Windows Freezes during Initial Setup

Hello all, This is my second computer that I have built by myself, and about the 5th I have helped with, and it's giving me problems. First off, This is my system. ASUS Maximus Extreme Motherboard OCZ 2 GBs DDR3 1333mhz Ram Intel Duo Core 3.0 Ghz Processor nVidia GeForce 8800 GT graphics card Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250 GB Hard Drive Now, My problem. I put it all together, and started my system and got one beep, all is well. I can enter Bios fine, almost everything running at about 82 degrees at startup, 100 degrees F after about 15 minutes, and stabilizing. I install my Windows XP Professional disk, and it freezes at "Setup is starting windows". I never make it to the logo screen. This is still the blue screen with the gray bar at the bottom. By switching my Harddrive to Raid in the Bios, I can get two more screens past this point, but then it freezes again at "Examining Disk Configuration…" My hard drive came with no drivers, and the website says it doesn't need drivers. Windows is saying I need to format my harddrive and partition it, but I cannot figure out how to do so. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated. I have scoured the web and cannot find anything that will help me. I am currently into 12 days of owning this system that doesn't work.

HI

Sorry to hear of the problems you are having with your new rig.
It seems to be quite a beast! and should prove to be a real flying machine!

Some things, you might like to check before you go any further:

1 Check that your Microsoft Windows XP Pro is the SP2 version and is the original (in good condition….Try it on another machine) and you are not using a home burnt "backup" copy by mistake.
2 Assuming that your hard drive is the SATA version ( that model no. you give is available in both SATA and IDE versions) you may need to install Sata drivers (hit F6 when installing XP) and copy drivers from a floppy drive (I hope you remembered to fit a floppy drive!) Your mobo is so modern that it may not need SATA drivers to be installed but I'll post below the links so you can check things out.
3 Re-examine your manual install log, to see that you carried out all appropriate ESD (antistatic) precautions and that you followed the approved installation procedures, check particularly that you fitted the mobo into the correct sized case and understood correctly the purpose of the spacer/standoffs
4 In the BIOS it would be best to select AUTO and avoid any Raid settings!
5 Next things to check are that you have definitely got a complete understanding of the compatibility of your individual components…..the video card(s) for example can be tricky as you are almost spoilt for choice as the options are pretty extensive.
6 Make sure that you are happy with the "location" of the mobo and you do not have a potential short circit anywhere, even when the unit is put under tension/flexion/torsion etc
7 Check the seating of your RAM as well as compatibility……. and if necessary run mem test from floppy disc or CD Rom (see link below.
8 When you insert your Microsoft Windows Installation disc it should give you the opportunity to partition and format your disc before the installation proper commences
9 You can download diagnostic and install/partition/formatting tools from Seagate ( see link below)
10 As a final thought if you take your rig into your local competent computer tech he/she will usually be able to perform a diagnostic for you at a relatively small cost.
Good luck with your new machoine and I hope you will soon be flying!
Links:
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?loca…000dd04090aRCRD

