TM 4000 winxp install problems

hi,

I have a Acer TM 4000 which I am trying to reinstall windows xp. I can boot into windows setup, but as soon as i get to "windows setup is starting windows" the laptop shuts down? i have tried different hard drives, changing the ram, trying battery only and a/c power only... all with the same result..

sometimes i can reach the screen that asks if i want to repair or install windows, but after a few seconds it shuts down

any suggestions are appreciated

thanks

 

You get this when you try booting off the cd?

 

yes correct... i have tried two windows CD's to boot from. I also have a hard drive with windows on it that i tried to boot directly to, but it reads the drive and asks me to choose a boot type... safe mode normal etc... as soon as i choose one it hangs... i was thinking a keyboard issue, but i can use the keyboard fine in the bios?


thanks for the reply

 

are you installing of standard windows xp cd or a recovery type? maybe you need sata drivers for the hard drive? is the hard drive empty?

 

full Win XP CD.. not SATA, IDE.. have tried empty drives and a drive with xp on it already...

 

4000 series has an IDE drive vs. SATA so that rules it out for that (I used to own a 4000 series).

It sounds to me like you aren't reaching the boot CD menu when you attempt to boot off the disk. There is no safe mode for a windows xp installation (hense why I think it may be a bit different for you here).

Here are my unofficial suggestions.

1. Download a copy of DBAN and run it on the HDD you wish to reinstall XP on (remember DBAN wipes your entire drive contents so make sure you have some data backed up before you do this).

2. Verify that you are using a authorized Windows XP disk for your reisntallation. Any oem branded disk that is not from the manufacturer will be modified and may not support the drivers and hardware for your equipment. This is why I suggest an OEM windows xp disk (you can also convert a retail windows xp disk into an oem one - http://freepctech.com/pc/xp/xp00066.shtml ).

This process is not hard, but it does require knowledge in extracting, modifying, and repackaging bootable .iso's.

For more info on how to repackage disks like windows xp and make them bootable and customized check here - http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/

See if that works for you best of luck.

 

thank you so much for your insight... please forgive me as it sounds like i may have not explained the troubleshooting i have attempted thoroughly...

1) i removed the HD from the laptop and hooked it up to my my PC and used Killdisk to wipe the drive. i then put the HD back in the TM4000 and booted WinXP Pro (non OEM) from the ODD. I was able to get to the point where setup stated "windows setup is starting windows", then the TM powered off, on another attempt i made it to the part where windows setup asked if i wanted to do fresh install (enter) or repair (r) etc... w/o touching any keys, the TM powered off within a second or 2..

2) i then proceeded to try other IDE hard drives that were blank... the result was the same...

3) I then used a hard drive that had win xp pro install on it fronm a TM2420, i bypassed booting from ODD and booted from hard drive, here i received a message that windows had failed to shutdown properly and gave me the list of boot options... safe mode, normal, etc... choosing normal froze the TM, choosing SM loaded some drivers before stalling on ? APG.sys..?? i think...

4) I then put the xp drive back in the TM 2420 and booted fine...

during this process i tried different sticks of memory as well..


not sure where to go from here

 

If the system powers down when ever you attempt to access the hdd the issue might be hardware related.

I would suggest you attempt to launch a live linux CD (knoppix) or similar flavor to see if you can actually access the I/O between the hardware and software.

Hope this makes sense.

 

i will try it... so boot from the linux CD?

i appreciate your help..

 

If there is an Issue of windows , to do a proper hardware detection,
your only way , are to buy the ACER recovery CDs ..

 

I would have to disagree with you kiriakost? I have done many Acers with Regular windows XP CD's and never had a problem...

SSX4life -I have done as suggested and i receive an input/output error

/init: exec: line589: /sbin/init: Input/output error