New system, Can't get it to Work. XP Pro

[joseolivares]

Greetings everyone and Happy New Year. Please, I need help. I just build a new system but I can’t get it to work. I am not even sure if the operating system is loaded or not. It goes through all the basic steps in the set up process, such as selecting the time zones, etc., to include the last step in the installation which states, “saving settings” and then, “removing any temp files.” The system then reboots, the Windows XP Pro page/logo appears briefly on the screen for about 5-8 seconds but then goes away leaving behind only a black screen. It just sits there with no action. I have even left it there for a couple of hours and still no action. I have tried two different, original Windows XP professional CDs. I have formatted the Drive and started from scratch now over 6 times. I’ve tried loading it from the DVD and then from the CD ROM drives but still the same result.

System composition as follows:

OS: Windows XP Professional W/Service Pack 1.
Mother board: Intel Desktop board D945PVS Socket 775
Processor: Intel Dual Core D820 2.8 GHz
Chipset: Intel 945P
RAM: Corsair 2048 GB DDR2 533MHz
HD: Western Digital SATA 300GB
Graphics Card: XFX GeForce 6800XT

Thanks! Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[sp_100]

Did you try Safe Mode?

[mahdiislam]

You might need to partition your hard-drive properly, to do this:
1. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, or insert the first Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the computer.

Note To start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM (or from the startup disk), your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM drive, the DVD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk drive. In some cases, you may have to modify your computer's BIOS settings to set this configuration. For information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive, the DVD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk drive, see the documentation that is included with your computer, or contact the computer manufacturer.
2. If you are starting the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do this.

Note If your hard disk controller requires a third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM) driver, press F6 to specify the driver.

3. At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
4. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
5. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
6. All the existing partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition by using unpartitioned space. If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this step for each of the existing partitions that you want to use for the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, select the remaining unpartitioned space, and then press C to create the new partition.

Note If you want to create a partition where one or more partitions already exist, you must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then create the new partition.
7. Type the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size.
8. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to create additional partitions if you want them.
9. If you want to install Windows XP, use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER. If you do not want to format the partition and install Windows XP, press F3 two times to quit the Windows Setup program, and then do not follow the remaining steps. In this case, you must use a different utility to format the partition.
10. Select the format option that you want to use for the partition, and then press ENTER. You have the following options: • Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system
• Leave the current file system intact (no changes)
The option to leave the current file system intact is not available if the selected partition is a new partition. The FAT file system option is not available if the selected partition is more than 32 gigabytes (GB). If the partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT32 file system (you must press ENTER to confirm). If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.

Note If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are installing Windows XP on a different partition, you will be prompted to select a file system for both the System and startup partitions.
11. After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to continue. After the Windows Setup program is completed, you can use the Disk Management tools in Windows XP to create or format more partitions.

Extract from Microsoft.com

[joseolivares]

Greetings Mahdiislam, Thanks for the information. I found it very useful partitioning my drive once I figured out what my problem was. Well, I am not totally certain what fixed my problem, but what I did was remove the WinTV-PVR -150 and the ATI Radeon 7000 series cards I had installed during the assembly. I removed both cards at the same time and I tried installing the OS again. It worked this time. Once I had Windows XP Pro installed, and the software in the two CDs that came with the mother board installed, I plugged in the two cards again and they worked. By that I mean my new system is working, but I am very disappointed with it for multiple reasons, such as I upgraded the InterVideo Silver software that came in bundled with the motherboard (Would not play DVDs) to the InterVideo Home Theater 2 Platinum and the TV feature doesn’t work as advertised. It has a channel surfing function but it gives only audio and no video. I’ll contact InterVideo once they are back to work and go from there…

Thanks again for the prompt response. I truly appreciate it.

[mahdiislam]

I'm glad to see you've got your system up-and-running, it's a shame about InterVideo Home Theatre 2 Platinum though.