Re: Starting Windows 2000 hangs on new install.

From: Kevin Lawton (kepla_at_btinternet.com)
Date: 04/25/04 

Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 14:41:34 +0000 (UTC)

Oh dear - no hope for me then ! :-(
All the various bits for this new PC were gradually purchased last Autumn. I
was then busy working away from home over the winter so I only got the time
to try putting everything together about 3 weeks ago.
Logically, I find it difficult to understand why one build using a set of
components might work while another build using identical components might
fail. I can accept that it might happen occasionally but, in the absence of
an actual fault somewhere, I can't understand it.
Given that all other parts have been swapped, the logical conclusion is that
the problem lies between the CPU and Windows 2000. Either the XP2400 is
unable to work in some way that only Windows 2000 (and no other op system)
requires, or Windows 2000 is trying to do something with the XP2400 (and not
with other processors) which the XP2400 should not be doing. The problem
lies in proving which one - the XP2400 or Windows 2000 - is faulty. In the
absence of decent diagnostics from Windows 2000, and comprehendsive CPU test
and diagnostic software, this is pretty much impossible.
Purchasing either another XP2400 CPU, or another copy of Windows 2000, is
not a financially viable option for me.
The one thing I think I need now is some way forward. By all accounts an
XP2400 on a GA-7VRXP should be able to run Windows 2000, so it is case of
pin-pointing the problem.
Very gratefull for all the help received so far, I'm hoping that somebody
has a good idea.
TIA
Kevin.

