Re: Can't recover from Dell CD

On Apr 19, 6:07 am, Dave Smith <Sally...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:53:39 -0700, Dave Smith <Sally...@xxxxxxx>
wrote:





On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:52:28 -0700, Dave Smith <Sally...@xxxxxxx>
wrote:

I'm trying to reformat a friend's Dell Dimension 9150.  It was used by
his son and is just a mass of viruses and adware so he just wants to
start over.  I have the factory recovery CD and when I boot from it,
it goes through all the usual "Setup is loading files" steps until
just after the "Setup is starting Windows" message.  Then it goes to a
BSOD.  The Technical Info is:  

Stop 0x0000007E

PCI.SYS - Address F853E0BF Base at F8537000

I've googled these and not gotten anything that seems relevant to this
situation.  The machine will boot and run OK, the OS is just really
messed up and gives a lot of popups.

I have:

Tried the factory CD in both CD drives.  

Tried a commercial XP Pro CD.

Updated the BIOS.  Actually, the BIOS version I got from Dell was the
same as the one on the machine, but I flashed it anyway.

Checked to make sure the Dell CD is the right one for the machine.

I don't know where else to go with this.  I'd sure appreciate any
suggestions someone might have.

Thanks very much.

Thanks very much for all who have replied so far.

An update:

I tried removing each of the RAM sticks...no help.

Tried installing the RAM in different slots...no help.

Don't have another compatable vid card so I can't try anything there.

Tried AGAIN reformatting with a commercial (non-Dell) XP Pro disc.
Didn't get a BSOD, but the machine locked up at the same point as with
the Dell CD.

Tried connecting the HDD to the MB with a different SATA cable, to
different ports...no help.

This is a stock machine and I'm sure the Dell installation disc is the
correct one.

I'm going to try running DBAN and when that's done I'll try the
CTRL+F11 maneuver.  I'll post back.

Thanks again.

Well, I wiped the HDD clean with DBAN and the situation is unchanged
so I guess that means the malware wasn't the culprit and it HAS to be
a hardware problem, or maybe BIOS?  I'd sure welcome any other ideas.
Thanks again to all who have offered suggestions.

Dave- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It's what Ben says, it's something to do with a BIOS setting for the
SATA drive.
.

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