E
esimon
Hello,
My Windows XP PC crashed while installing a NETGEAR wireless N
adapter. What happened was I installed the software, shut down the
PC, inserted the adapter, and then powered the PC back on. During the
Windows XP logo screen the "progress" bar stopped - leaving the HDD
light solid.
I was not able to run Windows after that (except in safe mode) and not
even a "system restore" helped. I wound up reinstalling Windows,
which was successful, except that it froze when I was installing some
motherboard drivers (USB, ethernet, sound chip). It froze in the
middle of copying files from the CD. The mouse and keyboard were
unresponsive and the HDD light is solid.
I've reinstalled a few times. Installing Windows and motherboard
drivers and a few other hardware drivers seems to work fine with one
hard drive, but when I use the other hard drive it seems to have
always frozen at some point, though a different point each time.
Sometimes the Windows Setup chkdsk fails, sometimes a motherboard
driver, sometimes a hardware driver.
This leads me to believe the NETGEAR adapter and one of my hard drives
is bad, but before I replace I want to make sure it is not the
motherboard. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there any good
diagnostic tools that might help? This is the first time I've ever
seen Windows XP freeze completely without being able to manage an
error message.
Thanks!
My Windows XP PC crashed while installing a NETGEAR wireless N
adapter. What happened was I installed the software, shut down the
PC, inserted the adapter, and then powered the PC back on. During the
Windows XP logo screen the "progress" bar stopped - leaving the HDD
light solid.
I was not able to run Windows after that (except in safe mode) and not
even a "system restore" helped. I wound up reinstalling Windows,
which was successful, except that it froze when I was installing some
motherboard drivers (USB, ethernet, sound chip). It froze in the
middle of copying files from the CD. The mouse and keyboard were
unresponsive and the HDD light is solid.
I've reinstalled a few times. Installing Windows and motherboard
drivers and a few other hardware drivers seems to work fine with one
hard drive, but when I use the other hard drive it seems to have
always frozen at some point, though a different point each time.
Sometimes the Windows Setup chkdsk fails, sometimes a motherboard
driver, sometimes a hardware driver.
This leads me to believe the NETGEAR adapter and one of my hard drives
is bad, but before I replace I want to make sure it is not the
motherboard. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there any good
diagnostic tools that might help? This is the first time I've ever
seen Windows XP freeze completely without being able to manage an
error message.
Thanks!