DL <dl@spoofmail.com> wrote:
| I mention BT merely as an example of my experience with a piece of
| hardware not functioning, whilst on an identical setup it was ok.
| I'm trying to point out; that there are occasions when with identical
| setups one will work and the other will not.
| The likelyhood is that if you were able to swap out the mobo and cpu
| for identical products it would be OK.
| The only hope for this is if you bought at same time from same
| supplier
|
| "Kevin Lawton" <kepla@btinternet.com> wrote in message
| news:c6g47v$clh$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
|| DL <> wrote:
||| BT? - your ISP is BT
||
|| Well yes, my ISP is BT but I don't think they'd want to get involved
|| with a hardware or software problem on a machine which hasn't got as
|| far as being 'connected' yet. It can be bad enough (and very
|| time-consuming) trying to get BT to help when there's a connection
|| problem, or their DNS servers are down. Their expensive-to-call
|| helpdesk staff just follow a 'script' of inappropriate questions and
|| misleading suggestions (like insisting that I should re-install all
|| my software and buy a new router when they have a DNS problem !). I
|| can imagine they'd probably have me going out buying a new monitor,
|| or removing the HSF to see if the XP2400 gets warm enough ! Their
|| support is worse than useless - the only reason I stick with them is
|| because it would be too much hassle if I lost this e-mail address as
|| I use it to get work.
|| I've already tried swapping out the m/board for another identical
|| one - and the problem was identical too. I could have a shot at
|| trying to return the CPU, but I'd need to show that it is faulty
|| first. As it will merrily run Windows Me (or several other op
|| systems I've tried) with no problem then that is going to be
|| difficult. I could counter that with saying that a Duon 650 does run
|| everything fine.
|| The one variable I haven't tried in this 'equation' yet is a
|| completely different m/board. It might just be that the combination
|| of GA-7VRXP, XP2400 and Windows 2000 are incompatible. At the
|| moment, I can swap the XP2400 for a Duron 650, or swap Windows 2000
|| for Windows Me and get a result. What I haven't tried is some
|| different m/board. The main barrier with this is that a new m/board
|| is just as inaffordable as a new CPU.
|| I think my PC is bad for my mental health !
|| Kevin.
||
||| I spoke with them because I was able to identify the initial problem
||| as been with their hardware.
||| The problem is that you have at least three pieces of kit, any of
||| which could be the problem, though its more likely to be hardware
||| than software. If you recently purchased mobo or cpu are you able to
||| exchange ?
|||
||| "Kevin Lawton" <kepla@btinternet.com> wrote in message
||| news:c6f48p$irc$1@titan.btinternet.com...
|||| DL <> wrote:
||||| Nothing special as far as I'm aware, I only had the problem with
||||| one AMD cpu, never cured it and I did swap it for another
||||| identical cpu, gave up, upgraded mobo and cpu.
||||| There have been reports of the occasional problems with various
||||| hardware and AMD, though this was some years ago, where seemingly
||||| with identical hardware one would have a conflict and the other
||||| wouldnt.
||||| I got into some deep conversations with BT and AMD over this
||||| issue.
||||
|||| BT ? - who are they ?
|||| I would really like for MS to be involved. After all, it is Windows
|||| 2000 which is going wrong and failing to provide an error message.
|||| I'll certainly have words with AMD support, who I expect will refer
|||| me to Gigabyte, who in turn will either ignore me or refer me
|||| elsewhere.
|||| The question is: if I were to go out and buy another GA-7VRXP
|||| m/board, AMD XP2400 processor, and a fresh shrink-wrapped copy of
|||| Windows 2000 would it all work ?
|||| Kevin.
||||
||||| "Kevin Lawton" <> wrote in message
||||| news:c6eqjg$43g$1@titan.btinternet.com...
|||||| DL <> wrote:
||||||| I've changed mobo's and cpu's on many Win2K setups the only one
||||||| I had trouble with was a1.3Duron, and that was an heat problem,
||||||| even using OTT coolers - never got to the bottom of it!!
|||||||
||||||| When I mentioned entering the bios I meant was the new cpu being
||||||| correctly identified
||||||
|||||| Yes - the BIOS identifies both the Duron 650 and the XP2400
|||||| correctly. In the Windows Me installation which works with either
|||||| processor (I swap HDs) I have a few utilities which can run
|||||| system identification and
||||| benchmarking -
|||||| everything shows up correctly with all of them. What I don't have
|||||| is any software to fully test out a CPU. I can identify it, burn
|||||| it in and benchmark it - but not fully test it, the whole works -
|||||| all instructions, caches, pipelines, everything. I think that
|||||| this would have to be my next step short of actually buying
|||||| another XP2400 (ouch - my poor wallet). I guess there isn't a
|||||| special way you have
|||||| to install Windows 2000 on an XP processor because of the SSE
|||||| instructions, is there ?
|||||| TIA
|||||| Kevin.
||||||
||||||| "Kevin Lawton" <> wrote in message
||||||| news:c6deah$s2r$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
|||||||| DL <> wrote:
||||||||| Sorry missed the line about mobo;
|||||||| No worries, mate, it was early on in the thread. ;-)
||||||||| With mobo switches on auto, Boots/Runs OK with Duran. - yes?
|||||||| Oh yes, yes, yes. I can even play around with the FSB and
|||||||| multiplier switches and overclock the Duron 650 up to 897 MHz
|||||||| and it still
