Clean XP install - used to work, now it doesn't

[parrowdice]

Hi,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you to anyone who wants to contribute their thoughts. Now, the problem in more detail...

Summary:
Laptop shipped with Vista. Clean install of XP & drivers - all okay for over a year. XP became problematic, re-installed XP - same problems exist with clean install.

Prelude:
I have a Toshiba Satellite L30, which came with Vista installed. After some disappointment with Vista, I decided to "upgrade" to XP. The installation of XP went without a hiccup. Trying to find drivers for everything took some time, as Toshiba no longer distributes the drivers for the L30 model (at least not on the UK version of their website). I kept (and still have) copies of all of the drivers I eventually installed to get the laptop with XP working successfully, and all was well.

The Problem Begins:
I had been using this set-up for over a year, until recently and suddenly, the laptop became problematic (i.e. hanging at certain situations, being slow and generally unresponsive). I concluded that the laptop had probably lost power during installing Windows updates, or the update had problems and had become unstable. After trying various techniques to try and recover the system (system restore, chkdsk etc) with no success, I decided I would do a clean install of XP.

Get Your Head Scratching Fingers Ready:
Using the same XP CD I used for the first install, I begin to re-install XP. All goes well, until the installation reaches "Registering Components", where it hangs. Pressing the power button to restart the laptop re-initiates the installation and the installation completes through to the end (possibly because the installer has flagged whatever caused the hang to be skipped the second time around?). This behaviour is now repeatable every time I format the drive and install XP. Anyway, XP is now installed and boots up - but guess what? It's showing the exact same behaviour as before the clean install. It's hanging at the same things and being generally unresponsive. I continued to install all of the drivers I used the first time around, but still the same problem. (may be worth noting that safe mode doesn't exhibit any of this behaviour and works fine).

The Plot Thickens:
So now I'm thinking it's likely to be a hardware / firmware problem, as it's the exact same software set-up. In the course of spending a long time trying to figure it out, I get around to using the Toshiba recovery disk which re-installs Vista, and lo and behold, everything works fine, no problem with anything (well, except that it's Vista). I installed all the available Windows updates and updated all of the drivers, and then ghosted the hard disk so I can at least return to a working set-up relatively easily. Thinking that this procedure may have restored equilibrium to the hardware settings, I re-install XP, but it's still being problematic in the exact same way. I'm stumped.

What To Do Now:
Personally, I would rather use the laptop as an expensive paperweight than use it with Vista installed. I've ordered some RAM so that it will be capable of running Windows 7, but I still wouldn't really be content with that workaround. By far, XP would be the OS of choice, but I don't know what path to take next to get it working again.
I would love to hear your 2 cents. Thanks for reading the above, I know it was long. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ian

[Transfusion]

You can always use VirtualBox or VMWare Player to run a Virtual Machine of XP in Vista/7. I really don't understand  why you need to stick with XP, which was developed in 2000 and which software and hardware companies are starting to drop support for. It was never optimized for multi-GPU configs, it does not support DX 11, etc. if you are thinking of gaming, for example. Windows 7 is far better than Vista-optimized UI, better memory management, better UAC access, etc.


The fact that it works fine in Vista and not in XP is odd. Vista is a major memory hog when compared with XP...
It shouldn't be a hardware problem. It might be that you have a bad XP setup disc. Could you try resetting your CMOS and see what happens? I know of some computers that have an "OS Install Mode" which limits the RAM to 256 MB and forces generic drivers. Your RAM should be fine if it works in Vista without a hitch-if you are really paranoid you could run Memtest86+ for 10 passes or so.

[parrowdice]

Hi Transfusion, thanks for your reply.

You can always... ...run a Virtual Machine of XP in Vista/7

Granted, it's possible, but will mean more memory usage and less performance.

I really don't understand why you need to stick with XP

Gaming isn't really an issue with this machine. The software we develop at work is designed on XP, for XP, and although most of it is portable to Vista/7, it just makes it a lot easier to have XP too. Besides, the laptop is a fairly average spec and XP is lightweight compared to it's successors. I agree, it's soon becoming dead in the water, but for now it seems the best option.

It might be that you have a bad XP setup disc

It's the same disc that was used the first time that worked. I also tried with a different XP disc too, same problem.

Could you try resetting your CMOS and see what happens

Yes, good advice. I've tried that with no luck.

if you are really paranoid you could run Memtest86+

This I haven't tried yet. I got an e-mail earlier saying the RAM I ordered (in anticipation of moving to Windows 7) is out for dispatch today. I'll see what happens with XP when this arrives. I'll run Memtest86+ as you suggest on the current RAM anyway for sanity's sake.

I'll post an update whatever the results may be. In the meantime, if you or anyone have any other ideas, they would be more than welcome.
Thanks.

[parrowdice]

Memory was fine. Swapped out the 512mb it had with new 2GB RAM, still same problem. It's running Windows 7 fine though with the new RAM so I guess I'll stick with that. Sad to see XP go though, but I just couldn't figure it out. If anyone comes across this thread with the same problem, I hope you have better luck than me. Thanks to Transfusion for trying to help too.

[jason2074]

The software we develop at work is designed on XP, for XP,

Wonder how your employer gives you the hassle of not providing the right machine or system to work with. I did not see in your post of checking the status of your hard drive or using another one.