Dumping Physical Memory just after xp install

U

ultramel1987

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Hi there

I am trying to reload xp on a laptop. I did the "quick format" NTFS. The XP installation seemed to go smoothly thereafter. However, JUST before installation completes, i get the DUMPING PHYSICAL MEMORY screen. Tried again, and again but got same thing?

What could cause this? Would doing a full "long" format help with this issue?

any guidance would be greatly appreciate please

Thank you kindly

mel
 
Hi Mel,

I generally do a full format of the hard drive before loading the operating system - I've never used the quick format option to be honest, nor the XP installer formatting tool (during installation).

What are the specs of the PC: motherboard make/model, amount of RAM, CPU, etc.

Are you installing XP from a disc or from the laptops recovery partition?

EDIT: see if you can find a .DMP file in the following directory: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\, and open it as a text file - it should give an indication as to the problem. If unsure, post the contents her in a zip file for us to view.
 
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Is it perhaps an original XP (pre service packs)? Best to at least use XP SP2. Original XP won't install on Atom based systems for example.
 
howardb said:
Hi Mel,

I generally do a full format of the hard drive before loading the operating system - I've never used the quick format option to be honest, nor the XP installer formatting tool (during installation).

What are the specs of the PC: motherboard make/model, amount of RAM, CPU, etc.

Are you installing XP from a disc or from the laptops recovery partition?

EDIT: see if you can find a .DMP file in the following directory: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\, and open it as a text file - it should give an indication as to the problem. If unsure, post the contents her in a zip file for us to view.
Click to expand...


I am installing from Original XP disk, going to check now whether sp 1 or 2..
How do I format without using the XP formatting tool?
thank u
 
Its a hardware issue imo. I've seen this before, PC is fine even with hardware issues then once you format it bombs.

Download http://www.memtest.org/ write it to a blank CD (its a .iso, so write it as an image not as a file). Then boot off the CD & let it run through once or twice (i.e. 1 or 2 passes over the entire mem). Doesn't modify the Harddisk, so its quite safe.
 
Yes, I also agree that this is a hardware issue. In my experience, most problems like this are resolved by using a version of Windows XP SP3 when performing an installation, especially on newer hardware. Some of the earlier Windows XP SP1 & SP2 don't support SATA drives correctly and SP1 had a problem with large hard drives.

Performing an installation with a SP3 version also saves the hassle of doing it after installation has completed.

Use Nlite to slipstream an updated version (http://www.nliteos.com/)

If you want to test the hard drive before installation, download the manufacturers utility e.g. Seatools for Seagate
 
Thank you. The disk I'm using is XP Pro with SP2... so I need to get updated version of sp3 from Nliteos.com?
Tried FULL FORMAT as well last night, (from xp disk) and wouldn't go past 7%?
 
MelissaFleet said:
Thank you. The disk I'm using is XP Pro with SP2... so I need to get updated version of sp3 from Nliteos.com?
Tried FULL FORMAT as well last night, (from xp disk) and wouldn't go past 7%?
Click to expand...
Then the hdd is *probably* busted.
 
MelissaFleet said:
cannot access .DMP file as Windows will not startup ;:-(
Click to expand...

If you boot from the XP cd to DOS (boot with cd-rom support), then navigate to the C drive (c: then enter)
Type in "cd windows" and enter, then "cd minidump" and enter, then "dir .dmp" and enter to check if any .dmp file exists.
If it does, enter "type filename.dmp" and enter - it should list the contents...

Try getting a copy of Hiren's BootCD and do a full hard drive scan for errors - how old is the laptop?

Another option is to try and use FDISK on the XP boot cd - remove the partition(s) that was created by the failed install, so the HDD is "blank" and unformatted, then run the XP installer and let it format then install.
I can't recall the full process steps, but if you boot the PC with the XP cd and select "boot PC with CD-rom support", then navigate to either drive A or D (depending on how the drive letters are allocated) and run FDISK to remove all the partitions on the HDD. This is all in DOS-type environment. Reboot the PC when done and run the installation as normal.

NOTE: make sure there are no other partitions on the HDD that hold recovery data or driver data... all this will be gone if using the above steps.
 
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MelissaFleet said:
Thank you. The disk I'm using is XP Pro with SP2... so I need to get updated version of sp3 from Nliteos.com?
Tried FULL FORMAT as well last night, (from xp disk) and wouldn't go past 7%?
Click to expand...

Try formatting it with a linux livecd like ubuntu and see what happens. Also download Seatools iso from Seagate website and scan the drive.
 
Are you using different types of RAM? I've seen this happen plenty of times when different types of RAM modules are installed.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Laptops and desktops. Some people seem to think that it's ok to load any RAM modules, as long as it says 1GB or 2GB. They don't stop to read the manual.
Click to expand...

YMMV

Have mix'nmatched 32Mb with 64Mb, 128Mb with 256Mb - and all worked fine. Wouldn't trust it with mission-critical stuff either.

Smoothwall at my house runs with uneven RAM, no issues so far.

Only in the odd scenario (gigabyte laptop) when I added an 1Gb stick to the laptop who already had a 2Gb stick did funny issues assert themselves until I removed the 1Gb stick.

As a rule of thumb, the slowest memory must go into the first slot, then the fastest into the slots thereafter. But, in general, it's best to avoid this type of setup and get memory that's the same speed/rating/whatever.
 
Some of the older versions of XP will do this when installing on a SATA drive. So make sure you add the SATA drivers to the installation via nlite or slipstreaming (i think) , otherwise you won't be able to reinstall
 
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