Problem Reinstalling Windows Doesn't Boot From Disc (Video and Pic Included)

[egmik3]

Trying to fix my friends computer thought I would be done in an hour or so but I ran into a retarded problem when trying to boot from the windows cd. Here is some information I know off the top of my head. If you have any input please let me know, I'm trying to get this done before tonight since its Friday ugh.

I have my BIOS settings set to

SATA CDROM - 1
HD DRIVE - 2
LSC120 - 3
BOOT OTHER - Disabled

Computer had Vista installed I am trying to install either XP or Vista at this moment neither are booting from disc.

Computer will start up and do a "Memory Testing : "

After this it will show 2 other screens they go by fast.

The 3rd screen is the option to boot with
Safe mode
safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompt
last known good configuration (advanced)
start windows normally

I have chose each one of these options, they all encounter an error and the computer restarts.

The computer has been running with Vista for a year atleast and started to gain spam and such and needed a restore for better speed.
The computer is built with random parts I don't see anything inside the case that shows any mistakes.

Here are two videos I made on the start up's:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/?action=view&current=WinMess1.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/?action=view&current=WinMess2.flv

Then here is the error that occurs when I turn off Auto Restart when error occurs:
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/CIMG2728.jpg[/IMG]

[egmik3]

If video links didnt work let me know

thanks!

[gerbil]

Hang amo. Just stepping thru your videos. I cannot see your IDE? drive shown as detected?

[egmik3]

I think BIOS cannot read from your hdd [your sys is trying to boot from the hdd]. This error would occur if for example you had AHCI [or RAID] set as the mode for Sata configuration of disks but did not have the drivers installed. But for BIOS to be looking to boot from the hdd means it has not recognised your installation cd in the cd drive. It sees the cdrom device but cannot read the cd.

So I need the driver for the cdrom?

I was thinking about putting the harddrive into my extra pc and installing it on there. Would that be a good idea or possible to do that?

[gerbil]

Okay, this is a bit interesting. Single stepping thru v2 does not show any hdd detection. I see the screen "IDE detection..." but the next is blank, then it shows your cdrom as a Liteon. I think BIOS cannot recognise your hdd [and next thing your sys is trying to boot from the hdd, but the drivers loaded list is incomplete?] which is why it shuts down and pushes you off to other modes to start from.
But for BIOS to be looking to boot from the hdd means it has not recognised your installation cd in the cd drive. It sees the cdrom device but cannot read the cd. Now I have never tried running Windows Setup without a hdd :), so I don't know how it would react, but the sys is trying to load from the hdd, hence the driver list.... weird.
That error screen may occur if for example you had AHCI [or RAID] set as the mode for Sata configuration of disks but did not have the drivers installed [the F6 thing], but you don't get into Setup. There is a problem with the hdd setup in BIOS, i think? How have you configured the drive? Try IDE mode for a start. Is the hdd an IDE? I see a screen showing AHCI mode, but that mode is for a Sata drive only.
Mem scan... more than 3GB and XP-32 is not happy. The native windows driver is all that is needed for the cdrom, there are no other drivers as such, merely firmware updates.

[gerbil]

If the second sys was almost identical to your mates [same chipset, mb] then you conceivably could install in that one, but do expect a blue screen when you put the drive back.

[tripperdan99]

I have run into this once or twice But it may not apply to your situation.

What I found is that the CD drive would not process fast enough. So when the system began to boot, I would press "Pause/Break" key and give the system an extra 15 Seconds before continuing.

You may also try to see if the system has a boot selection option, often this is F10 (F12 is often the Network boot).

And also make sure that "Boot to other devices" is enabled in the bios as a safe measure.

Good luck,

td99

[egmik3]

That error screen may occur if for example you had AHCI [or RAID] set as the mode for Sata configuration of disks but did not have the drivers installed [the F6 thing], but you don't get into Setup. There is a problem with the hdd setup in BIOS, i think? How have you configured the drive? Try IDE mode for a start. Is the hdd an IDE? I see a screen showing AHCI mode, but that mode is for a Sata drive only. Mem scan... more than 3GB and XP-32 is not happy. The native windows driver is all that is needed for the cdrom, there are no other drivers as such, merely firmware updates.

Yes the CDrom is an IDE. but doesnt show on the bios ill post a pic of this menu to show what it shows.

heres some more pics maybe it will answer anymore questions.

also I do not have a floppy drive on this computer would there be a way to boot from a flash drive and add the drivers needed or something? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/SATAHDD.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/PCsetup.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/CDromPlug.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/CDdrive.jpg

[egmik3]

Heres a pic of the BIOS options for boot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/BIOS.jpg

[egmik3]

Alright I got it to boot windows by changing the option OnChip IDE Device. I put it on RAID mode and it started the previous copy of windows vista. I tried clicking on the cd drive in "my computer" vista options come up from drive and I click "Install now"

It starts to reinstall and goes to a background screen and has an error :

could not load file WinSetup.dll error code: 0x45A

goes back to the desktop where I was before with the same window up with vista install now up.

any suggestions?

