Continued XP and Vista hang on install - MB issue?

Hi all,

Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my system:

" just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial DDR
800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD, Sata
DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the bios
set up.


My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried both.
It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy files stage.
In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom (Lite on RW sata
drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not getting a signal to write
and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista hangs right before the "select
language" screen, sometimes it takes a long time but it makes it through
that screen to the enter the code screen and I have gotten all the way to
the copy.

Here is what I have done:

I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked fine.
I formated them and moved files around

I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
machine so the vista disc is good

I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig hoping
that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a bootable drive
with it in. Seems like that should have worked

I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2 machine
and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a "vista ready
drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an IDE drive to see if
it works?)

I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two at a
time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the slots. So
unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with only 2 sticks
in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing with the 3gig 32
bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots in this MB)

My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine (not
sure how to test these)

My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue

My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working fine.
Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around room temp.
It is very big though.

The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom first),
disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound so there is no
conflict.

I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty much at
a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I plug into
(must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting ideas?

Any help would be great.

I may be off base but it sure sounds like a memory compatibility problem, if
possible try a different brand of memory, I know you said they are suppose
to work in that board, but I have seen it happen when it wasn"t suppose to.
"Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
news:6_2dnU4-...
> Hi all,
>
> Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my system:
>
> " just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial
> DDR
> 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD, Sata
> DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the
> bios set up.
>
>
> My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried both.
> It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy files
> stage. In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom (Lite on
> RW sata drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not getting a
> signal to write and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista hangs right
> before the "select language" screen, sometimes it takes a long time but it
> makes it through that screen to the enter the code screen and I have
> gotten all the way to the copy.
>
> Here is what I have done:
>
> I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked
> fine. I formated them and moved files around
>
> I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
> machine so the vista disc is good
>
> I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig hoping
> that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a bootable drive
> with it in. Seems like that should have worked
>
> I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2
> machine and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a
> "vista ready drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an IDE
> drive to see if it works?)
>
> I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two at a
> time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the slots.
> So unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with only 2
> sticks in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing with the
> 3gig 32 bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots in this MB)
>
> My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine
> (not sure how to test these)
>
> My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue
>
> My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working
> fine. Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around
> room temp. It is very big though.
>
> The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom first),
> disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound so there is
> no conflict.
>
> I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty much
> at a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I plug
> into (must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting ideas?
>
> Any help would be great.
>
>
>
>
>

Try with only a single HD & DVD and one stick
Read the mobo manual as to any specifics regarding sata setup

(Installing on another sys then moving the hd is not going to work, without
a repair installation)

"Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
news:6_2dnU4-...
> Hi all,
>
> Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my system:
>
> " just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial
> DDR
> 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD, Sata
> DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the
> bios set up.
>
>
> My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried both.
> It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy files
> stage. In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom (Lite on
> RW sata drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not getting a
> signal to write and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista hangs right
> before the "select language" screen, sometimes it takes a long time but it
> makes it through that screen to the enter the code screen and I have
> gotten all the way to the copy.
>
> Here is what I have done:
>
> I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked
> fine. I formated them and moved files around
>
> I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
> machine so the vista disc is good
>
> I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig hoping
> that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a bootable drive
> with it in. Seems like that should have worked
>
> I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2
> machine and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a
> "vista ready drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an IDE
> drive to see if it works?)
>
> I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two at a
> time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the slots.
> So unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with only 2
> sticks in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing with the
> 3gig 32 bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots in this MB)
>
> My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine
> (not sure how to test these)
>
> My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue
>
> My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working
> fine. Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around
> room temp. It is very big though.
>
> The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom first),
> disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound so there is
> no conflict.
>
> I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty much
> at a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I plug
> into (must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting ideas?
>
> Any help would be great.
>
>
>
>
>

"old man" <> wrote in message
news:c73vi.12275$...
> Try with only a single HD & DVD and one stick
> Read the mobo manual as to any specifics regarding sata setup

Stil have issue. The ASUS tech guys feel it is a memory issue. Even though
it was on the QVL apparently the vendors keep that list not ASUS so it is
not always a good measure. They felt that Crucial was not a good match on
this motherboard and suggested I try Cosair or Kingston. I just wish I had
some of that memory to put in right now to test it. But I agree with them
..... it sounds like the memory

>
> (Installing on another sys then moving the hd is not going to work,
> without a repair installation)

agreed. It was a long shot.


