Hi I have a Dell 8400 running Windows XP Pro. I've have a problem with some problems Adware & Spyware files and I've tried everything to remove these from the Hard Disk. So therefore I want to Reformat the HD & install XP Pro and this is where Im having trouble. When I follow the onscreen commands from the XP pro installation CD I get as far as it restarting the computer (I dont think it boot from the CD) it goes through loading files in the setup mode and then I get this message. "A problem has been detected and windows has been shutdown 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 for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart you computer. Technical information: ***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7CB363C, 0XC0000034, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)" So first of all I restart it goes through loading files in the setup mode again and I get the same message. Secondly - I check for viruses using Norton Anti Virus it flags up Adware & Spyware files and says they might be at risk, but Norton Anti Virus can't delete them. Thirdly - I dont know how to check if my hard drive configure properly and I haven't install any new hardware Last of all I ran CHKDSK /F and there was no problems. After trying these and restarting I keep getting the same message I then tried to to boot from CD It goes through loading files in Windows Setup mode from CD Then on the Welcome to Setup Screen, I get the 3 options • To set up Windows XP now, Press ENTER. • To repaire windows XP Installation using recover console, press R. • To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3 I chose the first "• To set up Windows XP now, Press ENTER." and this is the message I get "Setup did not find any hard disk drive installed on your computer. Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup programe. Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3" Could this be anything to do with the Hard Drive not being properly configured?? If so how do I do this? Hope you can help Thanks Wayne

Assuming you have a normal IDE hard drive then first check the physical connections to your PC - as you've previously managed to get up & running it may just be a cable has come loose. Next check that your HD is being recognised correctly in the BIOS - either access the BIOS by pressing 'del', 'F2' or whatever you need for setup, or check the boot-up screen. If you have a serial (SATA) hard drive (I don't know the model of PC you have, but as it's a recent one this is quite possible) then you need to install the RAID drivers first (watch the screen & it will tell you to press F6 (I think)) - you then need the disk which came with your drive/system to set up your hard drive to be recognised by the system. "I know that I'm mad - I've always been mad..."

johnr, good advice. Wayne, no offense, but this may be beyong 'do ut yourself.' Since you're egtting low address errors,34 7b and 0 [!] a memory test may be in order. If you do it yourself there are very clear, thorough instructions here: http://www.hexff.com/win98_install.php HTH Yes, I know it's talking about 98, but it will apply up to the steps of tth OS install. M2

Wayne: I was wondering if you came up with a solution. I just got an 8400 w/XP Home, and want to reformat the drive and install XP Pro, without all the extra crap that they include on the hard drive. But when I boot from the XP Pro CD, it doesn't see the hard drives. I thought if I installed the Intel Chipset Utility R76513.exe (that comes on the Drivers disk) then maybe that would take care of it. But I can't get to a command prompt to install it. Any advice?

Wayne: had the same problem on same dell problem was solved using 'combined' setting in bios for S-Ata drive (the c:\root) make sure you choos NTFS converting of fat filesystem. perhaps you (we both) can put bios back to manufacturers default. If same error occurs than change back to ´combined´ in S/ATA DRIVEsettings in DELL BIOS i´m stil installing my new PC so that is my strategy. probably i´ll give another repost concerning this later. goodluck Marnix

Hello Wayne & SLawnick, Had the same issue for my new Dimension 8400 w/ SATA 400 gig drive (which btw after researching found out to be Hitachi Deskstar 7K400 drive...anyway thats beside the point). The solution is simple - go to Dell's support site and after looking up downloads for your system download the Serial ATA driver for WinXP - I know you might think this is for RAID stuff - trust me, I thought the same and ignored it first and after spending about 10 hrs I finally realized the solution lies therein. Just download the driver, run it and use a floppy to put the driver on it. Then boot from your XP Pro bootable CD and at the beginning of the XP Setup (keep an eye out for this - it may be within the first 10-15 secs) you will see that to install SCSI or third party drivers, press F6 - do so a few times when you see that msg. After that simply wait for the setup to prompt you for the addn'l driver and when prompted insert the floppy you created and let the driver load up and then continue with setup. At the end of the loading of all WinXP setup files you will come to the End User Agreement - which is finally the sign that it recognized your hard disk and you should be all set. Go forth and install XP Pro and feel happy you saved money by not ordering your system with XP Pro :) Also just a note if you're interested - I always create a drive image after installing the OS and making initial customization to it - if you use Ghost 9 or Drive Image 7 you will see a similar prompt when booting from the bootable CD (to press F6 to load SCSI or 3rd party driver) - do the same thing then and you will be able to restore your backup images. Hope this helps. Avik

I forgot to mention that if you are not using a SCSI or RAID setup then use the SATA AHCI Controller driver from the list presented after the driver floppy is inserted.