Solved Computer won't install (seemingly) any operating system.

[Mandydeth]

I'm going to try and keep this as concise as possible.

I was working on an older custom built PC for my girlfriend's father. He said that it had been sitting for quite a while and didn't remember what was wrong with it. I offered to take a look and that puts me in my present predicament.

When I first got it I took a look at the components, reseated everything, and turned on the power, and surprisingly enough it booted just fine.

It had Windows 2000 installed on it; I laughed and than grabbed a Windows 7 CD I had laying around and tried to update it. Here is where the plot thickens.

I went ahead and began the install process using x86 version, and it seemed like the power just cut out during the installation for the computer. Now I say "seemed", only because I went ahead and updated some things like Flash player and I noticed that once the installation completed, the computer would restart itself without any prompts or warning.

As you can imagine, when the computer rebooted it would not boot to an OS.

I didn't think this was a huge deal as there were no important files remaining on the computer, and I was planning on doing a fresh install of the OS anyway.

Long story short, I could not get any version of Windows to install after this. I've tried:

-2 different CD rom drives
-2 different HDD
-4 different flash drives
-Zeroed 2 different hard drives
-Win 7 Ultimate disc
-Win 7 Ultimate USB
-Win 7 recovery disc
-Win 7 home premium disc
-Win XP disc
-Win XP USB
-Windows 8 x86 release preview disc
-Windows 8 x86 release preview USB
-2 other Windows XP installation discs/USBs
-Linux Live

All of them would either hang/bsod/say that a file was missing or corrupted. To be fair I don't have a Windows 2000 recovery/installation disc on hand; however, I don't think that would work.

The closest I got was with Win XP USB, but it said hal.dll was missing/corrupt (not the first time it has given me a similar error), but actually completed the installation process. Second time around the installer BSOD'd.

I don't think this is a product of my method and I'm starting to believe this is a hardware issue. Forgive me I don't have all the specs on the hardware at the moment, but I know it's an older AMD single-core processor (which explained the failure for the Windows 8 installation at least). The processor doesn't support 64-bit installation, so I've only attempted x86 installs. I want to say it was a HDD issue, but they best check out okay. RAM checks out okay. Adjusted BIOS boot order, no avail. Removed everything except for HDD, no help. BIOS is latest version. Had SATA drivers and IDE drivers, tried both SATA and IDE drives.

I'm assuming this is a hardware issue, I was just hoping I could determine what exactly is wrong with it so that I could be a bit more concise than "it's broken'.

Kind regards for reading my wall of text plea for assistance.

 

[Kaktussoft]

You tried different CD drives, different HDD's ... that shouldn't be the problem.
memory has been checked already as well...nice

Does running a linux live CD work? Simply play music, put some files on disk, browse internet.... any problems?

 

[x BlueRobot]

This may not be an issue, but have you tried burning a new DVD/CD-ROM, maybe the discs are slightly starched or damaged in some way, and therefore not all the files can be installed.

It may be the reason why the hal.dll was missing from the Windows XP USB installation. The operating system will not be able to function without the presence of hal.dll.

You could try this:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/32055-bootable-iso-create-installation-files.html
• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31541-windows-7-usb-dvd-download-tool.html?filter

Make a .ISO file from your Installation DVD and then burn it to a USB/DVD at the slowest speed.

Hope this helps,

Harry

 

[Maguscreed]

If it's old and been sitting it's entirely possible the power supply unit in it has gone bad and is no longer supplying the proper amount of amperage to keep things going.
This could lead to the strange restarts you are talking about.
It's just a thought though I have nothing to back it up with not having looked at the machine.

 

[edwar]

First you say the "Power Just Cut Out" but then you say "I Continued to Install Updates".

If the Power Cut Out then how did you continue to install updates? The system would not be running?
More then likely The Win 7 install failed but it first changed the files need to boot into the older Win OS that was installed on it and could not boot into Win 7 as the install did not complete.

Start fresh with a new install of Win 2000 or XP if you have a retail copy of XP. More then likely that system will Never Run Windows 7 so don't even try to install that version, the system is to OLD for Win 7.

I'm going to try and keep this as concise as possible.

I was working on an older custom built PC for my girlfriend's father. He said that it had been sitting for quite a while and didn't remember what was wrong with it. I offered to take a look and that puts me in my present predicament.

When I first got it I took a look at the components, reseated everything, and turned on the power, and surprisingly enough it booted just fine.

It had Windows 2000 installed on it; I laughed and than grabbed a Windows 7 CD I had laying around and tried to update it. Here is where the plot thickens.

I went ahead and began the install process using x86 version, and it seemed like the power just cut out during the installation for the computer. Now I say "seemed", only because I went ahead and updated some things like Flash player and I noticed that once the installation completed, the computer would restart itself without any prompts or warning.

As you can imagine, when the computer rebooted it would not boot to an OS.

I didn't think this was a huge deal as there were no important files remaining on the computer, and I was planning on doing a fresh install of the OS anyway.

Long story short, I could not get any version of Windows to install after this. I've tried:

-2 different CD rom drives
-2 different HDD
-4 different flash drives
-Zeroed 2 different hard drives
-Win 7 Ultimate disc
-Win 7 Ultimate USB
-Win 7 recovery disc
-Win 7 home premium disc
-Win XP disc
-Win XP USB
-Windows 8 x86 release preview disc
-Windows 8 x86 release preview USB
-2 other Windows XP installation discs/USBs
-Linux Live

All of them would either hang/bsod/say that a file was missing or corrupted. To be fair I don't have a Windows 2000 recovery/installation disc on hand; however, I don't think that would work.