>
> "Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
> news:6_2dnU4-...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my
>> system:
>>
>> " just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial
>> DDR
>> 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD,
>> Sata
>> DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the
>> bios set up.
>>
>>
>> My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried
>> both. It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy
>> files stage. In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom
>> (Lite on RW sata drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not
>> getting a signal to write and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista
>> hangs right before the "select language" screen, sometimes it takes a
>> long time but it makes it through that screen to the enter the code
>> screen and I have gotten all the way to the copy.
>>
>> Here is what I have done:
>>
>> I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked
>> fine. I formated them and moved files around
>>
>> I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
>> machine so the vista disc is good
>>
>> I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig hoping
>> that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a bootable drive
>> with it in. Seems like that should have worked
>>
>> I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2
>> machine and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a
>> "vista ready drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an IDE
>> drive to see if it works?)
>>
>> I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two at
>> a time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the
>> slots. So unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with
>> only 2 sticks in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing
>> with the 3gig 32 bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots in
>> this MB)
>>
>> My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine
>> (not sure how to test these)
>>
>> My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue
>>
>> My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working
>> fine. Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around
>> room temp. It is very big though.
>>
>> The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom
>> first), disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound so
>> there is no conflict.
>>
>> I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty much
>> at a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I plug
>> into (must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting ideas?
>>
>> Any help would be great.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Hi Boris,

I think you may be on base. The ASUS tech guys are fairly certain it is the
memory. They said that the vendors maintain the QVL and it is not alway
accurate. They felt that crucial memory was not a great match for this board
and felt that Cosair or Kingston would be a better fit.

I assumed that since the mem was on the QVL that it should work and was
really testing for a defective stick versus that brand not being a fit.

I need to try another brand as you suggested. Wish I had a spare DDR 2
stick here to test before i switch this all out.
"Boris" <> wrote in message
news:X53vi.49$5Q5.48@trnddc05...
>I may be off base but it sure sounds like a memory compatibility problem,
>if possible try a different brand of memory, I know you said they are
>suppose to work in that board, but I have seen it happen when it wasn"t
>suppose to.
> "Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
> news:6_2dnU4-...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my
>> system:
>>
>> " just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial
>> DDR
>> 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD,
>> Sata
>> DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the
>> bios set up.
>>
>>
>> My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried
>> both. It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy
>> files stage. In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom
>> (Lite on RW sata drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not
>> getting a signal to write and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista
>> hangs right before the "select language" screen, sometimes it takes a
>> long time but it makes it through that screen to the enter the code
>> screen and I have gotten all the way to the copy.
>>
>> Here is what I have done:
>>
>> I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked
>> fine. I formated them and moved files around
>>
>> I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
>> machine so the vista disc is good
>>
>> I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig hoping
>> that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a bootable drive
>> with it in. Seems like that should have worked
>>
>> I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2
>> machine and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a
>> "vista ready drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an IDE
>> drive to see if it works?)
>>
>> I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two at
>> a time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the
>> slots. So unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with
>> only 2 sticks in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing
>> with the 3gig 32 bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots in
>> this MB)
>>
>> My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine
>> (not sure how to test these)
>>
>> My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue
>>
>> My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working
>> fine. Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around
>> room temp. It is very big though.
>>
>> The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom
>> first), disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound so
>> there is no conflict.
>>
>> I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty much
>> at a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I plug
>> into (must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting ideas?
>>
>> Any help would be great.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Bluenose 637 wrote:
> "old man" <> wrote in message
> news:c73vi.12275$...
>> Try with only a single HD & DVD and one stick
>> Read the mobo manual as to any specifics regarding sata setup
>
> Stil have issue. The ASUS tech guys feel it is a memory issue. Even though
> it was on the QVL apparently the vendors keep that list not ASUS so it is
> not always a good measure. They felt that Crucial was not a good match on
> this motherboard and suggested I try Cosair or Kingston. I just wish I had
> some of that memory to put in right now to test it. But I agree with them
> .... it sounds like the memory
>
>> (Installing on another sys then moving the hd is not going to work,
>> without a repair installation)
>
> agreed. It was a long shot.
>
>

One thing I've used for debugging, is to download a Knoppix Linux
distro and burn a CD with it. The CD is then used to boot the computer.
Knoppix (knopper.net) is a "Live" CD and can boot without putting anything
on the hard drive. Or, if you choose to, the CD also has the option of
installing to the hard drive. But you don't have to do that if you don't
want to.

