HELP! Screen errors during XP installation

[brian]

Hello.

I've had my Intel 1GHz for about 2 years and for the past
few months I've been getting the blue screen of death
error messages just seconds before the welcome screen and
desktop are displayed. Subsequently I would reinstall XP
(I don't play with the registry settings). Now I find
myself reinstalling XP literally daily because of these
errors. I've been told by many that it's a hardware
problem, but not which piece of hardware. I replaced my
generic hard drive with a Maxtor 15GB, reinstalled XP, and
to my surprise, I started getting errors during the
installation. Sometimes setup can't copy certain files
from the CD, and I continue to hit enter until it finally
can. Other times during the installation I get errors.

Here's my opinion of what I think are possible problems:

Is it the CD? If setup has problems reading the CD, how
does it cause the screen errors if I was able to get all
files installed on the computer?

Is memory a problem? I have a two ram sticks totaling 256
MB. One of the sticks is new. The other is a few years
old. The "My Computer" icon shows 256 MB ram. Could the
old stick cause the problem?

Is it the power supply? Every blue moon I can hear it make
a noise similar to a CDROM dive possibly indicating that
it's getting old.

What about the BIOS? I've never messed altered and saved
settings since I had the computer. Is there stuff saved on
it since the beginning of time that it needs to be
refreshed?

Finally, perhaps it's the system board and that it needs
to be replaced.

Please, narrow this down for me, PLEAAAAAAAAAASE! Thank
you.

[Ben Jorna]

"brian" > schreef in bericht
...
> Hello.
>
> I've had my Intel 1GHz for about 2 years and for the past
> few months I've been getting the blue screen of death
> error messages just seconds before the welcome screen and
> desktop are displayed. Subsequently I would reinstall XP
> (I don't play with the registry settings). Now I find
> myself reinstalling XP literally daily because of these
> errors. I've been told by many that it's a hardware
> problem, but not which piece of hardware. I replaced my
> generic hard drive with a Maxtor 15GB, reinstalled XP, and
> to my surprise, I started getting errors during the
> installation. Sometimes setup can't copy certain files
> from the CD, and I continue to hit enter until it finally
> can. Other times during the installation I get errors.
>
> Here's my opinion of what I think are possible problems:
>
> Is it the CD? If setup has problems reading the CD, how
> does it cause the screen errors if I was able to get all
> files installed on the computer?

CD drive´s lens may be dirty. You could try a cleaning disk.
Are other CD´s giving problems as well? No? Then the drive is probably OK.
Check the CD on another pc.

> Is memory a problem? I have a two ram sticks totaling 256
> MB. One of the sticks is new. The other is a few years
> old. The "My Computer" icon shows 256 MB ram. Could the
> old stick cause the problem

Could be. Faulty memory is known for such errors. Remove one of the
memorysticks and try to install XP. When the same errors occur, swap
memorysticks and try again. Your pc will run XP on 128MB, but performance
will be poor. It will do for a test though.
Make sure memorystick are the same type. Check mobo specs for suitable
memorytypes.

>
> Is it the power supply? Every blue moon I can hear it make
> a noise similar to a CDROM dive possibly indicating that
> it's getting old.

Did you add extra hardware? A modern pc with CD-ROM drive, DVD, USB and a
lot of peripherals attached to it needs a 350 - 400W power supply. An
underpowered pc will generated errors that are similar to hardwareproblems.
If you didn´t make any hardwarechanges and the pc performed well before
there shouldn´t be a problem. Of course an power supply can break down, but
I should check memory first. If the power supply makes a lot of noise, I
think you should replace the fan.

> What about the BIOS? I've never messed altered and saved
> settings since I had the computer. Is there stuff saved on
> it since the beginning of time that it needs to be
> refreshed?

If you added new hardware or ran an older OS before, a BIOS update might be
in order. Check the site of your mobo´s manufacturer.

> Finally, perhaps it's the system board and that it needs
> to be replaced.

When everything else fails, that could be the case. Hardly ever is, though.

> Please, narrow this down for me, PLEAAAAAAAAAASE! Thank
> you.

Best regards,

Ben