my os wont install Help!!!!!!! please

[milsomonk]

ok basicly, my cpu overheated destroying itself and the mobo, so i got a new mobo and cpu but my vista wont do a repair install. so i do a xp clean install but it doesnt boot from hard drive so i found out it was because it was an oem. so i bought vista home premium 64 bit sp1. but when i boot that up off the disc it gets to windows is loading files( the very first stage) then a blue screen comes up saying pc must shut down or itl be damaged. the errors that come up are always different like PAGE_FAULT_IN_NOPAGE_AREA and such like. please help im at my wits end.
my set up is:
athlon 64 x2 5200
2gb ddr2 800
160gb ram
asrock alivexfire mobo
nvidia geforce 8600 gt 512mb

[nicky munchkin]

Sounds like RAM. Start mixing and matching the sticks until it works to find out which stick is the culprit.

[milsomonk]

yep tried that still the same thing, could it be a graphics card memory thing?

[latency]

Don't swap memory sticks- run Memtest86. That's a yes / no answer as to if the RAM is faulty.

Run the diagnostics for your hard drive- seagate, get SeaTools for Dos, maxtor, seatools again, Western Digital, get Data Lifeguard Diagnostics, etc...

Back up your hard drive as well, this might be early signs of failure.
RAM is still my guess, but better safe than sorry...

[milsomonk]

ok how do i run those without an operating system?

[Kynoch]

Memtest86 and the hard drive diagnostics for your make of drive will run from a floppy disk drive or a bootable usb drive. They have their own OS as such, so they do not need windows etc to be installed to run.

[Fat Jez]

a couple of other things to check, are you running the memory within it's timings, are you giving it enough voltage? I've seen memory rated for DDR800 for example, which needs 2.1V to work, but the default on the motherboard is 1.8v, leading to random crashes. The documentation that came with it should tell you what to set it to.

[milsomonk]

hard drive is fine just waiting for the mem

[milsomonk]

nope no probs detected and yet it still doesnt work, another error i get is PFN_LIST_CORRUPT

[latency]

Doing some googling, all results are all saying CPU RAM or Mobo...

Try resetting your BIOS, some people had luck with that.
Also, I've just checked the CPU support list for that mobo, and some steppings of the X2 5200 aren't supported until a high BIOS version- check what version your BIOS is at, the second revision of the X2 5200 needs BIOS P2.10

[milsomonk]

k chears ill do that

[milsomonk]

ive got p2.20 and it still dont work

[milsomonk]

i am trying to install xp now

[milsomonk]

aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh xp same thing happens. please anyone help ?

[Tom]

Have you tried a bootable Linux live CD of some description? Ubuntu's desktop install disk (doesn't do anything unless you ask; don't panic) will give you a full desktop/browser etc. with the ability to diagnose certain faults.

Particularly, you could run some CPU stress utilities (google 'Ubuntu <search term>' and you'll always find another thread where the question has been answered already!) and make sure your CPU isn't on the way out.

Sounds like the CPU you have either isn't properly supported on the motherboard (check for BIOS updates for the motherboard) and/or the CPU is actually buggered.

I'm amazed an overheating CPU destroyed your old motherboard - are you certain that it's broken?

[milsomonk]

yeah the socket was trashed, i had to reheat the cpu to get it out,
tried linux didnt work

[latency]

tried linux didnt work

We need more than that if we're going to be able to help...

Did it boot?
Did it give an error?
Did it just black-screen?
Did it not show any faults?
Did you run a CPU stress test with it?

If a linux live CD won't boot up due to some kind of hardware error, then you're simply going to have to start replace parts.

If memtest ran clean, that's the RAM in the clear, try disconnecting anything not needed (USB devices, additional HDDs, additional PCI cards...) and then see if it works, if it's still working, you're pretty much down to CPU or Mobo, you'll have to replace one or find a spare to prove it.

Also, is your optical drive SATA? I've seen XP have issues with installing from SATA optical drives.

[milsomonk]

It did boot
after about 2mins it died(just crashed mouse wouldnt move)then went off
i have sata drivers for my xp install
i dont have any aditional pci cards only graphics card or aditional hard drives
my ram and hard drive passed there tests(memtest86 and dskchk)

[milsomonk]

oh and cpu was running at 800mhz

[Fat Jez]

Bottom line as far as I can see it, is you have hardware issues. What, I don't know without sitting down with your kit and fiddling with it. :( No amount of different OS's will change that.

Are you sure the heatsink is properly attached to the CPU? Silly question I know...

[latency]

It did boot
after about 2mins it died(just crashed mouse wouldnt move)then went off
i have sata drivers for my xp install
i dont have any aditional pci cards only graphics card or aditional hard drives
my ram and hard drive passed there tests(memtest86 and dskchk)

That's not what we said.

Run the MANUFACTURER'S hard drive diagnostics, chkdsk doesn't tell you anything- it just fixes file system corruption and sometimes marks dead sectors. It gives you little or no information on what it's doing, and thus is no good for situations like this- the proper diagnostics will give yo8u a verbose read out on the drive health, and if it finds any faults, might be able to fix them.

So, do you have a SATA optical drive? Not HDD, not a floppy with sata drivers on it, but a SATA optical drive.
If you do, borrow an PATA optical drive from somewhere and try installing with that- you can put the SATA one back later, but if windows loads new SATA drivers from your floppy disk while setup is running from the SATA optical drive, it'll fall over.

Sorry if I'm coming across condescending, but in order to help, we need straight answers...

[Fat Jez]

Latency, it sounds as if he got something to install, if he was talking about moving the mouse, although he doesn't mention which OS. XP install doesn't have a mouse pointer until after the SATA drivers are installed, Vista does, but you generally don't need to install additional SATA drivers. I'm starting to think he has an overheating CPU, particularly as his last one cooked itself (heatsink not mounted properly, maybe?)

[milsomonk]

ok my heatsink is on properly(checked)
manufacturer hard drive test checks out
and when i said about the mouse thing i meant when i had cista on it before i had to wipe my hd

[latency]

First post said trying to install Vista, I assume we're still doing that? ;)

I'd agree that the CPU is a suspect, but overheating CPUs freeze or cut out, they don't cause BSODs... I'm still thinking motherboard tbh, especially since the RAM and HDD are definitely clear now...

I doubt the SATA optical drive is the issue, but I'm going ask for the _third_ time if you have one or not, because if you do I'd STILL say try a PATA one.

[milsomonk]

yep still tryin to install vista ( sorry for the confusion)
my hard drive i wiped when i changed the motherboard

[latency]

Do you have a SATA optical drive?

[Fat Jez]

and have you definitely run memtest86?

[milsomonk]

no sata optical drive and yes defenitly ran memtest

[latency]

I think your motherboard's gone then... either that or the CPU.
I'd go motherboard first though, since I think the fault would be more random with a bad CPU.

Last ditch things to try, different IDE cable to the optical drive, different optical drive, different windows CD. Those are absolute shots in the dark at this stage, but worth a try before you pay up for a different mobo.