Startup Error on XP install.

sniperviper21

Golden Master
Messages
5,460
Location
USA
ok, so i am trying to get an older PC working, i installed XP Pro on it, and it gets to the 'installing windows' section of the install and hes a 'setup will compete in approximately 39 minutes" counter, it dosnt go any further then that.

I have used this XP disc before.

and at that screen i get this...

lsass.exe - System Error
An invalid parameter was passed to service or function.

*click ok*






though i cant click it.

It just hangs at this screen, but it dosnt freeze.



Ideas? would be helpfull...
 
No sudden revelations I'm afraid, but a few things I'd always recommend with these sorts of issues especially on older PCs:

- Firstly, sounds simple but the computer does meet XPs requirements right? :)
- Secondly, just to confirm you are doing a full format and not a quick one? A quick one won't perform any deep checks on the disk and as such the installation may try and write to bad sectors, possibly causing symptoms similar to what you describe.
- Run memtest, bad RAM can cause all sorts of strange issues and lockups, especially if XP needs to use all of it (i.e. there's not much)
- Check the SMART status of the hard drive, just in case.
- Grab UBCD, it's an amazing tool: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ you may want to play around there to see if there's any tools that report problems, but I'd especially recommend running badblocks.
- Can you put another OS on there or do all of them cause issues? Might throw some more light on the issue if you try and install say linux and get an error.

If none of those help, say what you've tried and I'll try and think a bit more :)
 
I've seen that this is either a virus or a file that can be infected with a virus thats stops you from loggin on or installing XP.

As above though, do a clean install. Delete the partition on the drive and format it. Then install OS.
 
I'll try and avoid repeating what's already been said but I'd say the last posters have it covered. If you've got some other hardware lying around you can try swapping that can always be an easy way to test. Berry is right though, any one of a number of hardware faults could cause XP to not install.

I'd probably start from the top and work down, most common faults preventing an install would probably have to be power supply, memory, hard drive and media (the cd/drive). If you can swap any of these parts, even just for testing purposes you may get further.
 
ok thanks for the ideas guys, got the issue fixed.

i think the origonal DDR ram was bad, put a new set in it.
Replaced the old HDD with a newer one,
and used a separate optical drive to install from.

so it worked, not sure what was bad, but at least now it runs, and i got my mom a newish pc to use :) lol
 
Back
Top Bottom