Laptop crashes when installing windows xp

[redy9567]

Hello, I am having a problem with my Windows Vista HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook PC, It got to a point where it randomly crashes from time to time and so I asked a friend of mine who knows alot about computers and he said it was because it was vista and has alot of bugs, so I found a windows XP installation disk and every time I try to install it before i get to the screen where it says Install, Repair etc. it crashes, so I thought it might be a software problem so i did a factory restore and some where when it was installing my computer shut down, now I cant even start up my computer with out getting an error, and it wont let me do another factory restore or go into safe mode, I still got the crashing when i installing XP, so i decided to look up on the internet and the only soloution i found was to change the HDD setting in BIOS and yet I cant find that setting in BIOS.

Any help?

 

[ktownmike]

At this point a restore of vista would be recommended. There should be a repair option during boot, or use the mfgr. system restore disks. Sure vista is bad but without an xp license code, you are gong to be stuck.

 

[redy9567]

At this point a restore of vista would be recommended. There should be a repair option during boot, or use the mfgr. system restore disks. Sure vista is bad but without an xp license code, you are gong to be stuck.

I dont see any repair option or know what mfgr is, and i do have a xp lisense code, it just crashes before i can get to that point

 

[wombat_tg]

What is the error you're getting when you try to start up?

What error/happened when it crashed during install? Freeze? Reboot? Blue screen?

What crashes were you getting back when it was working? Freezes? Random reboots? Blue screens?

mgfr = manufacturer restore discs (the discs that came with your machine)

 

[redy9567]

What is the error you're getting when you try to start up?

What error/happened when it crashed during install? Freeze? Reboot? Blue screen?

What crashes were you getting back when it was working? Freezes? Random reboots? Blue screens?

mgfr = manufacturer restore discs (the discs that came with your machine)

1. The error I get when i start up is Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file [C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml] The answer file is invalid

2.I get a blue screen with *** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

3.I got blue screens most commonly saying IQRL NOT LESS OR EQUAL, something about a page in a NON PAGED AREA, or SYSTEM SERVICE EXECPTION.

4. i dont have any mgfrs

 

[wombat_tg]

1. The error I get when i start up is Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file [C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml] The answer file is invalid

2.I get a blue screen with *** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

3.I got blue screens most commonly saying IQRL NOT LESS OR EQUAL, something about a page in a NON PAGED AREA, or SYSTEM SERVICE EXECPTION.

4. i dont have any mgfrs

Is this machine still under any sort of warranty?

I will bet money you have (and have had) faulty RAM. If it's faulty RAM, you will need to physically replace the stick(s).

Can you get it to at least boot into safe mode so you can do a little more trouble shooting? Or is it totally toasted?

These normally came with 2 sticks (is my understanding) So you could try to open the belly and if it has 2, remove 1 stick in turn to see if just one is faulty. If this works you know you just need to replace them. This is about $20. If you only have one stick you obviously can't pursue this route. And there's no assurance that once you have good sticks in that your machine will boot normally (probably not, since it's fubar'd) but it should accept an install normally. But that's a $20ish gamble. Maybe $10. Unless you're like me and have all sorts of spare parts laying around. 😛

 

[redy9567]

Is this machine still under any sort of warranty?

I will bet money you have (and have had) faulty RAM. If it's faulty RAM, you will need to physically replace the stick(s).

Can you get it to at least boot into safe mode so you can do a little more trouble shooting? Or is it totally toasted?

These normally came with 2 sticks (is my understanding) So you could try to open the belly and if it has 2, remove 1 stick in turn to see if just one is faulty. If this works you know you just need to replace them. This is about $20. If you only have one stick you obviously can't pursue this route. And there's no assurance that once you have good sticks in that your machine will boot normally (probably not, since it's fubar'd) but it should accept an install normally. But that's a $20ish gamble. Maybe $10. Unless you're like me and have all sorts of spare parts laying around. 😛

ok, ill try to look into my computer to check about that some time, but I was wondering if I just couldnt find the HDD setting? (im trying to do this without spending any money, only if i have to to fix it)

 

[wombat_tg]

ok, ill try to look into my computer to check about that some time, but I was wondering if I just couldnt find the HDD setting? (im trying to do this without spending any money, only if i have to to fix it)

What HDD setting?

 

[redy9567]

What HDD setting?

This whole thing is about me trying to install XP most ppl say to change the HDD setting in BIOS

 

[wombat_tg]

This whole thing is about me trying to install XP most ppl say to change the HDD setting in BIOS

Change it from what to what?

Since you report BSOD crashes PRIOR to the failed install, I'm inclined to think the problem is not in the BIOS, it's just you have faulty RAM. A history of random BSOD and now the infamous IQRL NOT LESS OR EQUAL pretty much screams "bad RAM" Although the Panther error is usually the result of a crash during install and the install got corrupted. Maybe the whole damn restore partition ate the big one. So now you might have multiple problems going on.

Either way, screwing with the HDD BIOS settings isn't going to make things any worse.

If it were mine, here's what I'd do BEFORE I started mucking around in BIOS:

1) If it was under warranty of ANY kind I would contact the maker

2) If no warranty, I would see if I could get it to boot off a Linux live CD. Run memtest.

If RAM checks out under memtest, ponder if perhaps the harddrive is the problem, or if some other component has gone bad. But I would make every effort to verify if the RAM was the culprit or not, since everything you describe points to bad RAM.