Format disk error on trying a clean install of Windows XP Pro. I bought a 2nd hand PC which seemed to be working fine. I decided to add a wireless network card and additional CD-RW which is where the trouble started. After several problems, I decided to start with a clean load of Windows XP so I reformatted the disk and loaded Windows XP. This seemed OK initially and then I started having problems: it kept rebooting. After lots of problems, including a chkdsk telling me I had unrecoverable errors, I bought a new disk and IDE cable. The load went well and everything seemed to be fine although I still had the occasional reboot, which didn’t seem to follow any pattern. I loaded PC-cillin virus checker with no problems and then started the updates for PC-cillin. While the update was still running I started to load Nero. Halfway through, it rebooted and came back up with chkdsk, which said it had errors. I then tried chkdsk /r from the windows xp recovery console which told me I had unrecoverable errors. I thought I would reformat the disk to sort it and after several attempts (which I can detail if necessary) I managed to get the Windows XP installation disk to the stage of doing the format. This ran to the 100% mark and then told me there was a problem with the disk and it couldn’t format it. Where do I go from here? I don’t want to buy yet another new disk. Any help gratefully received. Hardware Motherboard: ASUS P4S333-VM DVD-RW CD-RW Western Digital 80G disk TP-Link wireless network card Software loaded in order of loading Windows XP Pro Loaded Windows XP updates TP-link driver Audio driver for Asus P4S333-VM Office 2003 ITunes DVDFab DVDShrink PC-cillin Nero

Download a diagnostic from the hard drive manufacturer's web site.

If it is indeed a new drive then most are under 3 or more years warranty. Contact the manufacturer and see what the warranty is concerning the new (daged ) drive! In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."

I would say it's probably an issue with the other components and that may be why it was sold by the previous owner. I don't think it's a HDD problem. Evaluating the other components may be your best best. Life's more painless for the brainless.

As Jennifer SUMN said, I don't think this is a HD problem. "then I started having problems: it kept rebooting." "...I still had the occasional reboot, which didn’t seem to follow any pattern." The rebooting problem could be caused by a faulty power supply. Failing power supplies are common and can cause your symptoms. Check your PS. See response 4 in this: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... "Halfway through, it rebooted .and came back up with chkdsk, which said it had errors.." "This ran to the 100% mark and then told me there was a problem with the disk and it couldn’t format it." Windows Setup is very sensitive to even tiny errors reading the XP CD or the ram, but it can't tell you it has a problem with either of those directly. The error messages you get may have little or nothing to do with what is actualy wrong, or may be a consequence of errors reading the XP CD or the ram. If you get ANY errors about Setup can't read ANY file from CD, or a file is missing or corrupted: Try using a laser lens cleaning CD in the drive, then starting over. If that doesn't help, try another optical drive. It's extremely unlikely the new hd has anything wrong with it - you may be experiencing tiny ram errors. A common thing that can happen with ram, even ram that worked fine previously, is the ram has, or has developed, a poor connection in it's slot(s). This usually happens a long time after the ram was installed, but it can happen with new ram, or after moving the computer case from one place to another, and I've had even new modules that needed to have their contacts cleaned. See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... ...... There's a small possibilty you have one or more bad capacitors on the mboard. Open up your case and examine the mboard to see if you have bad capacitors, and/or other findable signs of mboard damage . This was the original bad capacitor problem - has some example pictures. History of why the exploding capacitors and which mboard makers were affected: http://members.datafast.net.au/~dft... What to look for, mboard symptoms, example pictures: http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5 Home page that site - what the problem is caused by - he says there are STILL bad capacitors on more recent mboards. http://www.badcaps.net/

Thanks so much for all the replies. I'm inclined to agree with the thinking of Jennifer SUMN and Tubesandwires. Thanks for all the info from Tubesandwires. I had thought it might be a power supply issue or possibly an overheating problem but am not experienced enough to know how to test that. I will follow the leads from Tubesandwires and let you know how I get on.

Well having spent nearly 3 entire weekends and several weeknights on this, I have decided to cut my losses and just give my daughter the money she paid for it. I borrowed a brand new power supply from a colleague at work and still had problems. I reseated the ram and took out everything that was not strictly necessary. I got it past the HDD format problem and then it stuck on the loading Windows at 39 minutes. This was followed by a BSOD. I can't recall the error message but I have decided to call it a day. Maybe when I have the time and more money, I wil resurrect it and do some more trouble shooting. Thanks for all your help.