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New Computer is Killing Me

Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
edited September 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
So I just came into possession of a pretty decent computer that is a tad old, but still great compared to my laptop. It had vista installed earlier, but I wanted to reformat it, so I did. I then tried to install windows again, and it now bluescreens after finishing the installation. Like, I get to the part where it's starting windows for the first time, and it bluescreens. I'm running a memory test now, but it's not encountering any problems. I have no idea what could be causing this. It was running fine before the reformat. It has two video cards SLI'd, could that be causing it?

Mai-Kero on

Posts

  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2009
    Something maybe installed poorly. Since you're right at the start of the install anyway, I'd just go ahead and start from the beginning again. And if you format, make it the full format, not the quick version.

    Bionic Monkey on
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  • Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Bionic Monkey wrote: »
    Something maybe installed poorly. Since you're right at the start of the install anyway, I'd just go ahead and start from the beginning again. And if you format, make it the full format, not the quick version.

    Is there even an option in vista to change the way it formats?

    Everything should be installed properly hardware-wise, it was working fine before I formatted.

    Mai-Kero on
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Have you gotten to driver installations before it started bluescreening on you? If not, it's probably some terrible default drivers fucking things up. I don't know if you can, but trying to get into safe mode and installing up-to-date drivers is probably something I'd try to do.

    Dehumanized on
  • Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Dehumanized wrote: »
    Have you gotten to driver installations before it started bluescreening on you? If not, it's probably some terrible default drivers fucking things up. I don't know if you can, but trying to get into safe mode and installing up-to-date drivers is probably something I'd try to do.

    Safe mode doesn't work either. I don't think it was even to the driver installation yet. Someone online posted that they had the same error code installing to an acer notebook, and it was some sort of compatibility error with the bios.

    Now it won't even let me boot to the CD. It just asks me "Press any key to boot to the cd" and won't. I tried pressing one key, and mashing, and nothing works.

    Mai-Kero on
  • TetraNitroCubaneTetraNitroCubane Not Angry... Just VERY Disappointed...Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    This is an extreme stab in the dark, but what's the error code on the BSOD you're getting? Is it a 0x0000007B STOP error, or an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error? If so, chances are that it's an issue with ACHI / RAID drivers (see here under common problems). You can sidestep the issue by setting your BIOS to run SATA drives in PATA mode instead of ACHI. Or else you can try to install the drivers during Windows Installation.

    Also, remember that if you get an error on a memory test, you've got bad memory. If you don't get an error on a memory test, well, you still might have bad memory. The tests aren't definitive, but if you want to be more thorough, make sure you're running Memtest86+ if you have more than 4GB RAM, and that you use extended testing in any version of Memtest. You may have already done this, though, and if so, sorry to repeat advice.

    TetraNitroCubane on
  • Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    TetraNitroCubane wrote: »
    This is an extreme stab in the dark, but what's the error code on the BSOD you're getting? Is it a 0x0000007B STOP error, or an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error? If so, chances are that it's an issue with ACHI / RAID drivers (see here under common problems). You can sidestep the issue by setting your BIOS to run SATA drives in PATA mode instead of ACHI. Or else you can try to install the drivers during Windows Installation.

    Also, remember that if you get an error on a memory test, you've got bad memory. If you don't get an error on a memory test, well, you still might have bad memory. The tests aren't definitive, but if you want to be more thorough, make sure you're running Memtest86+ if you have more than 4GB RAM, and that you use extended testing in any version of Memtest. You may have already done this, though, and if so, sorry to repeat advice.

    You called the right error code. (except it didn't end it b)

    I researched it, and someone suggested taking out two gigs of ram, installing a hotfix, and reinstalling the ram.

    My friend apparently gave me a REALLY FUCKING OLD version of vista home premium that needs a hotfix to have more than two gigs.

    Yay, it booted finally.

    Thanks everyone.

    Mai-Kero on
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