The only problem with the Linux Live CDs is the size of the download. It
is 700MB, and is only practical to download if you have something faster
than dialup networking. The two or three distros I've downloaded, took
about an hour or so, on ADSL.

If the computer won't boot properly, I look at the text error messages on
the screen, for a hint as to why. If the computer finishes boot, then
I get a copy of the Linux version of Prime95 from mersenne.org . Prime95
is a stress test, and it will tell you if the CPU and memory are stable
or not. If Prime95 runs error free for hours, then the CPU and memory
are in good shape. When I'm overclocking a computer, sometimes it stops
with an error, in 10 ro 30 seconds. It makes a relatively good test, and
the test is complementary to memtest86+. Memtest86+ tests all the memory,
but doesn't do that good a job. Prime95 tests only a portion of the memory,
but is a more sensitive test of stability than memtest86+ is.

With the Linux version of Prime95, you can even run multiple copies at
the same time. If you had a quad core processor, you could run four
copies and max out the processor.

So that is an option, but only if you have high speed networking, and
also have a burner to prepare the CD.

Paul

On Thu, 9 Aug 2007 00:29:11 -0400, "Bluenose 637"
<> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my system:
>
>" just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial DDR
>800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD, Sata
>DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the bios
>set up.
>
>
>My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried both.
>It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy files stage.
>In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom (Lite on RW sata
>drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not getting a signal to write
>and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista hangs right before the "select
>language" screen, sometimes it takes a long time but it makes it through
>that screen to the enter the code screen and I have gotten all the way to
>the copy.
>
>Here is what I have done:
>

A long-short but maybe worth trying:-

Try borrowing a PATA DVD-rom drive and booting Vista using that drive.
Enable the PATA port in the BIOS Setup and make the PATA drive the
first Boot-device. Make sure that the PATA drive is then "seen" in the
on-screen text when BIOS is restarted and check if that cures the
problem.

Some motherboard BIOSs still have trouble with SATA versions of
Atapi-drives.

John Lewis

You have emailed Crucial support?
I had Crucial with an Asus mobo that gave problems in conjunction with a
specific cpu, Crucial tech advised manuall setting memory timings to a
specific setting, problem went away.

"Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
news:3IadndrN6I-...
>
> "old man" <> wrote in message
> news:c73vi.12275$...
>> Try with only a single HD & DVD and one stick
>> Read the mobo manual as to any specifics regarding sata setup
>
> Stil have issue. The ASUS tech guys feel it is a memory issue. Even
> though it was on the QVL apparently the vendors keep that list not ASUS so
> it is not always a good measure. They felt that Crucial was not a good
> match on this motherboard and suggested I try Cosair or Kingston. I just
> wish I had some of that memory to put in right now to test it. But I
> agree with them .... it sounds like the memory
>
>>
>> (Installing on another sys then moving the hd is not going to work,
>> without a repair installation)
>
> agreed. It was a long shot.
>
>
>>
>> "Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
>> news:6_2dnU4-...
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my
>>> system:
>>>
>>> " just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig Crucial
>>> DDR
>>> 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD,
>>> Sata
>>> DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the
>>> bios set up.
>>>
>>>
>>> My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried
>>> both. It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy
>>> files stage. In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom
>>> (Lite on RW sata drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not
>>> getting a signal to write and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista
>>> hangs right before the "select language" screen, sometimes it takes a
>>> long time but it makes it through that screen to the enter the code
>>> screen and I have gotten all the way to the copy.
>>>
>>> Here is what I have done:
>>>
>>> I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked
>>> fine. I formated them and moved files around
>>>
>>> I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
>>> machine so the vista disc is good
>>>
>>> I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig
>>> hoping that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a
>>> bootable drive with it in. Seems like that should have worked
>>>
>>> I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2
>>> machine and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a
>>> "vista ready drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an IDE
>>> drive to see if it works?)
>>>
>>> I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two at
>>> a time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the
>>> slots. So unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with
>>> only 2 sticks in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing
>>> with the 3gig 32 bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots
>>> in this MB)
>>>
>>> My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine
>>> (not sure how to test these)
>>>
>>> My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue
>>>
>>> My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working
>>> fine. Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around
>>> room temp. It is very big though.
>>>
>>> The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom
>>> first), disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound so
>>> there is no conflict.
>>>
>>> I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty much
>>> at a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I plug
>>> into (must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting ideas?
>>>
>>> Any help would be great.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

The ASUS guys said that this MB does not like Crucial memory so I returned
it. Paid up for Kingston and still have issue. It did do the copy function
perfect this time and hung on the "expand install" (second step). I've seen
in other forums that the P5K premium board does not like VISTA 32.

