Ugh, windows install headaches.

TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
edited November 2012 in Tech & Games
A month and a half ago my main system stopped working (no warning, one day just would not power on) so I decided to upgrade. BIOSTAR A780L3G AMD 780L Motherboard , 6 core AMD Phenom II Processor running at 2.8GHZ, and Crucial 2GB PC10600 Memory. The existing H/W is a an old 40 GB maxtor HD, a Western Digital Caviar 320 GB HD, an older Sony CD RW drive and a Diablotek 500 watt power supply.

When I initially installed the new parts, I was able to retain the install I was using on the 320 GB WD drive, which is broken down into 3 partitions: 60GB system, and 2 100GB+ storage partitions. I used Norton Ghost to back up a fresh install and periodically re-imaged the system partition, installed any updated software available at the time and then ripped a new back up. While the system currently runs ok, I know that starting over from scratch with a fresh install is the best way to go.

Today (yesterday) I decided to reinstall Windows for the new build. I backed everything up, popped in my XP Pro disk and after it loaded I noticed discrepancies in the partition sizes (only 2 patitions, one at 131000 MB and one at 171000 MB). I aborted the install, but then the system would not boot. I installed a 500GB WD drive I had as a spare and tried installing to it. The install BSODed with a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error about halfway through the driver install right after reboot. after checking BIOS settings, and disconnecting everything but the CD and 500GB drive getting the same issue I gave up. Luckily, I had a backup from 2009 on the 40GB Maxtor drive that I Ghosted the the 500GB drive, and was able to run data recovery software on the 320GB drive and restore it.

However, now I'm right back where I started and I spent 5+ hours working on this and have nothing to show for it but an empty 6 pack of Budweiser. I've always read bad things about Biostar boards, but I tried this one because it had IDE and a FDD header. At this point I think its probably an issue with the board, but I want to make sure I didn't forget to check something.
Any ideas why this thing keeps BSODing when I try doing a clean reinstall on a new, freshly formatted drive?

Comments

  • SlartibartfastSlartibartfast Global Moderator -__-
    edited October 2012
    I've gotten that error once due to a a dodgy CD drive and daemon tools conflicting.

    IRQL errors relate to Interrupt Requests - either a driver is unable to access hardware (the hardware is broken) or the hardware isn't able to work with the driver (the driver is broken).

    But as it's a fresh install, it would be faulty hardware.

    I don't know but I'd replace the disc-drive, if that doesn't do it - it's either the motherboard or a bios setting.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited October 2012
    Try reformating your HDD with aefdisk it could be that the partition tables are corrupt.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited October 2012
    A) Check RAM, try using one stick only.
    B) Source CD, try copying the install CD and see if it can copy all the files.
    C) The HDD, Hiren Boot Disk is your friend.

    In most cases it's just the RAM.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited October 2012
    When you run aefdisk type the following command without the quotes "aefdisk /delall". This will delete all partitions on the drive. Then try re-installing windows and formatting the partitions during installation.
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited October 2012
    The install BSODed with a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error about halfway through the driver install right after reboot. after checking BIOS settings, and disconnecting everything but the CD and 500GB drive getting the same issue I gave up. Luckily, I had a backup from 2009 on the 40GB Maxtor drive that I Ghosted the the 500GB drive, and was able to run data recovery software on the 320GB drive and restore it.
    I've had this issue twice. Once on a friends computer & a customers.
    Both times were ram related. Take a ram out & test it.
    However, now I'm right back where I started and I spent 5+ hours working on this and have nothing to show for it but an empty 6 pack of Budweiser.
    Watchoo talkin bout? 6 empty cans....It wasn't a complete waste of time then. :thumbsup:
  • TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
    edited October 2012
    Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've been busy with work had no time to reply. Long days... I don't think the DVD drive is bad, although I've had it a while. The drive itself seems ok after running some diagnostics on it, and I was able to restore the partitions and made the drive bootable again. I want to get an extra external drive to back everything up to just in case something is wrong with it and the new drive. I will check on the ram and I plan on reformatting the drive.
    bornkiller wrote: »
    Watchoo talkin bout? 6 empty cans....It wasn't a complete waste of time then. :thumbsup:
    Yeah, but I didn't need the headache WHILE I was drinking.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited October 2012
    I knew it was the partitions.
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited October 2012
    Yeah, but I didn't need the headache WHILE I was drinking.
    6 bottle? Ha! 18 bottles of beer on the wall,. 18 rottles arr rearrrr
  • TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
    edited October 2012
    Still haven't had time to work on this. Getting ready for peak @ work is a pain. System is still running fine after the restore. I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to revisit this. I'm pulling the 320 before I work on it to make sure I don't have any problems with potential data loss this time around.
    I knew it was the partitions.

    Yeah, something corrupted them, but that doesn't explain why it did the same thing on a new, freshly formatted drive.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited October 2012
    Still haven't had time to work on this. Getting ready for peak @ work is a pain. System is still running fine after the restore. I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to revisit this. I'm pulling the 320 before I work on it to make sure I don't have any problems with potential data loss this time around.


    Yeah, something corrupted them, but that doesn't explain why it did the same thing on a new, freshly formatted drive.

    I missed that little detail on my 1st reading. You may have a corrupt EPROM on the HDD controller for the MB.
  • TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
    edited November 2012
    Finally had some time to revisit this. I tried pulling the ram, and tried both by themselves in both slots and got the same error. I did some more searching online and found this http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/244374-45-windows-install-halts-irql_not_less_or_equal (9th post on page). I Installed Nlite and am currently importing my install into it to add SP2. I probably won't have enough time to finish but at least I'll have started on trying to fix it.
  • TheGreenDoctorTheGreenDoctor Regular
    edited November 2012
    Well, I successfully made a new install disk, and reinstalled windows. Now for the 4 hours of reinstalling programs!!!
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