Member Avatar for LEZBEPALZ

I installed my new HD, inserted my Windows XP CD and started the computer. My BIOS reognized the new HD correctly, the CD started working fine...

I chose to make a partition. It was about 49% done and I realized I did not chose the right size for the partition. I attempted to cancel the process and one thing led to another and I shut off the power to the computer.

I do NOT know what I was thinking at the moment other than thinking it would be the same as a disk, CD or reinstalling Windows.

At that brief moment in time I really thought I could let the computer rest for a few minutes and start the whole process over and get it right the 2nd time around.

Well instead, the HD is still recognized, it goes into the installation of the files then when it should ask for formatting/partioning I get a blue screen that says "Stage 3 intizialization failure".

It asks that I make sure I installed the hardware correctly, to shut off BIOS caching and shadowing (which I do not know how to do-and not sure if I even need to do it) it also suggests going into F8 and removing the components causing the trouble.

Well as I said it gets to that one point then the error message...if I try to go into F8 mode it completely disables my keyboard and I cannot get ahold of anyone at Maxtor at this hour.

I took the new HD out and put this one back in so I could try to find some help out there in cyberspace.

Here's the basic info:

Compaq Presario 5000T series
Maxtor 6L250ORO HD (Brand new)
Windows XP Pro (Brand new)
Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz
1.0 GB RAM
BIOS Compaq 686Y2 v1.05, 9/6/2001
On Maxtor's website it asked about my controller which I believe is:
Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller

I am not sure what else you may need to know.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

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Dani AI

Generated

Summary of the problem and a practical recovery path for (and a nod to ): the Windows XP setup aborts with a "Stage 3 initialization failure" after an interrupted partition operation on the new Maxtor drive. Reconnecting the drive to another PC, as suggested, is a good first step — below are safe, ordered actions that have solved this kind of failure for many systems.

Try these steps in order:

  • Connect the new drive to a known-working computer as a secondary drive. Use Windows Disk Management (Computer -> Manage -> Disk Management) to delete any partial partitions, then create and format a single NTFS partition. This removes a broken/partial partition table that can crash setup.
  • Run the manufacturer diagnostics (Maxtor/Seagate SeaTools or similar) to check for physical defects. If diagnostics show errors, stop and pursue RMA; if clean, a full wipe/low-level erase from the diagnostic tool will clear any corrupted metadata.
  • If you want to fix the drive on the original machine, boot the XP CD into the Recovery Console (press R), choose the installation and run fixmbr, fixboot and chkdsk /r to repair partition/boot structures. Then retry setup.

Keyboard and BIOS notes that often block progress:

  • Old setups won’t accept USB keyboards at early boot/setup screens. If F8 or Recovery Console appears to ignore your keyboard, use a PS/2 keyboard or enable "USB Legacy" / "USB Keyboard Support" in BIOS.
  • If setup or the error message suggests disabling caching/shadowing, look in BIOS Setup (the key shown at POST) under Advanced/Chipset options and disable video BIOS shadowing or system BIOS cacheable temporarily while installing.

If XP setup still fails after a clean partition and diagnostics pass, try a different XP CD (or burn a fresh image at low speed). If the drive fails SeaTools, contact Maxtor/Seagate for support.

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Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

Connect this new HD on another computer and recreate the partitions from within Windows.

Member Avatar for LEZBEPALZ

Thanks!

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