Yesterday I backed up my hard drive and then wiped it so I could reinstall Windows. The reformatting went fine, but when I tried installing Windows it suddenly reboot partway through. I've tried reformatting it and reinstalling Windows two or three times now, and it keeps rebooting partway in.
What the heck is going on here? This hard drive is about six months old, and it's worked perfectly so far. I booted from my other drive and ran a disk check on it, and it didn't turn up any problems. I also checked for viruses, and it also found nothing. I don't know what else to try at this point.
Help me, Hatrack! You're my only hope.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I assume you don't mean the standard reboot once the install reaches a set point?
Posted by Topher (Member # 9028) on :
Can you give me a little more info?
So, you have a working system. You back up your hard-drive, copying it to ANOTHER (?) disk. Then you wipe the disk you backed up. You then pop in your Windows (98, 2000, nt, xp, me, xp64?) cd and create a new partition - then windows begins copying system files. About halfway into THAT, the system automatically reboots with no prompting from you?
If that is the case, check and clean your CD. Try again. You can also try installing with another (earlier) version of windows to see if you have the same problem. Set your BIOS setting back to default (fail-safe). Check all connectors, etc.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
This is definitely not the sort of reboot that's supposed to happen. When it reboots, Windows will not load because files are missing.
Yes, Topher, that's pretty much what I did. I used Acronis Migrate Easy to clone my primary hard drive to another hard drive. It then wiped drive 1 clean. Then I started installing Windows XP Pro, and just after it started copying files, it suddenly rebooted.
I checked all the cables, and everything seemed secure. I checked around in the BIOS to see if anything looked out of the ordinary, but nothing did (though I didn't actually set it back to the fail-safe defaults--I'll do that next time).
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I've had this problem with a bad cd before.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Probably a bad CD.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Crapola. It's the only one I've got. Hopefully either my brother or my friend has a copy I can use.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Update: Maybe my CD was just dirty or something, because I got it to install Windows (sort of). It went through the first step (the DOS-esque screen), and when it rebooted, it said it could not load the operating system.
Then I tried using Acronis True Image to clone my backup drive back onto my main drive, and I got the same error when I tried to boot from it. Then I went and bought Norton Ghost 10 and used that to do the same thing, and it made a little more progress—now it gets to the Windows splash screen (the blue one where the cursor first appears) and then just sits there. The cursor moves, but nothing happens.
What the heck is going on? Is there an angry and vengeful demon possessing my hard drive? I've tried deleting and recreating the partition, reformatting, and reinstalling about a dozen different ways, and this drive still refuses to load Windows. Maybe it's time to send it back for a replacement.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
I had similar problems with my computer when I installed windows. It just wouldn't freaking install even though I had been running XP on it before hand with no problems. Turns out it was a known issue with the version of windows on my install CD and my mobo. After I used a SP1 XP pro CD, it worked fine. Have you tried other media?
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Yes, I have. My CD has SP1, and I tried my friend's disc with SP2 slipstreamed on it. No dice.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It's the only one I've got. Hopefully either my brother or my friend has a copy I can use.