration.

one of my old boxes in the play room was the same, windows would not install, complained during install that a file could not be copied over even though the memory tested fine. I removed 1 stick and Windows installed fine then I put the stick back in and it was running fine until I dismantled it for an upgrade later down the line.
 
longshot, but try disabling the built in network card.

I had an nt4 machine tha would do the same error as it picked up the wrong driver for the nic.
 
u say the PCs are in different areas of the house. Where exactly?

Only reason I ask is that we had the same issue with two PCs that were in seperate rooms in the upstairs of the house. The end cause was the supply of power from the upstairs ring was faulty and we found some cooked wiring at the back of an old plug. This was sorted and the fault has never come back.
 
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