i am setting up my 40G hd for windows xp but it wont continue the setup process. it would load the files after i inserted the cd and it would just stop right on where it would say - press "enter" to continue, "F3" to quit, "R" to repair. i tried to press continue but there was no reaction it pressed any of those options but still theres no reaction from the pc - seems like the keyboard is not reacting at all but the keyboard is brand new and im quite sure its working - i tried it many times (rebooted my pc) but still got the same prob. help please!

Is this a laptop or desktop?

Set BIOS defaults - try booting again, if this works then ignore the rest of this mail.

Is this a fresh install on a clean drive? (i.e., are you dual booting?)

Did you use the installation process to partition your drive, etc?

What version of XP are you installing? (with or without service packs, original didn't like USB devices attached when installing)

How old is the computer? You may need a BIOS upgrade, there may also be old incompatible hardware.

Get help if you're not sure about the following:

If desktop, is the Hard Disk (HDD) connected via IDE or SATA? Check your cabling.

Have you installed memory? Following ESD precautions swap out sticks testing them individually.

Try these then we can look at further options...

thank you for the reply silent... here are some info...
its a desktop pc...
i did bios defualts - nothing happens...
i had the the hdd for more than 6 mos. already had setup prev xp version...
i had made some partitions before but i already removed it before i setup the new xp version...
i was installing windows xp sp2....
the board is around 2 years old... everything else is new...
connecting is via ide....
do you think its the hdd itself... i will do a setup on other another hdd if this works then its the drive...
thanks again silent

Let us know how you get on as these sorts of issues and their resolve are always worth mentally logging.

Hey. I was having the exact same problem until I did a neat little trick. I dunno about you, I was having a problem with "Primary Drive 1 not found" or something like that, so if you weren't having that this probably wont work for you. But what I did was I went into the BIOS configuration screen and did as according to alc6379 on this thread: www.daniweb.com

After that, it worked. The only thing different this time was that it asked to boot from CD and I didn't hit any keys.

Good luck :S



Update: Windows Blue Screen of Death'd inside the installation. O_o

You said that the keyboard is new - what kind of keyboard is it? I mean, how is it connected to the CPU?

my keyboard is pc/at enhanced ps/2 keyboard. well what i did is i gave up fixing it myself so what i did was checked the hdd itself. i dropped by a nearest service center and they said that its the hdd - what a mess - i really never knew that it has something to do with the hdd though its there when i open "my computer". i took care of the drive and now its totally useless - thanks again guys

Did they say what was wrong with the HDD?

they just said its corrupted...

I have never had a "corrupted" Hard Disk Drive before.

If your HDD was faulty, I believe it wouldn't show up in the BIOS even. I hope you kept the HDD. Get a second opinion.