small partition help

I'm not sure just what you are saying. But, 8 MB HDD is not near enough for XP.

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@grreed wrote:

I'm reloading xp home edition on a dimension 4600. The 8 Meg pattion is unpartitioned. When I load windows I keep getting errors (blue screen of death) Is there any way to set this back to default?

Systems shipped after July 15, 2004 came with Symantec PC Restore. This utility restores the computer to an "as-shipped" condition. If you haven't reformatted, repartitioned, or otherwise modified the master boot record, it should work. Click here for instructions about Symantec PC Restore.

If you want to do a CLEAN install, follow the directions under the Product Support tab, then Reinstall Guides, and remove all partitions, then make 1, then format it.

I patitioned and reformated my hard drive, and reloaded xp home. Durring inital boot I get a an error code 800b0100 "No signature was present in the subject" and other errors is this normal? I have loaded windows many times and I always have  errors. Usually setup fails with some sort of error. Help chat people say it's a software issue, could my reload CD be bad? I have used it about one year ago, and it worked fine. This computer was purchased aug 2003.

Message Edited by grreed on 10-13-2005 06:42 AM

Message Edited by grreed on 10-13-2005 06:45 AM

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@grreed wrote:

I patitioned and reformated my hard drive, and reloaded xp home. Durring inital boot I get a an error code 800b0100 "No signature was present in the subject" and other errors is this normal? I have loaded windows many times and I always have  errors. Usually setup fails with some sort of error. Help chat people say it's a software issue, could my reload CD be bad? I have used it about one year ago, and it worked fine. This computer was purchased aug 2003.

 

An XP reinstall, done properly, should result in no errors.  Did you remove ALL partitions first?  Did you unplug all devices except the keyboard, monitor, and mouse? 

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@grreed wrote:

I removed the partition, but there is an 8 Meg partition that says it is unpartitioned. I have no idea what that is for. Also the only things I have connected to the PC are; mouse, monitor, and keyboard. I'm thinking about finding a windows 98 startup disk and doing a surface scan to the hard drive.

 

Thanks

 

I'll try this again.

 

Remove ALL PARTITIONS that are removable in the install process.  It brings them up, you delete them.  Make a new one, format it, then install XP.  The 8mb leftover can be ignored if you cannot remove it.

I have deleted the partition every time. I then create the  partition and continue with install. The install usually fails to load a file, I then push enter to retry and it continue. Sometimes this happens to only one file and sometimes to several. After the install, the setup screen comes up. If it does not stop and say that setup failed it finishes and reboots. Later I get the blue screen of death with "BAD_POOL_CALLER" OR "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" or some other reason. I'm at a total loss.

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@grreed wrote:
I have deleted the partition every time. I then create the  partition and continue with install. The install usually fails to load a file, I then push enter to retry and it continue. Sometimes this happens to only one file and sometimes to several. After the install, the setup screen comes up. If it does not stop and say that setup failed it finishes and reboots. Later I get the blue screen of death with "BAD_POOL_CALLER" OR "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" or some other reason. I'm at a total loss.

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Boot to Dell diagnostics and run them.

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@grreed wrote:

I did that last night, my memory had several faults. with error code 2f00:0b1c "Memory Data  Data Bus Stress Test Failure and error code 2f2f:0119 Channel B DIMM 0. I swapped the  two DIMM's between each other and retested the memory and got the same error code. I chatted with Dell support and they said the hardware sounds ok and that they thought it was a software issue.

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Providing that info at the beginning would have saved us both some time.

Dell support is incompetent.  You have a bad memory stick.  Stop wasting your time and call Dell for warranty service. 

If I swapped the memory stix wouldn't the error change from Channel B Dimm 0 to Channel A or Dimm 1. Because I had the same exact error Channel B Dimm 0 before and after the swap. To me this looks like motherboard, but I have never had to deal with Dell on tech support so I was trying the software issue.

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@grreed wrote:
If I swapped the memory stix wouldn't the error change from Channel B Dimm 0 to Channel A or Dimm 1. Because I had the same exact error Channel B Dimm 0 before and after the swap. To me this looks like motherboard, but I have never had to deal with Dell on tech support so I was trying the software issue.

 

The 4600 has two memory channels.  If you have two sticks, they should be installed in the same channel.  If you move a stick around and the diagnostics flag the stick, it's bad.  If you move sticks around and diagnostics flag the slot, it's the slot.

Hey thanks. I did have a bad memory stick. I thought I had that or a motherboard problem, then the Dell tech support talked me out of it and said it was software. Dell tech support confidence level just plummeted. They themselves even scanned the computer while my son called them. I was able to test and remove the bad stick and load XP.

 

 

Thanks Again

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@grreed wrote:

Hey thanks. I did have a bad memory stick. I thought I had that or a motherboard problem, then the Dell tech support talked me out of it and said it was software. Dell tech support confidence level just plummeted. They themselves even scanned the computer while my son called them. I was able to test and remove the bad stick and load XP.

Thanks Again

Glad to have helped.  Make sure to replace the stick to re-enable dual channel mode.