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?loca…000dd04090aRCRD

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348/en-us

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2245

http://www.memtest.org/
Regards
paws

Thanks for responding to this, Hopefully it will find the problem. 1 Check that your Microsoft Windows XP Pro is the SP2 version and is the original (in good condition….Try it on another machine) and you are not using a home burnt "backup" copy by mistake. - Original OEM version bought from tiger-direct. SP2 is included. 2 Assuming that your hard drive is the SATA version ( that model no. you give is available in both SATA and IDE versions) you may need to install Sata drivers (hit F6 when installing XP) and copy drivers from a floppy drive (I hope you remembered to fit a floppy drive!) Your mobo is so modern that it may not need SATA drivers to be installed but I'll post below the links so you can check things out. - Well, I'm glad floppy drives are cheap, because no, I didn't fit one. I was under the assumption that I didn't need to. 3 Re-examine your manual install log, to see that you carried out all appropriate ESD (antistatic) precautions and that you followed the approved installation procedures, check particularly that you fitted the mobo into the correct sized case and understood correctly the purpose of the spacer/standoffs. - (Manual install log?) I'm assuming that you pretty much mean, did I follow all instructions. That part I did do. The motherboard is mounted on one spacer per bolt. The only thing that I couldn't follow, because while the motherboard fits, any connections that mount to the side have very minimal space, so I had to plug the hard drive into port 2, not port 1. The instructions don't say I can't do that, and Bios recognizes the hard drive. 4 In the BIOS it would be best to select AUTO and avoid any Raid settings! - Unfortunately it doesn't let me select auto. I only have three settings, IDE, RAID, or ASHI (Whatever the other letters are), and setting it to raid gets me farther then any of the other settings. 5 Next things to check are that you have definitely got a complete understanding of the compatibility of your individual components…..the video card(s) for example can be tricky as you are almost spoilt for choice as the options are pretty extensive. - Now while I'm no expert, by far, I don't see why the Video card would not work. I meet all the requirements on tigerdirects web page. Other components though, the Bios recognizes 2 gigs of ram, it recognizes my hard drive, The processor….. well… in the motherboard manual for installation, it shows the same processor and fan I'm using. 6 Make sure that you are happy with the "location" of the mobo and you do not have a potential short circit anywhere, even when the unit is put under tension/flexion/torsion etc - I'm not seeing any area that could short circuit. This is even the second motherboard I have put in it. The first one had a bad temperature sensor for the CPU, the more coolant I put on it, the hotter it told me it got. With just a fan, 86.7 degree's. With a two fan's and thermal paste, 177.5 7 Check the seating of your RAM as well as compatibility……. and if necessary run mem test from floppy disc or CD Rom (see link below. - The Ram is seated, and while OCZ isn't on the Qualified vendors list, the Bios does recognize that it's there. Same as above, I'm going to have to get a floppy drive. 8 When you insert your Microsoft Windows Installation disc it should give you the opportunity to partition and format your disc before the installation proper commences - All it does, is load all the drivers, then try to setup, then examines the disk configuration and freezes. 9 You can download diagnostic and install/partition/formatting tools from Seagate ( see link below) - See needing a floppy drive above. 10 As a final thought if you take your rig into your local competent computer tech he/she will usually be able to perform a diagnostic for you at a relatively small cost. Good luck with your new machoine and I hope you will soon be flying! - We'll see. The techs around here just make me mad. Thanks for trying to help. I guess the first step is to get a floppy disk drive. Um….. 2. The computer I'm currantly using doesn't have one either.

Tada! Problem is solved. Turns out one of my OCZ ram chips was not working properly. I called OCZ and they told me to make sure the voltage going to my duel channel DDR3 1337Mhz ram was set at 1.7 volts. When I get back from the grocery store, and windows finishes installing, I'll see if that fixes it. But for now, I'm running at 1 gig of ram during the installation.

Sounds like good news to me. Well done Having had a problem with one of your memory modules I would still do an overnight run with memtest just to be on the safe side Regards paws

Im having this EXACT same problem with the following setup MSI P6N Diamond 4 gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR2 (4x 1gb) Q6600 2.4ghz Intel Core 2 Quad MSI GeForce 8800 Ultra OC Edition my primary OS is Vista Ultimate, i tried to repair w/ its CD and it just freezes on teh lil green Vista loading bar when i try to do a fresh install of XP i get forzen at the same place OP does. Examining disk blah blah blah i need to try taking out my ram one stick a time and see if thats my problem aswell, hopefully it is. its either my RAID controler or my RAM im pretty sure….

Im having this EXACT same problem with the following setup

MSI P6N Diamond
4 gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR2 (4x 1gb)
Q6600 2.4ghz Intel Core 2 Quad
MSI GeForce 8800 Ultra OC Edition

my primary OS is Vista Ultimate, i tried to repair w/ its CD and it just freezes on teh lil green Vista loading bar

when i try to do a fresh install of XP i get forzen at the same place OP does. Examining disk blah blah blah

i need to try taking out my ram one stick a time and see if thats my problem aswell, hopefully it is.

its either my RAID controler or my RAM im pretty sure….

Hi Orbitrix and welcome to WTT

If you haven't already done so I would suggest starting your own tread, when you post at the end of another thread there is a very good chance the post could be overlooked.

Regards
Adavis