New Motherboard problem.

Ok guys, i need your help big time.

I just went out and bought a SOYO P4VDA motherboard, and i'm running into some problems. I apparently got a few things right because i am able to get into the BIOS and configure the settings. However, when i go to install windows i keep getting errors like these:

Stop: c0000221 Unkown Hard Error
\SystemRoot\System32\ntdll.dll

and:

adup160m.sys is corrupted

I keep gettings similar errors like the one directly above this sentence; their always different but always end with "something.sys" is corrupted.

The hard drive is wiped and the CMOS has been cleared, so i wondered how it was that it was giving me errors such these. If the hard drive has been wiped and the CMOS cleared how is it that it's finding files corrupted? I was under the impression that no data was on the drive.

I have been reading the manual to the motherboard and have tried all the troubleshooting protocols, but i'm still getting stuck right at the end of the windows installation where it starts to say "starting windows"...... just as this pops up a file is shown as corrupted; different one every time.

What should i do guys, this is beginning to get a bit stressful? And is my assumption correct that there is nothing wrong with this mobo and or hardware since i'm getting this far in the process?

Note: this is my first attempt at building a box from scratch.

Any help is much appreciated.

Looking forward to your suggestions.

`pw

Couple of questions first;
Is the HD new, or did you have some version of Windows installed on it before? If you had a previous installation, then rest assured that even with a reasonably thourough wipe, you didn't manage to clean up the drive. MS has stuff written to your drive in sectors that you can't get to normally.
Second question is what procedure did you use to wipe the drive? to escape the MS protected junk, you'll probably need to use a utility from the drive manufacturer to do a low level format on the drive. This is about the only way I can think of to clean up except going in with a set of floppy disks with DOS 5 or thereabout and doing a full format with those. In either case, it's a pain and I'll wish you good luck.
L

No, this is not a new drive, there was a previous version of windows on it. However, i wiped it with Autoclave from a floppy.

Thanks for the sentiment though, this has been a mind bender for me thus far.

check your ram. I had the exact same problem when i built this machine. I had 2 sticks of ram and it turned out to be a compatability problem. The mobo just didnt like those 2 sticks together. wich is really odd to me cause they were identical sticks

I would say try using a different program to do the wiping. I have never used it but have heard that Partition Magic 7.0 works well. I assume you are installing from a bootable cd? Try swapping your cdrom drive with a different one and also try using a different Windows disc if you can. The files could simply be corrupted on your cd (check for scratches, dirt) or the reader lens of your cdrom may have somthing wrong with it.

Good Luck

OK,
Have you tried repartitioning the drive yet? Another suggestion would be to get a new drive, strap it as "Master" and the old drive as the "Slave". This will get you lots of new storage, but of course it will hit you in the pocket to do so. I should have stated this before, but your problem doesn't sound like the mother board. Autoclave is supposed to be a good program, but I don't recall it as having the ability to do a low level format that would include the proprietary sectors where the FAT's etc. are stored.
L

is the BIOS up to date? also, compatability could be whats wrong with it. Ah also, try to delete the active partition, create a new one, dfrag whatever lil things mite be in there and install windows again. If that doesnt work, take a blowtorch and melt the MOBO, lol j/k:)


oops sorry if i mentioned the same thing as the post above me, Its 1am here, cant sleep and i'm half drunk....i'll be more careful next time

I hope you have a floppy drive and a win98 boot disk.

My first step would be to pull the hard drive, set the BIOS to boot to the floppy, see what happens, besides a hard drive failure because there isn't any ( and other beeps ? )

shut down, reconnect hard drive, go into the BIOS and see if it auto detects it properly. Then again boot to the floppy, run fdisk, remove the partitions, shut down, restart, run fdisk/mbr, then run fdisk again. Check to make sure all partitions are in fact gone, then partition the drive. Restart again and check the partitions with fdisk again, if OK exit fdisk without any changes and format the drive with 98.

Now shut down, restart, go into the BIOS and let the machine boot first to the hard drive, second to the floppy. If everything is OK here, then it should have booted to the floppy because it did find any system files on the hard drive. ( note that it may give you a warning about a virus may have damaged the drive, just ignore it )
Now check the drive with Scandisk ( this will take a while! )

If everything is OK here, check the install CD's for any scratches etc.

There is a lot of restarting, but I've cleaned many drivers of crap this way. If you have no error messages or beeps up to this point directing you to a different problem you should be able to install the OS. ( OK guys/gals, did I miss any restarts here? )

By the way, M$ does not seem to be much help:
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article – 101096
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article – 314474

Good Luck

Which of the marvelous Windows O/S's are you Installing?

Is OS CD stamped with the original thunbprint of Billy boy?

otherwise the RAM comment is the most likley (BTW:ZomBieMann77 the incompatable ram issue is common. .. the technical side I won't cover Here)

"normaly", since win98se, you only needed to use the tools on the CD (which auto boots and the 98 cd has the same tools as the win98 boot disk. xp will partition and format as you wish.. not to say the opther tools are wrong.. I just don't normaly waste my time.. )..
BTW: what information could be on a NEW HDD to require the use of Autoclave anyway?

cheers

Hey guy's, sorry i took so long to reply. As you can gather i have been a bit tied up.

Turns out the cdrom was the culprit. It was funtional to an extent, which is why the problems i was having persisted as long as they did without me noticing. When i originally got it, it always made an irregular sound unlike any other cdrom i have ever owned (sorta like sand paper shortly after a disk was put in or taken out), but was until now always able to perform it's tasks.

This explains why i kept getting all of those windows errors. During the windows installation the errors would show up wherever the cdrom stopped reading the data on the installation cd (that's my hypothesis anyway). After i switched the cdrom over to my burner which i was using as the secondary device i was able to get all the way through the windows installation.

It's sufficive to say that i paid that cdrom back for my troubles. :borg:

Quote:

---

BTW: what information could be on a NEW HDD to require the use of Autoclave anyway?

---

It was'nt a new HDD, it was the one that came with my old Dell.

Thanks for all of the responses guy's, i may have run into some bumps in the road, but i sure as hell have learned a ton about the inner workings of my computer.

Problem solved.

`pw

Another point about installing Windows NT4/2000/XP....

Have CD Rom on 'Secondary' IDE channel.

Do NOT have Hard drive & CD on same cable.