Samsung spinpoint problem - help!

Hi All,

I have just spent the last few days putting together my new pc and I am currently having trouble installing XP. My IP35 picks up the hard drive in the bios, although in dos it does say it can't see a drive (when booting). I can get as far as formatting the drive, however then my XP installation stops after a few seconds stating it cannot load a certain file. I have tried two XP disks and I am still getting the same problem. I have downloaded what I think are the sata drivers I require from the samsung website. I am currently in the xp screen where you can load sata drivers (f6 during xp installation), with the disk inserted I am getting the following required - "txtsetup.oem" - the drivers I have don't have this file. Am I doing something wrong here? Do I need to install these drivers? I am running my sata mode in the motherboard as IDE. Quite often I can't even get into the f6 screen....

Any help would be appreciated.

Model: Samsung spinpoint HD501LJ

The message I get when the setup files try to start copying is the following "irql_not_less_or_equal".

Update: I am now using sata ports 2 and 4 with no difference. Just had windows go to the blue screen with another error message.

My second sata device is a dvd drive (also samsung)

make sure your cpu is being cooled properly - errors at this stage of setup often happen if the fan on the heatsink isn't spinning

Could you post your full system specification please? My suspicions are that this is a power issue, either a loose cable or a duff PSU, but without seeing the full specs, it's hard to be sure.

The text setup is likely to be because you're including drivers in an OEM install, The txtsetup.oem File Format, basically it's asking you for a preloaded configuration file so you can make your copy of Windows branded. Then again, I thought they only included that feature with Volume Licensed discs, so I'd check that XP disc you bought as well.


The one other time I've seen these issues was with a downloaded copy of Windows, in the end the only solution was to go out and buy a copy.

The cpu seems fine. I have checked the temperature on numerous occasions and it is always between 25 - 31 degrees. I am using a genuine copy of windows xp professional.

My specs are as follows

Abit ip35
Geil Black Dragon PC2-6400 800Mhz 2GB Kit (2x1GB) - currently using 1 stick (I have 4)
BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS OC 512MB PCI Express Graphics Card – Retail
Samsung Spin Point SATAII NCQ 500GB 16Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive <9.0ms 7200rpm – OEM
Corsair HX520 520 Watt PSU
Intel Quad Core Q6600 95Watt G0 Stepping (This is the one that Overclocks) 4 x 2.40Ghz 8Mb Cache 1066 FSB Quad Core Processor
Samsung sata DVD drive

I have managed to get as far as formatting the drive. It shows up in the bios quite happily regardless of which sata port I plug it into. However when I boot into dos it says something along the lines of no hard drive detected - is it here I need to do something? I downloaded some sata drivers off the intel site last night, which I believe you use at the F6 prompt. I have not had a chance to try this yet however. After I get the blue screen error (of which the message seems to change each time), I have checked the cpu temps and they have still been the same.

I have got all of the same components twice, since I am also building the same spec machine for my brother, so always have the option to swap components about to try them.

My motherboard seems to be using the Jmicron (think that is correct) utility in dos - not sure if that should be enabled or not

File copy issues during the installation stage point to dodgy memory most of the time. Give memtest86 a few passes, even if you are only using 1 stick at the moment.

Pls bear with me, and humour me :)
It might not be the Samsung drive at all!


Are you using a SATA cd drive to install XP from? And are you using a DVD writer drive?

If so, go grab yourself an EIDE drive, that is just a CD and/or CDR.

I've had this twice in 2007. As soon as I stuck a cheap old EIDE drive in and installed from it, XP worked a treat :)

Then swap back to the drives that you want to use.

I did have the thought of using an IDE drive myself. I will try and install the sata drivers that I have downloaded, failing that I will connect up my old IDE drive.

Many thanks

- I am currently using a sata dvd writer.

Windows install also hangs using both an ide dvd and cd rom drive. It actually won't get passed the testing your configuration part of the install, which is usually done when using my sata drive. Should I try using the other spinpoint hd I have?

It would be worth giving it a go as it will at least rule the hard drive out as the problem.