Windows XP Pro won't install

Hi-

I am having a problem installing Windows XP Pro. I have recently purchased components for a computer and have put them all together. When I turn on my computer, the XP CD starts to boot. I go through the many steps (License agreement,format hard drive, etc). When I get to the step when the XP files are copied onto the hard drive, the % bar goes between 2% and 30%, and then the whole computer just restarts. I want to know whats wrong and how to fix this. I looked up detailed specs on the parts, and as far as I know the alll the parts are compatible.

By the way here is some of the specs of the computer:
-Intel P4 3.2 Ghz with 1MB cache
-Soyo Dragon Plus 2 motherboard
-Ultra 512MB 3200 DDR
-Western Digital 200GB hard drive
-8x dvd writer
-16x dvd reader

Thanks for your help.
-David

Windows install problems are usually memory related. Try increasing your memory voltage in the BIOS and run memtest86 to make sure that your memory is not faulty.

Get rid of the W.D. hard drive and get another brand. I have problems with WD myself and as soon as I replace it with a Maxtor or Seagate things are good.

:D

I too have lost 2 WD hard drives in the last 2 months, but...I would suggest pulling all the expansion cards, installing the OS then reinstalling the cards.

Thanks for the help. I tried everything you guys recommended but none of it seemed to work. So I went out and baught some new memory. That solved the problem lol. Well kinda......... I completed the installation of windows xp pro (the part where it finishes copying the files). It said press enter to restart the computer when the installation finished. I did. It restarted and the cd automatically booted up again, but instead of showing the black screen with the winodws logo, it started the installation all over again. So I thought maybe it didnt install completely. So I continued on with the install process. When the screen came up to reformat your drive, I pressed enter to reformat. It gave a warning saying "It is not recommended that you install 2 OS on the same hard drive." That means the first installation completeted succesfully. My question is, if it windows is already installed, how do I get it to boot up and go to the black screen with the logo. Thanks again.

when it boots up dont touch the keyboard then it will finish the install or change the bios to boot from c drive for the first boot.

It seems like I get one step further everytime, and then something goes wrong. lol. after setting it up in the bios so that my comp boots from the hard drive, the black screen with the windows xp logo. It then says "setup is restarting......" on a blue screen. A lighter blue screen flashes for a couple seconds and then the comp restarts. Its an endless cycle. Any ideas on what to do? Thanks,

I left out some words in the last post. I meant the black screen with the windows logo comes up.

well from here I would take everything out just leave in the hard drive, vid, cdrom, and ram then use the wd low level format and write zeros across the board then go into the bios and set it to default or safe setting then try and reinstall. also do you have another xp cd you can try and just use your key to see if it is faulty media.

I would rather you run memtest86 before trying out anything else:

http://www.memtest.org/

You may have to raise voltage, change timings, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by someguy

It then says "setup is restarting......" on a blue screen.

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If it shows this message it is due to not copying all the required files onto the drive to complete the OS install. You will need to boot to the cd again and try to start the process over.

so u installed win xp then u remove the xp cd and any start up disks, and it doesnt boot ?:

have u updated ur motherboard bios?

if nothin works, then reformat and install xp again.

Had the same problem.

Believe it had to do with recognition of CD drive and or copy mode.

In any event, what I did after 2 tries was to copy entire XP install disk
to a subdirectory on computer's hard drive (C:\XP), and then after
booting from the XP disk (or was it from a floppy?) went to DOS mode,
and did the install from the hard drive.

Worked fine 1st time out.