What's wrong with my set up?

Question

I recently built a new computer. SMART status says hard drive is bad, so I'm going to RMA that from newegg.com. Other than that though, it took literally 5-10 minutes for the windows xp pro cold boot (when u first install the OS on a newly built PC) for the Windows Setup to show up (the blue screens). Is there something wrong with my dvd-drive? I'm pretty sure it isn't the motherboard, RAM, CPU or graphics card.

System specs:

AMD Athlon X2 5200+
Asus M2N-SLI motherboard
Wintec AmpX DDR2 800 RAM
(hard drive in question) WD 250Gig caviar SE
XFX nvidia geforce 7950GT
Lite-On Dvd burner

I don't think it's the CD because I can't see a single scratch or scuff on it. It's gotta be the hard drive.

Tried doing a repair installation of Windows XP and got the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH that said there was a stop error at 0x00000050 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA. It's gotta be the Hard Drive because I am scared of the problem being with my RAM

Answer 1

I'm going to assume that since you built it, you meet the system requirements for XP Pro.

It may have just taken that long to stumble through the boot process. You can check your boot order in the BIOS and set it so that your CD/DVD drive is first. The default is A:. If it cycled through the A: drive, then checked your HD, which contained no OS, and then checked your CD Drive for a Boot sector, that would take some time. Also recheck your cabling to make sure they are all secured. It's quite possible a loose cable could cause issues as well.

Either way, you can't install until you get a replacement drive, and that may have caused a slow down.

Answer 2

Hi there.

Are you still using the same bad hard drive? The hard drive that it's SMART status is saying that it's bad? If so, that's probably the root of your installation woes. If not, it could be your CD itself (scratches etc). It's hard to believe that all your new peripherals are defective.

Hope this helps