XP Reload Problems - Infinite Boot Loop

I have searched forums and am still having issues..... I am trying to load an XP system from scratch (got tired of the pre-loaded ME and its problems, but that's another story) Anyway, I ran an fdisk to remove the existing partitions and recreate a new C drive. I booted from the XP CD and went through the load process. The initial load ended and the first restart occurred, but instead of booting and continuing with the install, the machine keeps cycling and never gets past the inital "XP loading" screen. (It stays there for a few seconds and then reverts back to the boot process)

I went into the BIOS and the boot order is as follows: floppy, CD, hdisk.

I re-ran the install after running a fdisk /mbr and still have the same problems.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions?

 

Hello scottmarks,

Read thru this reference on XP clean install, see if you missed anything http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks for the input..... Pete, your second posting was essentially what I tried to do. I booted from the XP CD and deleted/recreated the partition. I also tried to install from a Win2000 CD in case my XP disc had issues and had the same infinite boot cycle occur.

The format seemed to run fine & the install appeared to take place, but when the auto reboot occurs, I don't get anywhere, just the loop. A colleague told me about the fdisk /mbr command & I ran that from a floppy hoping it would clear up any master boot record corruption, but it had no effect.

Unfortuneately, I can't even get to the point to connect to the internet

I'll keep hacking, but I'd appreciate any other ideas...

 

I can't say for sure but it sounds to me like it's crashing and (as XP does by default) is rebooting. It could possibly be a hardware problem. You might try removing all non essential hardware (network card, modem, sound card etc.) . If any of these are integrated into the motherboard, disable them in the bios. Then, re-format and then try to install windows.

Another thought. I don't know exactly how far into the install process you are so I thought I'd mention it. Have you tried getting into safemode?

 

I just went through the same thing (again). In every case it has been some hardware device causing the problem.

You only need keyboard, mouse, video card, cdrom drive. Disconnect everything else. Disable LAN, and audio card if they are part of the MOBO. Unplug modems, audio cards, and any other until XP is finished installing. You can add each hardware device one at a time after install.

Usually goes pretty good from there.

 

I see what may be some key words in the above which may be related to the problem. Namely got tired of the pre-loaded ME and its problems,

That tells me that the machine being worked with may be a so called OEM machine which was pre-loaded with ME

90% of the time ( from what I read and hear ) many of them are not capable of upgrading to a new OS UNLESS it is done with SPECIAL Software from the maker.

Therefore the possibility may exit that the machine is not capable of handling XP.

Bmoore1129 May well be on the right track. I have been there too. The only difference was I was trying to get 98SE on the machine. The builtin hardware would not handle SE drivers.

BillyBob

 

user error

When I have a similar problem, I just start over again. I don't think you can easily overcome this situation, and I've found the second attempt works fine. I think we sometimes hit a wrong key unknowingly. Next time we're more careful and everything works great.