I'm trying to upgrade an older PC to run XP, but the installation process hangs. I'm booting from the XP CD, and the setup loads all files until windows file system NTFS. Then the screen goes blank with the cursor blinking in the upper lefthand corner. I can see there is some activity on the CD, the hard disk and on the keyboard, but after a short while the there is no activity, and what remains is the blinking cursor.

I have reformatted the hard disk so all traces of the old win98 se should be gone. I have TRIED to upgrade the BIOS, but getting an error message from the awdflash program; the program file's part number does not match with your system.

Any suggestions?

The system is:
- epox 8kta3 via133 socketA motherboard
- AMD duron 800 MHz processor
- 256 Mb RAM
- Nvidia Reference AGP GeForce2 MX400 video
- Western Digital 40Gb 7200 rpm HDCheck the CD for scratches it could be a corrupted CD.

Your PC should be able to run it no probs with those specs.


R0SSThe system should install it just fine but in reality, 512Meg of RAM is the minimum requirement to run XP comfortably, particularly on an older machine.
When installing, are you deleting all partitions first?
Does it install OK if you choose FAT32? You can always convert to NTFS later.
Have you checked the hard drive to any in-depth level?
Is the CD a copy or scratched or dirty?I have run fdisk from a win98 se boot floppy to delete all partitions. Also tried with fat32 formatting and WITHOUT formatting only the fdisk partition setup. I haven't checked the HD in-depth, but it boots ok when fat32 formatted.

The CD looks ok, but I'll check it again.

Thanks for the suggestions!The CD..... Is it a copy or a legitimate retail version? It's important that we know.The CD is an OEM version, NorwegianWas it supplied ith the machine that you're trying to install it on?No, but bought in the same shop. They are bankrupt.

It was installed on an another computer and it worked ok. This computer has stopped working.

I know that the OEM version can only be installed on one computer, but what I'm checking is if this computer can be upgraded using the same CD. If successful I will buy another license. If not I'll have to buy another computer. The way my theory works is that it should be possible to do the installation from the CD, but not the REGISTRATION. Are there different OEM versions?

The CD can't be written to from the old installation and the PC is not connected to Internet so there cannot be a check on whether this is a valid registration.

Is this a valid set of thoughts, or am I too much into saving money? ;-)It's not a matter of licencing etc at this stage - It's more a matter of how the installation has been "hacked" by the OEM.
Some OEM copies are tied to one model or manufacturer, some will install on a few different but similar machines and some are restriction free except for the EULA constraints.

Usually however, a warning along the lines of "This copy of xxx was not designed to be used on this machine" is issued beoe the installer quits.