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Thread: XP SP1 Install CD hangs "inspecting hardware"

  1. #1
    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    XP SP1 Install CD hangs "inspecting hardware"

    hi all.

    I'm currently playing with my HTPC now that I've finally got it all installed.

    I'm playing with software configurations and options, and I'm thinking of a linux build with a small XP partition for playing doom 3 and the like if another person pops around my house.

    I've got 2 XP cd's one SP1 and one pre SP1

    If I boot off either of them I get to the "inspecting your computers hardware" screen, then the screen goes black until I ctrl+alt+del or power off.

    If I boot of a linux boot CD or of a linux install there is no problem, but everytime I use a windows boot cd it doesn't get past the hardware checking phase.

    It could be a bad XP cd (but 2 that have worked in the past....I doubt it)

    Has anyone seen this problem, could anyone share an XP ISO image with me for a test ?

    thanks.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    to get more information on this I've tried removing both the hard disks in combinations (1 in 1 out etc), I've taken out the TV card, and tried messing with the ram.

    none of this makes any difference it still says "inspecting your systems hardware" then the screen goes black.

    There is bit of chatter on the disks, and sometimes the cpu fan speeds up - then slows down again.

    I again tried booting from a linux rescue and even installing linux. This works no problem.

    there must be some windows guys around who could advise me through this issue.

    thanks.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    why a windows partition for playing doom3?

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    doom3 was an example - its a selection of games like black hawk down, age of empires, unreal tourn, doom3, couple of flight sims etc etc. Not all of them work great under linux.

    I suppose I could try to get them all working, but for the ammount of time it will be used to play games I'm not sure I could be bothered.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    When you enter the XP setup, are you formatting the partition, or installing over the existing data on the drive?

    I noticed you are still using an SP1 install disk. Follow the instructions here to slipstream the install cd with SP2...

    http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...slipstream.asp

    Also, I cant remember (because it was a while ago now) but I think I had a similar problem. The only solution to it was to remove all partitions on the master and repartition it from scratch, but obviously there may be other things that could be done before going to extremeties.

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    hi tommy, I'm not actually getting to the XP setup screen.

    I'm getting to the point where in white text on a black screen it says "inspecting your computers hardware" the screen then goes black, but the system doesn't hang.

    It never leaves the "black screen"

    I'm not really too bothered about merging SP2 into my SP1 CD as it should at least get past this hardware bit and into the XP setup.


    I'll try zeroing the disk again - see what that does
    It is Inevitable.....


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    well - that worked

    It's happily installing as we speak.

    good call.

    I'll live a 10 gig windows partition on this box while I play with porting the games. Its something I should have done a long time ago, but never really bothered, as I don't play games that often.

    thanks for the advice.
    It is Inevitable.....


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    Nice one
    I think it could be either the boot sector was messed, or if you had any linux partitions on that disk, that could have caused it.

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    i seem to recall an issue xp has with valid partition tables - ever notice the xp installer leaving tiny 8kb or 8mb chunks of empty space? it's because it's buggy & creates messed up tables, and correspondingly sometimes isn't happy with proper ones.

    odd, but not unheard of

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