|||||||| works fine. Solid processor, that Duron.
||||||||| Matrox drivers installed for win2k? - yes?
|||||||| Well, no they weren't. Matrox cards do the standard VESA modes
|||||||| properly so they are fine with Windows 'generic VGA card'
|||||||| drivers.
|||||||| I have now tried installing the latest Matrox drivers and guess
|||||||| what ? - no change.
||||||||| Change the cpu, restart, enter the bios and check settings, eg
||||||||| cpu.
|||||||| I've tried this, with the settings on auto and with the
|||||||| settings forcing the correct FSB and multiplier. I've even
|||||||| tried underclocking the XP2400 a bit. Still no change - works
|||||||| fine in Windows Me and hangs at Windows 2000 startup.
||||||||| If OK reboot from win2k installation disk ( you may have to
||||||||| enable boot from cd in bios) and repair.
|||||||| Tried this and of course the repair installation hangs after
|||||||| the 'Starting Windows' progress bar again. Had to swap back to
|||||||| the Duron 650 to get that to finish again.
||||||||| Other than that you appear to have covered everything.
|||||||| That's what I thought, but there is still a problem. The way
|||||||| things are going I might be better off using this PC as
|||||||| landfill and 'cover everything' with concrete !
||||||||| Good luck
|||||||| I think I need more than luck - I need a miracle. At least, I
|||||||| could do with some decent diagnostics out of Windows 2000. I
|||||||| don't really want to have to spend the rest of my life trying
|||||||| to edit video on a Duron 650.
|||||||| Thanks for the help.
|||||||| Kevin.
||||||||
||||||||| "Kevin Lawton" <> wrote in message
||||||||| news:c61h6v$r0f$1@titan.btinternet.com...
|||||||||| Sorry- I though that was known. The motherboard is a Gigabyte
|||||||||| GA-7VRXP (I have tried two samples) Rev1.1, as staed in my
|||||||||| original post which is still at the foot of this thread.
|||||||||| Originally I left the m/board switches for FSB and multiplier
|||||||||| in the 'auto' setting, as was the memory bus clock. Since
|||||||||| then I've tried slowing things down from 133 MHz to 100 MHz
|||||||||| on the FSB (effectively 266 -> 200 due to DDR), and from 166
|||||||||| MHz to 133 MHz then 100 MHz on the memory bus clock (DDR =
|||||||||| 333 -> 266 -> 200). Same result every time - problem
|||||||||| persists.
|||||||||| M/board BIOS is 'F12', which is the latest on the Gigabyte
|||||||||| web site. Not too sure what else I can adjust without doing
|||||||||| damage. Kevin.
||||||||||
|||||||||| DL <> wrote:
||||||||||| If I understand correctly;
||||||||||| Using Duran, win2k installed and booted correctly
||||||||||| With XP2400 it wouldnt boot ( Win98 is I believe slightly
||||||||||| more hardware 'fault' tolerant)
||||||||||| If this is the case might suggest a mobo setting, with this
||||||||||| cpu, or possibly bios update required.
||||||||||| What is the mobo?
|||||||||||
||||||||||| "Kevin Lawton" <> wrote in message
||||||||||| news:c60fh8$dc7$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
|||||||||||| I'm on about as mininal as the system can go anyway, the
|||||||||||| only card being the Matrix G400 graphics card.
|||||||||||| I've tried swapping every system component individually
|||||||||||| for a replacement - except for the processor (expensive
|||||||||||| !). The
|||||||||||| same result every time - the system hangs when the
|||||||||||| 'Starting Windows' progress bar completes. With a fresh
|||||||||||| install, this
|||||||||||| is as far as I can get - the install
|||||||||||| hasn't completed sufficiently to give me any 'recovery'
|||||||||||| options.
|||||||||||| I did try swapping out the XP2400 processor for an old
|||||||||||| Duron 650 - and it worked fine ! Problem with that is
|||||||||||| that the Duron 650 doesn't give enough performance for the
|||||||||||| video editing I'm
|||||||||||| planning to do.
|||||||||||| After the system was fully working with the Duron 650 I
|||||||||||| went back to the XP2400 and the problem re-emerged just
|||||||||||| the same.
|||||||||||| I also tried installing Windows Me and that runs on the
|||||||||||| XP2400 fine, so I'm not inclined to blame the processor.
|||||||||||| Could there be something which Windows 2000 is doing with
|||||||||||| the XP2400 which doesn't happen with a different processor
|||||||||||| or op system ?
|||||||||||| I'm really confused with this - any help gratefully
|||||||||||| appreciated. Kevin.
||||||||||||
|||||||||||| DL <> wrote:
||||||||||||| Tried installing to min sys, Monitor, KeyB, mouse,cd - no
||||||||||||| cards, extra hardware
||||||||||||| and or with a single DDR?
|||||||||||||
||||||||||||| "Kevin Lawton" <> wrote in message
||||||||||||| news:15bf201c41b60$b9c8a000$a601280a@phx.gbl...
|||||||||||||| I've just installed Windows 2000 onto a new machine and
|||||||||||||| it hangs indefinitely when the 'Starting Windows'
|||||||||||||| progress bar completes. No error messages or re-boots -
|||||||||||||| it just hangs. Machine spec:
|||||||||||||| AMD XP2400 processor,
|||||||||||||| Gigabyte GA-7VRXP m/board,
|||||||||||||| 2 x 256 Mb DDR PC2700 RAM,
|||||||||||||| 330w PSU,
|||||||||||||| Seagate 60 Gb HDD.
|||||||||||||| The m/board, memory and HDD have been swapped-out with no
|||||||||||||| change in result. The system can boot into DOS, from
|||||||||||||| either floppy or HD fine.
|||||||||||||| I think I might have seen similar problems reported
|||||||||||||| before, but don't recall seeing any solution.
|||||||||||||| Please help.
|||||||||||||| Regards,
|||||||||||||| Kevin.

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