I had this posted. It got deleted for some reason. The XP i am useing IS LEGAL. So please don't remove my message. ============================================= Hello my Acer Aspire 5610z came preinstalled with Vista Home Premium. I don't really like Windows Vista. So i tried to install Windows XP Professional. When i boot to the CD it loads all the drivers ETC then it goese to starting windows then all of a sudden i get this. Stop error. A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage To your computer. If this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again. Follow these steps: Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the stop Message, disable the driver or check with the manufactor for driver updates. Try Changing video adapters. Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options Such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, And then select Safe Mode. Technical Imformation: ***STOP: 0x0000007E (0xc0000005, 0Xf76130BF, 0XF7A5F208,0XF7A5EF08) *** pci.sys-Address F76130BF base at F760C000, Datestamp 3b7d855c Doese anyone know what this error is refering to? I tried fdisking the drive with a 98 boot CD i made stll no luck. Also i tried formatting the drive with a Dell OEM XP CD. No i wasn't going to use the Dell CD to install Xp. I heard the NTFS on vista is different that XP so i tried to format with it then put the other xp cd back in. When i used the Dell CD it would get to 20% and stall. And it don't stall becauise its a dell branded i have used the dell cd to format other non dell computers to NTFS. Im thinking something in BIOS needs to be disabled? Please help me with this error. Thanks What do i put here if i don't put a question?

This doesn't sound like a clean install. Can you still boot to Vista? There is a virus protection option in the BIOS which needs to be disabled when installing Windows. Additionally, there are many onboard devices that can be disabled in the BIOS. Such as sound, NIC, usb, etc. After you install XP you can then enter the BIOS and enable the needed devices. What type of WinXP CD is this? OEM, retail, branded? I am not sure is this will work but if this were my rig I would use partition magic to create an additional partition on the harddrive and install XP to that partition. Leaving Vista intact and leaving the hidden partiton at the front of the harddrive intact. I believe this would require a retail version of WinXP.

This is a version i got from tech school. Acacudemic version i believe its the same as retail not sure. Right now i have vista restored. I had all the partitions deleted. The blue screen hapens while booted to the CD. You know when you boot to the CD on the bottom of the screen where its loading files? After all the files load it saids starting windows after that you see the licensee agreement. It never shows the license agreement it just goese to the stop error. What do i put here if i don't put a question?

And yes it was going to be clean install. Its always clean install when you format. What do i put here if i don't put a question?

I've had this error 2 times while installing XP over the years. One the cd rom drive had a problem, I used a different one and it worked great. The other one the hard drive had a problem and I tried a different hard drive, then the install completed. Maybe try running chkdsk for your hard drive.

Hardrive bad? Its a new computer. What do i put here if i don't put a question?

Ok i have sceduled a CHKDSK on next startup. How do i get results? What do i put here if i don't put a question?