Installing Vista on a PC i've Built

[louis321]

Hi, first and foremostly I will post my system specs:

 

MOBO - Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-086-GI

 

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-158-IN

 

PSU - Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-CS

 

Disk Drive - Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - OEM

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-044-PO

 

Harddrive - Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-034-HI

 

Graphics Card - XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB DDR3 PCI-Express (PV-T80G-GHF9)

 

 

The problem/situation is: I tried to install the version of XP that came with my old PC, that didn't work as it froze while it was supposedly 'connecting to the network' (I believe thats what it said). I therefore bought a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit and tried to install it. It was running fine, although quite slowly, up until the end of the first stage (product verification maybe, sorry I can't remember what it was called), as soon as it should have started to install it froze, I left it for over 30minutes and still nothing ('Aero Glass' grey, cursor not moving). Now whenever I try and begin the installation process again it freezes around where you choose your language etc. It even froze on the logo screen for my mobo (where you choose to go into bios etc).

 

Other things that may be relevant are: when I dont press 'boot from CD' it goes back into the failed XP installation; I partitioned my hdrive as it said to do so in my mobo's manual however the smaller partition is called 'primary' and the other one .... sorry I can't remember exactly what, and the comp now freezes before this point , pretty sure it isn't 'secondary' :)); my CPU is running at 60degrees+ during startup then went to 80 once when I was installing Vista (cool room, 2 120mm fans running at 1200rpm, intake-exhaust, cabling neat).

 

What can I do to fix this problem, please help!

[danzil]

hi there

just to confirm, you say it as frozen during post,,,this being when your bios loads.

if htis is the case then a hardware fault is most likely,,,not the operating system installation.

i find usually installs fail due to the following cpu heat, memory faulty, hard drive faulty, graphics card heat.

these are the main issue i find (so my opinion), you may want to check these out,,,,,may want to see if there is a bios update, or at least reset it..pop the cmos battery out of your board for 30 mins then pop it back in then set the bios time n date back up, boot order etc.

if you do go down the hardware checking area, i would try memory first,,,download memtest, bash it on floppy boot from it and leave it to run for 24 hours or until its complete.....this checks every byte of memory you have for read and write errors.etc.

any thing else i can help with please post back.

regards

danzil

[danzil]

1 other thing you may want to try if possible.

is to put the hard drive in another pc, and copy the whole of the xp cd to the drive,via dos or cmd prompt,then put it back in your machine, and then try booting from a floppy and going to c:\ and runnuing setup.exe

not sure if this can be done in xp.i know all previous o/s's could. this has worked for me numerous times,not saying it will for oyu tho,use this as a last resort

can someone verify this.

regards

danzil

[Lone_wolf_S117]

I hear that vista 64 bit been having trouble. but xp not installing, i think theres something wrong with your bios or HD

[danzil]

do you have another hard drive hanging around,maybe worth a try,,,but the bios freezing inst a good sign.

regards

danzil

[louis321]

Thanks for all the posts. If it could be as result of the CPU temperature (like Danzil said in his first post) I think its probably most likely to be that. Just because the freezing gets worse the longer I have the computer running (and the temp begins to get higher).

 

However I will try what you have suggested first to check it isn't something else, memtest etc. If it does turn out to be the CPU temp should I buy a new chip (not sure if a faulty/broken chip can result in high temps), a new heatsink, reapply thermal grease, a new/cooler case? What would be the best route?

 

Thanks again for the posts.

[louis321]

Nope havn't got anyother hard drives around :(

 

Its a SATA drive so should there be anything I need to change/check in the BIOS?

[danzil]

i wouldnt worry about checking the hard drive right away,,,defiantly clean and replace the thermal grease on the heatsink and see if that helps.clecn it off the heat sink n cpu then re apply some liquid silver or some good quality grease....

if htat doesnt help then a more powerfull heatsink n fan maybe reqiured.

regards

danzil

[louis321]

Ok will do, but could the high temperatures be caused by a defective chip?

[louis321]

I've got the CPU temp down to 38 by reapplying the TIM, but its still freezing (1minute into memtest, Vista installation etc) any suggestions?

[danzil]

i would now try a different stick of ram on its own in the machine,,(not one you already have installed),this maybe the issue,if its freezing during memtest then it may be try to write or read from the damage byte.

this is far more cheaper then replacing the cpu at this stage.

regards

danzil