Tech Support replaced Hard Drive...Unable to load Windows XP

Question

In June, I began receiving stop error: 0x00000024 ntfs.sys. Ran Dell Diagnostics (extended) and the only failed test was the case fan speed.  Tech support sent new fan but felt I may still have a hard drive issue.    Ran the machine for approx. 3 weeks with occasional blue screens. In past week there have been very frequent blue screen/mem. dump and reboots.  I decided to try a repair install of XP - no help. Then a clean install of XP after reformatting the main partition of C: - no help, in fact on each occasion the OS would not completely install refusing to load multiple system files each time.    Support then sent a tech to install new hard drive yesterday.  He installed drive and started Win XP installation then left my home.  Well, Windows XP failed to install on the new drive as well.  Unable to install all the same files as on the original hard drive.    I tried to install Win XP with the original CD shipped with the system, the new Win XP CD I received yesterday, and tried installing from both my DVD-ROM and DVD-RW drives with the same failed results. Also reformatted the new hard drive using NTFS format and tried to install OS....same issue.   Emailed Support again last night and they are sending yet another Windows XP CD.  I do not believe this will resolve the issue but don't know how to proceed.   Please, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks, Bev Kahne

bkahne · Answer

The install hits the first problem with the file tourP.exe.   *****The file tourP.exe was not copied correctly. The file setup placed on your hard drive is not a valid Windows XP system image.  If you are installing from a CD, there may be a problem with the Windows XP cd.  To retry, press Enter.  If you continue to receive this message, contact your Windows XP supplier of system administrator. To skip this file, press ESC.  Caution: If you skip this file, setup may not complete and Windows XP may not work properly. To quit setup, press F3.*****   Here is a partial list of the skipped files from one attempt but I am sure there were others:  tourP.exe  per_seq1.swf  ks.sys  rdbss.sys  modem.sys  mrxsmb.sys  parport.sys  swenum.sys  advapi32.dll  pjlmon.dll  kernel32.dll  ole32.dll  wdmaud.drv  cnbjmon.dll     Before replacing hard drive extended Diagnostics reported no memory errors.  There was a Read Error and Verify Error on the hard drive. I ran Hard Drive Diagnostics from the boot menu on the new drive and it was a PASS.   My system is: Dimension 8400                         P4 3.4                         2 GB Ram                        Nvidia 6800 GTO video card                        Win XP Home                        Audigy Sound                        DVD ROM                        DVD +- RW                         Thanks for the help! Bev

ejn63 · Answer

At what point in the install is the failure occuring, and what is the exact error message? Did you or the technician run the Dell diagnostic to rule out faulty RAM as a problem?

ejn63 · Answer

First run the Dell diags on the system memory. If you don't have those, memtest86 (www.memtest86.com) will also work.

Then completely wipe the hard drive (most of the manufacturers have utilities for doing this).

Then retry the installation.

bkahne · Answer

Ok, I downloaded and began to run Memtest-86 v3.2.   At this point, it has been running for approx. 6 hours.  Below is the report so far......is there any point to continuing this test?????   Pentium 4 (0.09)          3391 Mhz L1 Cache            16   23714 MB/s L2 Cache      1024K   20805 MB/s Memory         2046 M   2943 MB/s   Chipset Intel i925x/xe  (ECC: Disabled) - FSB: 199 Mhz  Type: DDR-II Settings: RAM 265 Mhz (DDR530)/CAS: 4-4-4-11/Dual Channel (Interleaved)   Walltime          5:57:56 Cached           2046M RsvdMem         260M MemMap        e820-Std Cache                on ECC                   off Test                   Std Pass                   11 Errors             141132 ECC Errs            0   Basically, it's a big red box full of thousands of fail addresses.   Obviously, there is something wrong here.  If I continue the testing will I get a report of the problem at the end?  Is this bad RAM or a bad Motherboard?   I haven't wiped the drive since the testing is still taking place.  Not sure I know how to do that.  Do you mean reformat?  All I know is they replaced my old drive (Seagate 160 ncq) with a Maxtor 250 (It's not marked refurb either so that's cool).   Thanks for the help, Bev

ejn63 · Answer

See if you can localize the errors - is it just one of the DIMMs? If not, remove one, test the other, then swap (same socket). If the error is just one DIMM, put the other one in that socket and re-test until you figure out whether it's just one, both, or the board that's faulty.

Something is wrong if you're seeing a cascade of failed writes.

bkahne · Answer

I determined that one of the DIMMS is defective and I have moved the healthy DIMM to each slot and re-ran Memtest-86 at each slot with no errors. Motherboard appears to be OK.

Now I guess the next step is to try to install Windows XP again with the only the healthy DIMM in place?

There is a failed install on the hard drive now. Should I reformat it before trying the new Win XP installation? Also, if I need to reformat, do I use NTFS Quick format or the full length NTFS format?

Making progress here and I appreciate the help!

Bev

bkahne · Answer

Ok, now I've reformatted C: (the new hard drive) and reinstalled Windows XP without a glitch.  The system is up and running....smooth as silk.  Now, to convince Tech Support that they need to send me out a new DIMM to replace the dead one since they already replaced the hard drive. Should this be a problem???   Thanks again so much for the help! Bev

Storage, Drives & Media

Tech Support replaced Hard Drive...Unable to load Windows XP

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