So I will clear CMOS again. Try one more time and then try an XP install and
see what happend. Then MB goes back..


"old man" <> wrote in message
news:9hCvi.12427$...
> You have emailed Crucial support?
> I had Crucial with an Asus mobo that gave problems in conjunction with a
> specific cpu, Crucial tech advised manuall setting memory timings to a
> specific setting, problem went away.
>
> "Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
> news:3IadndrN6I-...
>>
>> "old man" <> wrote in message
>> news:c73vi.12275$...
>>> Try with only a single HD & DVD and one stick
>>> Read the mobo manual as to any specifics regarding sata setup
>>
>> Stil have issue. The ASUS tech guys feel it is a memory issue. Even
>> though it was on the QVL apparently the vendors keep that list not ASUS
>> so it is not always a good measure. They felt that Crucial was not a good
>> match on this motherboard and suggested I try Cosair or Kingston. I just
>> wish I had some of that memory to put in right now to test it. But I
>> agree with them .... it sounds like the memory
>>
>>>
>>> (Installing on another sys then moving the hd is not going to work,
>>> without a repair installation)
>>
>> agreed. It was a long shot.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> "Bluenose 637" <> wrote in message
>>> news:6_2dnU4-...
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the help on my previous post. As a reminder here is my
>>>> system:
>>>>
>>>> " just finished building my new rig. Asus P5K Premium MD, 4 gig
>>>> Crucial DDR
>>>> 800, Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, Nvidia GTS 8800, 2 WD Caviar Sata 2 HDD,
>>>> Sata
>>>> DVD rom, Sata RW DVD." Again, everything shows fine on the POST in the
>>>> bios set up.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My system still hangs on installing windows XP or Vista - Have tried
>>>> both. It hangs at different spots. I have made it as far as the copy
>>>> files stage. In either install it starts to copy and then the DVD rom
>>>> (Lite on RW sata drive) seems to stop turning. It is like it is not
>>>> getting a signal to write and just gives up and stops. Sometimes Vista
>>>> hangs right before the "select language" screen, sometimes it takes a
>>>> long time but it makes it through that screen to the enter the code
>>>> screen and I have gotten all the way to the copy.
>>>>
>>>> Here is what I have done:
>>>>
>>>> I installed both hard drives in a win xp sp 2 machine and they worked
>>>> fine. I formated them and moved files around
>>>>
>>>> I installed vista on one of the drives while it was in the win xp sp2
>>>> machine so the vista disc is good
>>>>
>>>> I tried installing the drive with vista on it back into my new rig
>>>> hoping that it would boot. the new machine cannot seem to find a
>>>> bootable drive with it in. Seems like that should have worked
>>>>
>>>> I took the Lite On Sata DVD RW drive out and put it in the win xp 2
>>>> machine and it worked fine (ran video, transfered files etc). It is a
>>>> "vista ready drive" so it should be okay with Vista (should I try an
>>>> IDE drive to see if it works?)
>>>>
>>>> I have 4 sticks of crucial 1 g ddr2 800 memory. I only installed two
>>>> at a time and keeping them in their pairs tried switching them into the
>>>> slots. So unless they are all bad it should not be the memory. So with
>>>> only 2 sticks in at a time in the proper slots I should not be dealing
>>>> with the 3gig 32 bit issue or QVL (this memory is approved for 2 slots
>>>> in this MB)
>>>>
>>>> My graphics card works fine and it would appear that the cpu works fine
>>>> (not sure how to test these)
>>>>
>>>> My audigy 2 sound card does not seem to be an issue
>>>>
>>>> My power supply is an Anetc Phantom 500w and that seems to be working
>>>> fine. Heat sink is a Thermaltake 120a. seems to keep the cpu at around
>>>> room temp. It is very big though.
>>>>
>>>> The only thing I have changed in the Bios is the boot order (cdrom
>>>> first), disabled the 3.5" 1.44 floppy, and disabled the onboard sound
>>>> so there is no conflict.
>>>>
>>>> I'm really hoping it is not the MB. Any thoughts guys. I'm pretty
>>>> much at a loss here. Config issues? Does it matter which sata drive I
>>>> plug into (must it be Sata 1 for instance). any other trouble shooting
>>>> ideas?
>>>>
>>>> Any help would be great.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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