Here is the bios settings I changed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/IDEsetup.jpg

Here is the computer reading the disc within vista:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/mycomputer.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/vista.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/error.jpg

[egmik3]

Alright I did some more research and I found out that this Windows Vista Ultimate cd upgrade works with windows xp not vista.

Here is a quote I found from thevistaforums:

"Solved the problem by wiping the hard disk, and installing a fresh copy of XP then upgrading to Vista (The vista installation wouldn't let me create a vista system without going through XP!!).
I suspect I had a malicious program hidden away on my system somewhere."

How can I wipe my harddrive? Since it wont boot from windows discs?

[gerbil]

Okay..... seen the pics... so you have one Sata hdd and the IDE CDRom. Connections, jumper are fine. A couple of things... because you have only one hdd you won't be using RAID at least for the time being... and choosing AHCI does not get you out of the jam [with Intel AHCI is included in the RAID setting] because there is still a need for a driver file to be loaded by floppy. Of course, there are ways around this when no floppy drive is fitted:
-temporarily add a floppy drive just for installation..
-slipstream the required file onto your installation cd..
-change the Sata configuration in BIOS to IDE emulation, ignore the F6 prompt during Setup, and after installation of the OS add the required driver file and change a couple of settings, then switch to RAID or AHCI mode. [pieceacake, done it with Intel chipsets]
...the second thing is: why is BIOS reporting your PATA cdrom [ok, IDE cdrom] as Sata cdrom? Can you flash that BIOS with a thumbdrive [or floppy] from in the BIOS?
And yep, that is an upgrade cd.. for upgrading XP to Vista. I don't know why M$ do that. But you load it from inside XP, not as a new installation from the cd. So if you have an installation cd for XP and do not mind losing the contents of the hdd [all your data, pics etc.] just load that XP cd, boot from it, during Setup format the partition you are installing to and continue from there.
Or.. if you are serious about wiping the hdd just delete existing partition[s], create a new partition for the installation and format it.
But I don't know why your IDE cdrom is being recognised as Sata.

[egmik3]

Alright,

Here is where I am at at the moment:

I got bios set up for the IDE cd-rom as boot #1 finally!

I booted from xp disc and did a full format with xp...

When I try to boot from harddrive i get this error now:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/di3t/CIMG2905.jpg

[gerbil]

A couple of points... did you get BIOS to see your IDE CD/DVD drive as IDE finally, and not SATA ?!! It showed up in My Computer with the disk in it recognised! Beats me....
The other point is... this is an upgrade Vista disk, so it will require an XP OS preinstalled on the hdd.
That error comes because your disk is formatted.. you cannot boot from it. So install XP and go from there.

[darkmobius]

I may be mistaken but I thought you could install a fresh copy of Vista even if it's an Upgrade disc. Not sure if the procedure just requires XP product key or whether it's simply a licence restriction. But I'm sure I saw somewhere installing with an upgrade disc without having to have an XP installation (i.e. you can completely reformat so it's a completely fresh install).

[egmik3]

A couple of points... did you get BIOS to see your IDE CD/DVD drive as IDE finally, and not SATA ?!! It showed up in My Computer with the disk in it recognised! Beats me.... The other point is... this is an upgrade Vista disk, so it will require an XP OS preinstalled on the hdd. That error comes because your disk is formatted.. you cannot boot from it. So install XP and go from there.

I was dumb and didn't notice there was more boot options to choose from. I was able to choose the IDE cd-rom and it booted fine.

As for the error, I did a reformat w/ XP for a second time and now it boots into XP.

All I have to do is do the Vista upgrade and my friend will be good and ready.

Thanks for all the help! I learned tons of things from some stupid mistake!

-egmik3

[gerbil]

Orright!!
And you were going to finish it that Fri night ten days ago... :)

[egmik3]

Orright!! And you were going to finish it that Fri night ten days ago... :)

lol, yep that didn't happen heh... I knew it was suppose to be simple eh

Thanks for all the help though!

[gerbil]

Mobius's thoughts got me scratching around, and he is correct. These two pages may be of interest.
http://windowssecrets.com/comp/080403/#story1
http://windowssecrets.com/2007/02/01/01-Get-Vista-upgrade-never-pay-full-price