Ok so i have an alienware area 51 m7700 laptop.

It boots through bios and everything, and i also just replaced the mothoboard.

It will boot linux disks to the menu
Ubuntu-Options of STARTING and installing windows, run mem text, check cd for errors.
Opensuse-is installed to HDD and boots fine and works fine.
Windows- is what i'm trying to install, and it gets as far as saying it is inspecting my computers configuration. then screen will just stay black and i believe it just looks at the cd every few minutes, but doesn't bring up any blue screen saying it is loading drivers.Sounds LIKE a different MBoard...Linux isn't as sensitive to hardware changes as Windows is...

Do you have a Windows CD that MATCHES your version and Service Pack #'s installed ? ?
Your OEM Restore CD will not work for this...

Repair Install of XP

You will also NEED the updated MBoard and chipset drivers for that new board.Surely, when you replace the mobo on a laptop, it's going to be more or less identical to the old one? Or can you change motherboards for different makes/models on LAPTOPS like you can with desktop cases?
I would think so as well...i was just going by the symptoms themselves...
But i've seen manuf. change chipsets for example 2 or 3 times inside of one Model# run of production...Sorry i guess i should be more specific.
The motherboard was replaced because the old one was bad.

It can boot to the os on HDD which is opensuse.

but when i put in windows xp cd it will say checking system configuration. then halt on just a black screen nothing comes up showing it is loading drivers the cd drive has a steady green light but that's it.Check Windows CD for 1. genuineness, 2. scratches/damage.

Is HDD a SATA? If so you will need to load drivers via floppy for XP install.The hard drive is Sata i believe.
I can't get genuine cds to load or even linux cds to fully load.
The os that is already on HDD seems to keep freezing after a few minutes.

The board i recieved doesn't hold the graphics card heatsink tight against GPU. So i returning board either way to get a new one. A friend told me my graphics card could be fried too. could this be what would cause it to hang when trying to load cds further or even the opensuse on the HDD?
Quote from: transporter on November 03, 2008, 09:44:57 AM

The hard drive is Sata i believe.
I can't get genuine cds to load or even linux cds to fully load.
The os that is already on HDD seems to keep freezing after a few minutes.

The board i recieved doesn't hold the graphics card heatsink tight against GPU. So i returning board either way to get a new one. A friend told me my graphics card could be fried too. could this be what would cause it to hang when trying to load cds further or even the opensuse on the HDD?