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I received a dell dimension 4400 from a friend. As it was slightly faster than the one I had I decided to intall my video card and hard drive to the new computer.
Now my hard drive will not boot up and as stated, I get the blue screen right before the windows logo and computer restarts. And it continues to do this til I turn off the computer. I tried to use the pause button so I could read the blue screen but it never works.
The hard drive that came w/this computer works fine.
I tried the repair console from the windows cd but it asks for the administrator paswod. I have never set a passwod for this hard drive. When I press enter I just get a windows prompt.
What should I do next?
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To use your old hard drive in this new(er) computer, you would need to do a repair installation of the operating system while connected to the new(er) computer. The drivers and registry loaded on that hard drive are specifically for the components in your old computer.
You will need to reapply all Windows Updates after the repair installation, and you should check for driver updates from the manufacturer for the hardware components (audio, video, ethernet, etc.). You may need to use a third party software program to help identify the components. I recommend SIW (System Information for Windows).
I tried to repair windows and reinstall, only to have it hang will installing devices w/34 min remaining. I found the Microsoft article about this understand it is a hardware issue. I pulled all card except the video card and it still hangs.
If the original hard drive in the new(er) computer is still attached, remove it. If more than 1 cd or dvd drive, disconnect 1. Have you gone into the BIOS and reset it to default? If you have any other hardware attached that is not necessary (like a printer, speakers, etc) unhook it.
Those logs might be helpful if none of the above helps. Also grab the setuplog.txt file. I would imagine they are too large to post here, so feel free to email them to me. Put RE: smitRem in the subject line.
I've been able to do everything except set the bios to default b/c this new(er) computer is password protected and there isn't any way to get the password. I am currently working w/Dell about this but have to transfer ownership first and can't do that til tomorrow.
Anyway I'm mailing you the files. Thanks so much for your help.
Turn the computer off and remove the BIOS battery for a couple of minutes. That should clear the password. It will also clear the BIOS date and time, so make sure to reset those first.
Resetting the battery is an old trick, I've been away from the computer too long, I didn't even think of it. Thanks!
After I set the bios to default, it wouldn't reconize the hard drives, so I replaced the ide cable and that worked. I was hoping that might have been the problem (the ide cable) but setup still hangs.
Notice the bolded line in the Firmware Hub Device installation Device successfully installed. The setuplog ends without showing the same message for the LPC Interface Controller.
Setupapi.txt ends while the same device is being installed.
Quote:
#I123 Doing full install of "PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2440&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_05\3&61AAA01&0&F8".
The next line (were there a next line) should read;
Quote:
#I121 Device install of "PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2440&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_05\3&61AAA01&0&F8" finished successfully.
What does all this mean? I don't know, but it's something to go on towards finding an answer. Maybe someone else will chime in with some insight or suggestion. I'll continue trying to research it as well.
There should be new setup logs too. Have a look at them to see if they stop at the same place, or if the changes in the BIOS have affected it otherwise.
