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maoisn

1 Message

10713

February 4th, 2006 04:00

Blue Screen of Death when trying to install Windows XP

Received my new Dimension 9150 today. When I try to install Windows XP, I get the evil blue screen of death right after it says, "Starting Windows" ... I went as far as installing a floppy drive and inserting the SATA driver's disk downloaded from Dell's web site. I just can not get Windows XP to install.

It works fine with Windows 2000. I was able to format the drive and Win2K runs like a champ. However, I can not get WinXP to install for the life of me. What am I doing wrong?

Also, I think I majorly messed myself by deleting all partitions, creating a new NTFS partition and installing Win2K. How can I at the very least get my system back to factory preload? I have installed WinXP hundreds of times but just can not get it to install on this new Dimension 9150.

nudda

12 Posts

February 4th, 2006 07:00

Im also having a similar problem with my 9150. Can you please tell me where you got the correct SATA drivers from ?

sparkenh

570 Posts

February 4th, 2006 16:00

Bay Wolf responded to a similar problem re SATA drive and XP. He referred to this site for possible solutions. http://www.hothardware.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=22321&enterthread=y

maxd

2.4K Posts

February 4th, 2006 18:00

J03

19 Posts

February 4th, 2006 22:00

The Dell XP Pro disk already contains the necessary SATA RAID/AHCI drivers for installation, so you don't need to try to add the drivers using the F6 key - floppy drive method. My experience was when I tried to add the SATA driver using the F6 - floppy drive method, installation of XP Pro wouldl fail and give a BSOD.  I went round and round with Dell support about this and even wrote Dell HQ a letter concerning their XP disk because technically it was not built correctly as it will not allow a person to use any SATA driver(s) using the F6 key method. The OS disk will recognize the SATA driver as the same or even as newer, however, it would always fail installation. Finally, I tried just letting the disk install itself and it worked.

Try installing the OS and see if it will install by itself. 

After OS installation, install the chipset driver, reboot, and then install any updated SATA driver (personally, I am using Intel's) and they work just fine. SATA drivers can be updated after OS installation. While it would be nice to use updated SATA drivers at the time of installation, I have found that Dell's XP Pro disk will not allow you to do it.

As an FYI, I am on a Dell Dimension 9100, bought in July 05 using Dell XP Pro disk.

Since I'm using XP Pro, I'm unsure about any other Dell OS disk. However, there is a good probability that they will be built accordingly.

 

Message Edited by J03 on 02-04-2006 06:19 PM

ricolit

66 Posts

February 5th, 2006 05:00

according to a dell tech manager, f6 is only used for windows up to sp1

nudda

12 Posts

February 5th, 2006 10:00

sparkenh : Tried that but to no success. Ive wasted around 15 cdrs trying to burn a copy of XP Pro (from a genuine disc!!) slipstreamed with the drivers but it just isnt working.

maxd : Thanks

J03 : I decided not to get XP Pro from Dell directly when ordering the system as I already had a genuine copy of xp pro at home which I could use. I didnt know SATA hd's were such a pain and.
Ive tried your suggestions but it just isnt working no matter what I do. As a newbie to the whole SATA scene (althouhg Ive learn a lot since Ive been messing around with drivers etc) Im not too knowledged up on the whole thing and Im sure theres a solution but it just cant be done by myself.

I have spoken to dell technical support numerous times and theyve been just as useless each time. They say if I install any OS not provided by them then I will be invalidating the warranty. So ... Im back on my own again.

Apart from this, I havent been very pleased with the system overall. It is VERY noisy and everything seems to rattle inside. Spending >£1000 is not easy and I expect nothing less than perfection from my Dell 9150.
Ive tried contacting the guy who sold me this (IN INDIA!!) and funnily enough hes not picking up my calls or returning them - Ive left him more than 5 voice mails and 3 emails but hes disappeared. Does anyone know what the number is I need to call to return the system in the UK ? It hasnt bee 30 days yet and things arent looking too good so I just want to return the whole thing and save myself potential missery.

thanks guys !

J03

19 Posts

February 5th, 2006 16:00

I assume you are using XP Pro SP2? Is is OEM or retail (it really shouldn't matter). Have you tried using Intel's SATA drivers instead of Dell's? You've been able to install Windows 2000 but you cannot intall XP. hmmm  SATA drives are really not that problematic but PATA drives are definitely easier to work with.
 
As far as being noisy, I bought my 9100 with a 40gb SamSung and I considered the 9100 it to be fairly noisy. I thought it was the design of the case. When I was talking to Dell Tech Support about their OS, I mentioned that I considered the 9100 to be fairly noisy. Later, I bought another drive, a SamSung 160gb and it was really noisy. Well, to make a long story short,  the drive that is closest to the front of the case makes more noise that the one in the middle of the case. I had problems with my SamSung 160 and went through two of them. I then bought a Seagate 160gb from Newegg, and the difference in noise is night and day. The Seagate runs faster and is so quiet. I cannot hear it unless I am running a diagnostic tool on it. I've isolated/dampened all the noise inherent in the design of this case and now it is quiet. I was quite disappointed with the 9100 until I went over to a Seagate drive. Maxtor drives are also quite noisy. I have no experience with Western Digital. The only noise I hear now is the video card fan.
 
Getting back to the installation of the OS, I don't understand the problem. I've taken other OS's (from somewhere I can't mention) and tried them on this 9100. I've been able to install my old XP Pro OEM (SP2 sliptreamed), XP Pro SP2 64 bit, XP MCE 2005, XP Pro SP2 Corporate using the Intel SATA drivers. I don't use Dell's SATA drivers as they are old. I have not had any success installing Windows Vista Beta.
 
Perhaps the problem is that the disk you are using is not Dell branded and you are using Dell's SATA driver? I don't know if you have tried using Intel's drivers. Try going to Intel's site and pick up the SATA driver for your chipset. You need the floppy drive version. Also, make sure your BIOS is set up properly.

Also, I wonder if your XP Pro disk has become damaged in some way (just a thought).

Message Edited by J03 on 02-05-2006 12:55 PM

nudda

12 Posts

February 5th, 2006 21:00

Thanks for taking some time out to write a reply.

Ok first of all ... noise ; Actually my maxtor hd is quiet (Although Im waiting for it to fail on me any second as all my maxtor hd's have died in the past). Its actually the Optical drives that create resonance somewhere when theyre spinning fast. I opened the casing from the side to see they havent attached the media card reader and drives on tight enough. I tried to tighten the screws up but it seems the screws are too big for the holes theyre in. There are also some other rattles about. I do however agree with you on seagate - marvellous hd's I would get nothing else but one of those.

It could very well that its because Im using Dells' drivers. I have to admit Im a total newbie to these things could you possible guide me on how to find out my chipset drivers and where I need to look for them. Ive tried slipstraming the drivers in with my XP Pro SP2 so many times that I dont have any discs left ! My XP Pro SP2 original disc is fine - totally sratch free and works perfectly on IDE drives.

Thanks again!

sparkenh

570 Posts

February 6th, 2006 12:00

this is the url address of Dell UK Contact information:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/emea/contact/enuk?c=uk&l=en&s=gen

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