Hello,
I have a relatively new computer collecting dust because of what appeared to be a hard drive failure a few months back.
This was a Dell-built XPS 8300 which worked for a few months before the apparent crash. Hardware details at the end of the post.
However, I have been unable to get it to install a new operating system successfully. I can run Live CD operating systems on it without issue. It is only when I go to install them to the hard drive on this PC that they fail. Usually the error indicates that it cannot read files from the DVD, but I have used a couple of the same DVDs to successfully install operating systems on other computers.
I have tried installing OS's on this PC using one virgin hard drive and one old, but known to work, hard drive. I have not yet been able to try to reformat the hard drive that originally came with the PC (I now lack a PC that supports it).
I believe this is a hardware issue, but I could be mistaken. I feel that I have eliminated the hard drives, DVDs, processor, and RAM from being the culprit. Could there be a motherboard or cable issue connecting to the hard drives that causes these installation failures? What should I try next to diagnose the problem?
I'd appreciate any pointers,
Chris Allen
PC Hardware Information:
Dell XPS 8300
GFX: ATI Radeon 6770
RAM: 4x 2G DIMM, 1333 MHz
HDD (original): 500GB, WESTERN DIGITAL XL500S
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600 (3.4 GHz)
I have a relatively new computer collecting dust because of what appeared to be a hard drive failure a few months back.
This was a Dell-built XPS 8300 which worked for a few months before the apparent crash. Hardware details at the end of the post.
However, I have been unable to get it to install a new operating system successfully. I can run Live CD operating systems on it without issue. It is only when I go to install them to the hard drive on this PC that they fail. Usually the error indicates that it cannot read files from the DVD, but I have used a couple of the same DVDs to successfully install operating systems on other computers.
I have tried installing OS's on this PC using one virgin hard drive and one old, but known to work, hard drive. I have not yet been able to try to reformat the hard drive that originally came with the PC (I now lack a PC that supports it).
I believe this is a hardware issue, but I could be mistaken. I feel that I have eliminated the hard drives, DVDs, processor, and RAM from being the culprit. Could there be a motherboard or cable issue connecting to the hard drives that causes these installation failures? What should I try next to diagnose the problem?
I'd appreciate any pointers,
Chris Allen
PC Hardware Information:
Dell XPS 8300
GFX: ATI Radeon 6770
RAM: 4x 2G DIMM, 1333 MHz
HDD (original): 500GB, WESTERN DIGITAL XL500S
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600 (3.4 GHz)