The closest I got was with Win XP USB, but it said hal.dll was missing/corrupt (not the first time it has given me a similar error), but actually completed the installation process. Second time around the installer BSOD'd.

I don't think this is a product of my method and I'm starting to believe this is a hardware issue. Forgive me I don't have all the specs on the hardware at the moment, but I know it's an older AMD single-core processor (which explained the failure for the Windows 8 installation at least). The processor doesn't support 64-bit installation, so I've only attempted x86 installs. I want to say it was a HDD issue, but they best check out okay. RAM checks out okay. Adjusted BIOS boot order, no avail. Removed everything except for HDD, no help. BIOS is latest version. Had SATA drivers and IDE drivers, tried both SATA and IDE drives.

I'm assuming this is a hardware issue, I was just hoping I could determine what exactly is wrong with it so that I could be a bit more concise than "it's broken'.

Kind regards for reading my wall of text plea for assistance.

 

[Maguscreed]

Actually if we are to take that approach this would be the correct way to prepare an old drive.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

 

[Mandydeth]

First you say the "Power Just Cut Out" but then you say "I Continued to Install Updates".

If the Power Cut Out then how did you continue to install updates? The system would not be running?
More then likely The Win 7 install failed but it first changed the files need to boot into the older Win OS that was installed on it and could not boot into Win 7 as the install did not complete.

Start fresh with a new install of Win 2000 or XP if you have a retail copy of XP. More then likely that system will Never Run Windows 7 so don't even try to install that version, the system is to OLD for Win 7.

I went ahead and began the install process using x86 version, and it seemed like the power just cut out during the installation for the computer. Now I say "seemed", only because I went ahead and updated some things like Flash player and I noticed that once the installation completed, the computer would restart itself without any prompts or warning.

Forgive me; it wasn't typed chronologically correct. I updated flash first (that's when the power seemingly went out) as it restarted I went to run Win 7, and that's when it happened again.

Leaning towards PSU issue, but not sure. I noticed the fan on the PSU isn't moving, so it may very well be.

Edit:
Swapped PSU and it took me to Win XP splash screen; files are currently decompressing. This is starting to look hopeful.

Edit 2:
Still giving me an error:
hal.dll is missing or corrupt.

Edit 3:
Booting from USB and using recovery; Installing devices presently.

Edit 4:
Got my hopes up BSOD:
"The problem seems to be caused by the following file: Ntfs.sys"

0x0000050 (0xcc440000,0x00000001,0xf7285A14,0x00000000)"

 

[Maguscreed]

You may want to look at that info I posted up above about cleaning the drive up.
After all this messing around on it, it really is due for a wipe.
Only other thing that comes to mind is a possible memory error.
Would like to rule out formatting issues first though.

 

[Mandydeth]

You may want to look at that info I posted up above about cleaning the drive up.
After all this messing around on it, it really is due for a wipe.
Only other thing that comes to mind is a possible memory error.
Would like to rule out formatting issues first though.

Wiped the drive and reformatted once more. This time instead of BSOD'ing on the driver installation screen it just froze.

 

[Maguscreed]

last thing to check outside of the motherboard
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html
I generally let it run overnight.

Also the process I linked above for cleaning the drive goes a bit beyond just formatting.

 

[GEWB]

OK, I'll chime in...

Too many "weird" problems and I have had the same/similar situation in the past.

Your clue is "old system" - so, is this "old" as in perhaps the motherboard was one of the many thousands produced with faulty capacitors? What you describe sounds like what I experienced...all due to swollen (defective) capacitors on the mobo.

Open it up and look at all of the caps on the mobo. If any are swollen (barrel shaped) or the top is puffed out, that could be the problem.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[gregrocker]

At which step does it fail: Clean Install Windows 7.

You've been given about everything possible to work over so I'd just work back through the thread to do everything suggested.

In addition check for newer BIOS update, if none reset the BIOS to defaults: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS.

Test the HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, then wipe it again from the same disk.

 

[Mandydeth]

Posting back with a solution. After running memtest for countless hours without error I removed all but one stick of ram. And went for a Vista install. I held my breath as it successfully completed every step of the installation, and I'm running Windows Update as we speak.

I'm suspecting the problem was a bad RAM socket on the MoBo (something memtest wouldn't pick up on). Now my only dilema is reinserting the memory.

Now that I have Vista running, I don't have a way of being certain which socket is bad (3 socket MoBo), and with 512mb of ram it's sluggish to say the least. Will I be fine reinserting the memory for now?

 

[gregrocker]

Why did you install Vista? If it's all you can install then try running the Win7 installer from its desktop to overwrite C as this often works if nothing else will.

 

[Mandydeth]

Why did you install Vista? If it's all you can install then try running the Win7 installer from its desktop to overwrite C as this often works if nothing else will.

I was reading somewhere that XP and 7 restart during installation more than Vista (not sure to what degree this is true). I'll probably go ahead and due the upgrade in time, but for now I'm content that it turns on and runs.

My final diagnosis is a compound issue. I propose that one stick of RAM had gone bad as well as one of the memory channels on the MoBo after playing around with the seating of the memory. One of the sticks was some Kingston Hyper Blue, so we'll se how they deal with the lifetime warranty when it comes to ancient RAM.