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Danielnyc68
15 Posts
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128730
September 9th, 2007 23:00
Windows XP Does Not Respond at "Setup Is Starting Windows" Message
I want to install Windows XP Professional with SP2 on the following computer Dell Dimension E521 BIOS Version 1.1.11 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz) Processor 1 GB of RAM Seagate Barracude 7200.9 Serial ATA 160 GB Hard Drive CDRW/DVD-ROM Combo Optical Drive Internal Floppy Disk Drive ATI Radeon X1300 Pro Video Card with 256 MB of memory The computer boots from the WinXP CD and starts to copy the files from the CD to the hard drive. But the installation always hangs (freezes, does not respond) at the point where the "Setup is Starting Windows" message. I found this article from microsoft regarding this issue. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310760 I know that the CD media is not the problem, so I looked through the microsoft article and there are four possible reasons listed. Reasons 2 and 3 do not apply to my situation. For reason 4, I tried each one of the Hardware Abstraction Layers on the CD and each time I still get hung at "Setup is Starting Windows". So I then looked toward possible reason number 1. The latest SATA driver for the E521 on Dell's website, file R164974, doesn't have the required txtsetup.oem file. So after looking for a while on the internet, I found file R133282, which does have the required txtsetup.oem. This file has 2 different drivers. I have used the F6 key to load each of these drivers by itself as well as loading both of the drivers. All of this is to no avail. I always get stuck at the same place. Does anyone out there have the answer to this problem so that I can install Windows XP Pro with SP2 on my Dell Dimension E521 desktop computer?
Danielnyc68
15 Posts
12451
0
Posted September 10th, 2007 00:00
I already used DBAN and nuked the whole hard drive. I still have the same problem. I consider myself fairly tech savvy but I've been working on this problem on and off for about a week and it still has me stumped.Danielnyc68
15 Posts
12451
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Posted September 10th, 2007 00:00
All the BIOS settings are on their default choice. I did verify that Drives, SATA Operation is set to "RAID Off". The only things connected to the computer are the USB mouse, USB keyboard, LCD monitor and the A/C power cord.Danielnyc68
15 Posts
12451
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Posted September 10th, 2007 00:00
Yes, Vista was installed on the hard drive.- You may need to delete the Vista partition first before setup will run.I use this program for that, download it and make the CD or floppy diskette , boot from it and run the nuke program for 5 minutes ( no need to nuke the entire drive), press and hold the power button to shut the PC down after 5 minutes. Try the XP install now.
Danielnyc68
15 Posts
12489
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Posted September 10th, 2007 02:00
I removed the connector labeled P9 and attached the connector labeled P8. I was fully expecting this to provide absolutely no help whatsoever. But to my surprise, amazement and joy, the computer continued past the "Setup is starting Windows" message and I was able to partition the hard drive. Windows is formatting the first partition as I write this message. Mombodog, YOU ARE THE BEST! I'm glad it's working so far! Any idea why this solutions works? Can I switch the cable back after I install Windows XP Pro with SP2?Darryl_Gittins
49 Posts
2613
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Posted April 18th, 2011 20:00
I have a similar problem. My hard disk failed in my Dimension 4700, and I'm trying to put in a 500 GB WD replacement, but the Windows Setup hangs on the "Setup is starting Windows" screen.
Here's the history:
- I formatted the drive using Partition Magic into two 250 GB NTFS partitions.
- Tired running the Dell Windows XP SP2 installation disk, but the Windows Setup hangs on the "Setup is starting Windows" screen.
- I then booted from the Dell "Drivers and Utilities" CD which had a utility to create a SATA Mass storage driver on a floppy. I created the floppy
- I booted the computer and hit F6 to specify the SATA driver, and I then saw option for using either SATA AHCI or SATA RAID.
- Tried using SATA AHCI but got the BSOD 0x0000007b.
- Tried using SATA RAID but got the 0x0000007b again.
- I went into the BIOS and changed the "SATA Operation" mode in to "Combination" (it was previously set on "Normal").
- I rebooted, hit F6, and then tried loading the SATA AHCI and SATA RAID drivers, but but got the BSOD 0x0000007b again for both.
- I tried again to run the Windows XP setup, and again it hangs on the "Setup is starting Windows" screen.
- I tried using a different Windows XP OEM install disk, and the same thing happens.
- Loaded new BIOS. (Went from A03 to A10).
- Moved the new drive to a different SATA port.
Thanks for any suggestions!
mombodog
2 Intern
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12735 Posts
12451
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Posted September 9th, 2007 23:00
Message Edited by mombodog on 09-09-2007 07:55 PM