Problem With First Build

[Abhik262]

Hi, i am in the process of building my first computer and have put it all together. The computer boots ok and I can see the bios logo and navigate through the BIOS. It seems to detect my HDD and my DVD drive yet when i insert a bootable vista ultimate install disk, the computer refuses to boot from it and instead presents me with a blinking cursor (which is actually more of an _). What am i doing wrong? I have adjusted the boot order so that the DVD drive is at the top yet still i get this blinking cursor. What could be the problem? The following are my system specs:

Q6600
320 GB SATA II HDD
ATI HD 4850
4GB DDR2-800
Asus p5-k (i think its the K but im not near my computer atm but its the one which is a P45)

Thanks in advance for any help

EDIT: Sorry its not the p5-k its the P5-Q (its the one i was going to get)

[Viper81]

Is it spinning up the CD/DVD at all? Can you definitely see the DVD drive listed in the BIOS?
I'd test with another bootable disk to make sure it's not your Vista disk that's the issue. You may as well try the memtest CD as you'll probably want to run that check at some point anyway.

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

[nadnerb]

Mine sometimes takes ages to boot.
How long are you waiting for it at the flashing _ screen?

[dave0151]

I've had this problem befor and it seems to vary from motherboard to motherboard but if its the same problem its about the easyest fix under the sun. Detach all usb devices (excluding keyboard and mouse of course). Give it a try. I've no idea why but i've a usb pen drive that causes this problem but it only causes this issue when the boot order is set up with HDD not being first in the list.

[Sk!mD4Rk]

There may be an option in the bios for silicon image boot rom, this needs to enabled to boot from optical drive. On my mobo it was called Marvel boot rom and i disabled it assuming it was the onboard Lan. Enabling it allowed me to boot from cd/dvd.

[Abhik262]

There may be an option in the bios for silicon image boot rom, this needs to enabled to boot from optical drive. On my mobo it was called Marvel boot rom and i disabled it assuming it was the onboard Lan. Enabling it allowed me to boot from cd/dvd.

for me, marvel boot rom is already enabled

[Abhik262]

I've had this problem befor and it seems to vary from motherboard to motherboard but if its the same problem its about the easyest fix under the sun. Detach all usb devices (excluding keyboard and mouse of course). Give it a try. I've no idea why but i've a usb pen drive that causes this problem but it only causes this issue when the boot order is set up with HDD not being first in the list.

all i have connected as usb is the keyboard (for now)

and i can hear the drive start to read the disk.

I know the disk is fine as it works in another computer.

As for how long i hav waited for it, i have waited about ten minutes, yet still seeing the flashing cursor

Also, yes the DVD drive is listed in the BIOS.

[Abhik262]

Ok, ive got myself one step further. Basically, i used an external USB DVD drive and set in BIOS for it to boot from a USB device. Now, i get the "press any key to boot from CD/DVD". As i do so, the progress bar begins to fill up. as it compleed, i was presented with the Blue Screen of Death. I remembered reading somewhere that this is due to Vistas incapability to handle 4GB of ram during installation (btw i am using the version which has SP1 integrated). so, i took out the second Ram Stick, only to find that now, the bar refuses to fully complete. What can i do to overcome this? Thanks

[Abhik262]

I have tried again with my full 4GB of ram to find that now the progress bar fill up but i then am displayed a balnk screen after my monitor attmpts to adjust itself. Does this help to find a solution? thanks

[Viper81]

It might be useful to know what the error was on the Blue Screen. Can you re-create that problem?
When you mention the 'progress bar' is it the one that says "Windows is loading files" or something else?

[vreb]

I had a similar problem recently when I attempted to re-format Vista 64-bit and re-install it. As I had 8GB of ram at the time I had to do some real research before I found out that for some reason Vista just won't install when you have more than 2GB of ram installed.Once I had removed 6GB of ram and downloaded a patch from the Windows update site it worked perfectly.

I would post the link to the patch here but the board won't let me as I have not posted enough on here to post links yet. Search Windows update site for it.

Hope that helps.

[Abhik262]

It might be useful to know what the error was on the Blue Screen. Can you re-create that problem?
When you mention the 'progress bar' is it the one that says "Windows is loading files" or something else?

yes it is that first progress bar which says windows is loading files. also, i have been unable to recreate that Blue screen of death so it may have been simply a one-off. now all i get is the aforementioned blak screen after it fillup, or if i have 2GB installed, the progress bar won't fill up. Thanks you guys for trying so far.

[Abhik262]

Ive got it fixed, basically it turs out one of my RAM sticks was faulty, but when i removed one to make itonly 2gb in my system for the vista setup, i was leaving the faulty on in. I had expected better things from this, as i had chosen Corsair as i though it was supposed to be amongst the best brands...oh well

Thanks to everyone who tried to solve my probelm