everytime i try to install win xp, the format goes smoothly but the install keeps restarting until i get a post beep code of one long and two short beeps after 4 or 5 restarts. any ideas? the xp cd has worked on another computer since my first failure so i don't think there is a problem with that, and i have tried another hard drive in the same rig with the same results. problem with the dvd drive maybe? hopefully. any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. i've been struggling with this computer for awhile and am sick of not having it run.

Hey Benzo

Have you tried the other hard disk where the CD worked, in this rig. Sounds like a hardware issue.

Does it always reset at the same point?

Hi there Benzo,
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As 21stcs mentioned, this definitely sounds like a hardware issue. Did you mention that you have used this copy of Windows XP on other computers?

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ya, i tried both hard drives, and previous to this issue they both worked but with this cd neither work. i borrowed a new xp cd from a friend, but i left it in his truck was planning on trying that out tomorrow. i was thinking maybe it's something as stupid as the CD drive? only because it also worked fine for my laptop. No, it does not always restart at the same point which is why i was thinking it wasn't just a scratch in the CD. I'm pretty stumped, i moved jumpers, i tried new hardrives, i changed the cables, and the boot priority in BIOS. never really had this happen before. I'll try out that new XP install cd tomorrow and see what happens, but i'm pretty excited to finally get this rig off the ground and to get as close as 14 minutes left on install to have it crap out on me made me so frustrated i just gave up. thanks much for all of your help and Ash i fully intend on helping others if i can and not just bumming information off of all of you. thanks again.

You shouldn't really be borrowing disks - it's illegal unless you have a VLK. However, if it's a burned disk [rather than a retail one], then it could be a fault with the disk.
I suggest that you either buy a license for XP or download a free OS like Ubuntu [you can also order CDs for it]:
Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu

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i lost my cd but i still have the key on my old case from the legitmate version of windows that i purchased. i no longer use that computer, and am going to use my xp key for this pc. the one i am borrowing is a legitimate microsoft disc not a burned one, so if it doesn't work then the fault is not with the cd.

Was your computer put together by a big manufacturer, or yourself/small company?

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my old computer was a dell. the new one with all the issues i put together myself. i just got a pfn_list_corrupt error so i figured i'd double check my RAM. trying one stick at a time. well one of them gives me a few nice post beeps and the other is working solid. in any and all of the ram slots on the motherboard. think i may have found the problem, giving xp install one more attempt.

well i tried moving the ram around and no changes. still can't xp to properly install. any other ideas? or should i just take it to geek squad or somewhere else and have them take a look. i work 60+ hours a week and don't have time to do it myself at least not more than 1 hour at a time. thanks again for all the help.

Don't take it to Geek Squad, the chances are you do know more than their shaved monkeys and they will probably mess it up. How old is the system?

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Did you ever try the other CD that you borrowed?
I know not having a lot of time to work on it is really frustrating, but keep trying. You built this machine ... it's your baby!

If you got a pfn_list_corrupt error, download http://www.21stcs.ca/file/memtest33.zip from our site, unzip it onto a floppy and boot into it on the problem machine. Run the tests and this will let you know if your RAM is the fault. Could be that both modules have crapped out.
If this is the case , you gotta start checking things like the PSU rating, reseat all of the power plugs going into your drives (HDD, CD/DVD, FDD etc - actually do this first anyway). If these all check out and it's not a power problem, hopefully it's just been a random act and not a motherboard problem .

If the RAM checks out, the list might be getting corrupted by a core driver, the most likely suspect being a CD/DVD drive, but there is a possibility of it being the HDD conflicting with motherboard resources, this is generally only with Maxtor drives and NVidia chipsets (if this is the case, maxtor issued this fix. Unzip, burn to a disc and boot from it).

Apart from that, I guess you gotta take it to someone ... even GEEKSQUAD (sigh!).

Good Luck

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First I would unplug all of the items in the chasis, IE harddrives, cdroms, floppy. Take all but one stick of ram out, and then post the computer. If it is still getting this error then I would asume that you have mobo problems or the ram stick is not compatible with the mobo.

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computer post's fine with one stick but not with the other. however, during my xp install i was only using one stick because i figured the other to be faulty from the get go. unfortunately this does not solve my problem. Couldn't get memtest to work but thats probably because my friend messed up the floppy. I only have one floppy drive at my house and it's in the computer that doesn't work, and the mac that i have been using to post on this forum only has a cd drive and a usb zip drive. I'll see if i can get to the library to get memtest on a floppy and see what's going on with the RAM. but i still can't get xp to setup properly. i would guess that my options now are A) HDD B) CD-ROM drive C) motherboard D) processor? the motherboard is new, the last one was faulty, wouldn't even boot up. was pretty lame. processor is fine, i tried it in a friend's computer. I believe that the hard drive is fine, but i guess with all of the failed attempts at installing xp i could have fried it along the way. and that leaves the CD-ROM. not really sure how to go about checking that, aside from bothering my friend again to let my try out a piece of hardware in his rig.

thanks everyone for the help, i feel like it's almost figured out but i'm lost for now on what to do next. Can't believe i forgot to give you the specs on the computer so here they are.

Motherboard: ASUS M2N-E SLI
Processor: AMD Athlon 64x2 4600+
RAM: G.SKILL DDR2 PC2-6400 2x1GB
Video: PCI-e x16 XFX GeForce 7900 GS
HDD: 250 GB, forgot brand, and case is too dark. if important i can look it up
CD-ROM: DVD +/- R/RW
Monitor: 22" LCD Widescreen Westinghouse

any other information that can help please let me know. can't wait to get this thing running Crysis.

NEWS!! okay i took my computer to a friend's house to see what we could do about xp setup being a bitch. after hours and hours i gave up and went home but today he called me and told me he set up his SATA hard drive on my computer and it said that NTLDR could not be found. Now we both know for sure that this hard drive is not faulty, he unplugged it and put it back in his computer and it booted fine. so that means my CD-ROM is fine, and my hard drive is too most likely (assuming all of the failed attempts haven't corrupted it). So what now? motherboard or processor? going to try a different friends compatible processor with my motherboard later and my processor with his motherboard to try and figure out what it is. any thoughts while i wait for him to be available?

It does sound like either the motherboard or the processer, but I'd put my money on the mobo. Also, please be aware that there are many other threads on this forum, as well as your own

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