The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Traps for Beginners — A Grateful Member Recounts A Lesson Paul Lynch

The following is an account of problems I encountered when attempting to install Windows 2000 Professional. Hopefully it will serve as a warning to others who embark upon an activity, thinking they have all bases well covered.

Previously the system was Windows 98SE and I was not having any problems. (Begs the question as to why I chose to upgrade, doesn't it?)

My hardware included a standard 20 GB HDD, an Orb removable drive (running as slave), a CD writer and CD-ROM (as slave). The motherboard is a Soltek with an AMD 1 GHz chip. Memory is 256 MB PC-133 (1 row of 128 MB and 2 rows of 64 MB). Sound runs from the integrated chip on the motherboard, and the video card is an Asus V.7100 series with 32 MB RAM. A Fly Video Card also runs off the motherboard. Other external hardware includes a Banksia modem, Logitech mouse, standard Windows keyboard, NEC Multisync V.721 monitor and Kyocera laser printer.

Prior to installing Windows 2000, I took the precaution of checking the Microsoft Web site for hardware compatibility. I also downloaded Window 2000 drivers for each of my hardware items (both internal and external).

After ensuring that I had full backups and that I could boot from both the floppy drive and CD-ROM, I formatted the "C" drive from my System Boot disk. I then proceeded to reboot with the Windows 2000 Installation CD and all seemed to go OK. There were no messages warning of any potential conflicts and I did not expect any. The install process took some time, as did reinstalling all the hardware with new Windows 2000 drivers (not to mention assorted software programs and the setting up of numerous preferences).

However, the following day after booting up in the normal fashion, I received the message depicted below:

The system then went into a continual loop. The only way to turn off the computer was via the power switch. All attempts to boot in safe mode, emergency repair mode or by utilizing the repair console failed. The system could not get past the screen that informed me Windows 2000 was loading.

Through the efforts of a patient and persistent friend, enquiries to the Microsoft Support Web Site indicated that this type of message was a registry problem. It appeared that this was a known problem and was addressed by Service Pack No. 2. Now they tell me!

Accordingly, I started again from square 1, formatting, reinstalling and reloading. However, this time the service pack was installed at the earliest opportunity. Once again, first signs were that all was OK. Unfortunately, after a day of running normally, the above message reappeared. To this point nothing had been added to my system that was not there previously under Windows 98SE.

Once again, my patient friend scoured the Microsoft Web Site but could find nothing except one reference pointing in the direction of possible hardware problems. At this point I rang Melb PC phone support and spoke to Ian Clark. Ian was able to be a bit more positive about the symptoms that I described. He confirmed the Microsoft reference to hardware, but was a little more specific. Given that I could not even load Windows in safe mode, in his view the problem was either motherboard or memory related. His reasons were that the handover from BIOS to Windows was not taking place. Why it worked for a day or so cannot be explained.
 
Almost as an afterthought, Ian asked me to look at the Plug'n'Play function in the BIOS settings. The status was set to "disabled". He felt that this was the major culprit. In fact he expressed some surprise that Win2000 installed at all given this disabled setting. If altering this setting did not fix the problem he suggested a BIOS upgrade, a memory check, then a clean install with only essential hardware connected.

Following Ian's advice, my friend and I determined how to upgrade the BIOS, altered the subject Plug'n'Play setting (which I now know is set to disabled by default - why, I do not know - and proceeded to the third format and reinstall.

This was after disabling the Orb Drive, removing the Fly Video Card and disconnecting both the Printer and Modem.

Given that Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro performs a hardware check prior to loading, I am a surprised that the two above issues (BIOS & Plug'n'Play setting) were not picked up. Nevertheless, No.3 install has been successful and at the time of writing the system has now been running OK for 6 days. Each day I have introduced a different hardware device and to date there appear to be no conflicts. A very time consuming lesson for me, but fruitful at least in terms of knowledge acquired.

Many thanks to Ian for his patience and intuition as to what the problem may have been. I will remember his encouragement that I could fix this problem.

As a result of the above I now understand a little better the function of the motherboard, the BIOS/CMOS and memory status prior to the hand over to the operating system. Notwithstanding, I am still a bit frustrated that I (and others) wasted a lot of time when better information seemed to be readily available. The potential for this problem to occur may have been around. However, if it was, it was not clear to me where the appropriate warnings might have been found.

I'm still not sure whether or not it was the BIOS upgrade or the altering of the Plug'n'Play setting that corrected the fault. Suffice to say that I would recommend others to confirm that these areas are OK before installing Windows 2000.

Once again thank you Ian (and to my other hard working friend).

Another thing I've learned is that the default setting for Line Out under Volume Controls is "muted". This caused some frustration when sound could not be produced from the Fly Video Card.

Reprinted from the February 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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