Major Problems Reinstalling XP on Dimension 2400..any help appreciated

I can't run a diagnostics...when it freezes with a Fatal Error, it reboots back into the set up mode, right back where it froze.

You should run Dell Diagnostics on your computer's hard drive if you can.

There are some Youtube videos that show you how to re-install Windows XP.

Sounds like your hard drive is toast.

If you try booting normally from the hard drive, what color are the 4 diagnostic LEDs on the rear of the tower when it fails? If not all green, look up the error codes here.

Try booting from your Dell Resources CD which should have hardware diagnostics on it and run them from there.

Exactly what does the fatal error say?

Ron

Okay,  when I boot from the harddrive all four lights are green (it once again goes directly back into the "setup" of the Windows XP and freezes with an error). When I put the Resources CD in and boot from the CD drive, the last light is yellow. The error code seems to be related to the CD drive -

• Ensure that the cables are properly connected to the system board from the hard drive, CD drive, and DVD drive.

Not to sound stupid, but how do I check the connextion? Do I have to take the back off the computer?

Again, I appreciate any and all help!

Kiki

GGGY is a 'generic' error message, meaning something is wrong, but what..?

Yes, you'd have to open the case and follow instructions here to disconnect the cables from the various parts (don't uninstall the part itself!) and reconnect each cable. Be sure to do only one at a time so you don't mix up the connections. And always power off, unplug and press/hold power button on the tower for ~15 sec before you disconnect/reconnect any hardware.

This is strange since you said all 4 LEDs are green when you boot from the hard drive but GGGY when you both from the CD.

And exactly what does the error message say when you boot from the hard drive and it goes to that message?

Also try this, reboot from the hard drive and quickly press F8 before Windows starts to load. Select "Safe Mode" from the menu and tell us what happens.

Ron

Ron, as per your instructions... I first disconnected and reconnected the cables etc. I then rebooted again from the CD (all four lights remained green throughout this process). It restarts right back where the installation process left off.

After about 2 minutes I get this message-  Fatal Error. An error has been encountered that prevents setup from continuing. One of the components that Windows needs to continue setup could not be installed. Data Error (cyclic redundancy check). If you are installing from a CD there might be a problem with disc. Try cleaning the disc or use another disc. If you are installing from the network, it ispossible that not all of the files were copied correctly to your disk. Run the disk checking utility on your installation drive from the recovery Console and start setup again. Press okay to view setup file".

So, I hit okay and get this message- Error Installation Failed :D\I386\asms.  Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

Then I tried rebootting from the hard drive. It goes again right back to the installation mode and asks for the disk. I insert it and the same thing happens.

I then tried Safe Mode and get the message "Windows XP Setup cannot run in safemode. Setup will restart now".

I kept checking the green lights throughout all this and they appeared to remain green the whole time.

Hope the error message helps to decifer the problem.

Kiki

You may have a damaged XP CD (disk). Do you have another disk you can try? And/or carefully wipe this one to remove fingerprints and dirt.

Ron

Unfortunately, no....I have requested another disk from Dell. Hopefully, they will give it to me (they state that you are only allowed 1 set per computer). I have tried cleaning it to no avail. I guess I will wait until I (hopefully) get the new disk and try again.

My only other disk I have is service pack 1, the original one I got with the computer (the one they sent is sp3)...when I try to reinstall that one due to the errors, it won't install since I am in the middle of this install.

Do you have a bootable DOS floppy disk or CD? If you do, boot from that disk and reformat the hard drive.

If you boot from a DOS disk, you won't be able to format the hard drive in NTFS format. So be sure to reformat the drive again at the beginning of the fresh XP install and choose NTFS format. Then start the install over using the SP3 CD.

Ron

Since I don't know what you mean by bootable DOS floppy disk  or CD, I assume I don't have one. ;)

I don't have any floppy disks here....and not sure what a DOS CD is...sorry.

Kiki

Do you have access to a another PC that has a 3-1/2" floppy drive? And does the system you're trying to fix have a 3-1/2" floppy drive?

If yes to both of those questions, go here and download the Dos 6.22 file to the hard drive of that other system. Put a blank floppy in the drive and then double-click on the file you downloaded. When it's finished, use that floppy to boot the other system.

Assuming it boots from the floppy, at the prompt, type in:

format c:

Press Enter

When it's done, remove the floppy and reboot from the XP SP3 CD, start the XP installation and watch for the option to format the hard drive. Format it as NTFS file system (not FAT32 file system) and continue the installation. Hopefully that'll solve this problem.

Otherwise, if you have a geeky friend, ask him/her to pull the hard drive out of this system, install it in a dfferent PC as a secondary drive and format it NTFS. Then put it back in the original system and start the XP SP3 installation over.

Ron

EDITED

I will check my son's computer and see if he has a floppy drive. Dell IS sending a new XP disk...I may wait until I recieve it and see what happens with the new disk. If I am still having problems, I will go this route.

I'll keep you updated :) Thanks!

Well, it WAS a bad disk. I received the new one from Dell and it reinstalled perfectly with no issues :) Thanks for your help!

:emotion-21: