Hi there. I hope whoever is reading this has serious patience because this is gonna take some explaining. First off let me say I know enough about Windows after having used it since the beginning of 95, I even dabbled a bit in DOX 4.x when I was younger, so I'm no laymen. I also have ample experience recently with Linux, the command line and other assorted technology.

I got my new Dell XPS 710 a few days ago and ever since I have been trying to get my dual boot and partitions in. The hardware is as follows if important :
Core 2 Duo E6600
nForce 590 SLI Intel
1 X SATA 320 Western Digital HDD
4 X 1 GB DDR2
nVidia 8800 GTX
VP930b Series monitor w/ DVI connector

Now, it came with Ultimate 32 bit preinstalled, and a bunch of other crap I didn't want. In addition the fact they made one giant partition, as well as of course the dell service partitions. I made a drive image of the partitions as they came and then promptly wiped them off my drive as I've no need for them. I got a hold of my SATA driver for an XP install and put it on a Floppy.

So I reinstalled XP onto it with no trouble at all after installing the SATA drivers. I put it on a small 20 GB partition, with intention to install any additional apps I need that don't work with Vista onto a shared NTFS partition (40 GB to be made later). Once I had XP updated and configured, I imaged that as well (I use a drive/partition imaging suite called Acronis True Image, by far the best I've seen). So with XP imaged in case of any failures I moved on to Vista.

I have a friend who lent me his Vista installation media, he also had gotten Vista Ultimate but purchased his copies with access to 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista. So I of course dropped in the disk and booted into it, made a 40 GB partition and then installed 64 bit version in it to see if I could get that working. It copied all the files, then expanded and followed the installer along... when it came to restart the machine it did so and when it reloaded into the Vista install it BSoDed me. The top of the message read quickly:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

or something similar to that.

I have since tried numerous things to get it working properly, I tried to repair it via the DVD medium. I tried installing 32 bit Vista. I tried reformatting the entire drive and removing XP from the equation. Everything I do results in the same... either I get a BSoD after the DVD copies the windows install files to RAM (the Grey bar screen when you first boot) or I get a BSoD when it gets to the restart phase. Of note, a few times instead of a BSoD I got a blank black screen with a flashing grey underscore, like it was waiting for text. Those times seemed to be random anomalies.



So now I'm here. I'm quite upset, I wasn't particularly liking Vista before I got my new machine but chose it for future game support and because I already owned a full copy of XP, this trouble getting a simple clean install has made me rather less enthusiastic to have it.

Can someone tell me whats wrong? I don't believe theres any problems with the hardware, the RAM checked out fine when I tested it, I played a few games with the card in XP and it ran smooth, and everything else seems to be perfect.

Thats my story, I hope someone can help if not I'm tempted to return the XPS and stick to my linux box... which I'm on right now btw cuz I'm restoring XP after another failed install attempt of Vista.

Oh and I would phone Dell, but its not a dell problem, its Vista, and they'd probably tell me to restore the service partition and use that which I am not interested in.

Thats it, thank you for whoever read that and had the patience to write an answer.

"starcraft.man" <starcraft.man.2ssqd4@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:starcraft.man.2ssqd4@no-mx.forums.net...
>
>
> IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL


That's typically a driver issue. Lower down on the screen should be some
hex numbers (like 0x0000008e followed by some more numbers).

That could help narrow it down.

Take out some of the memory (reduce the system to 2GB), and reinstall Vista.
There is a problem installing Vista with 4GB of memory. There's a KB number
for it, but I can't remember it right now - just search the newsgroup and it
should come up.

Cheers

"starcraft.man" <starcraft.man.2ssqd4@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:starcraft.man.2ssqd4@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> Hi there. I hope whoever is reading this has serious patience because
> this is gonna take some explaining. First off let me say I know enough
> about Windows after having used it since the beginning of 95, I even
> dabbled a bit in DOX 4.x when I was younger, so I'm no laymen. I also
> have ample experience recently with Linux, the command line and other
> assorted technology.
>
> I got my new Dell XPS 710 a few days ago and ever since I have been
> trying to get my dual boot and partitions in. The hardware is as follows
> if important :
> Core 2 Duo E6600
> nForce 590 SLI Intel
> 1 X SATA 320 Western Digital HDD
> 4 X 1 GB DDR2
> nVidia 8800 GTX
> VP930b Series monitor w/ DVI connector
>
> Now, it came with Ultimate 32 bit preinstalled, and a bunch of other
> crap I didn't want. In addition the fact they made one giant partition,
> as well as of course the dell service partitions. I made a drive image
> of the partitions as they came and then promptly wiped them off my drive
> as I've no need for them. I got a hold of my SATA driver for an XP
> install and put it on a Floppy.
>
> So I reinstalled XP onto it with no trouble at all after installing the
> SATA drivers. I put it on a small 20 GB partition, with intention to
> install any additional apps I need that don't work with Vista onto a
> shared NTFS partition (40 GB to be made later). Once I had XP updated
> and configured, I imaged that as well (I use a drive/partition imaging
> suite called Acronis True Image, by far the best I've seen). So with XP
> imaged in case of any failures I moved on to Vista.
>
> I have a friend who lent me his Vista installation media, he also had
> gotten Vista Ultimate but purchased his copies with access to 32 and 64
> bit versions of Vista. So I of course dropped in the disk and booted
> into it, made a 40 GB partition and then installed 64 bit version in it
> to see if I could get that working. It copied all the files, then
> expanded and followed the installer along... when it came to restart the
> machine it did so and when it reloaded into the Vista install it BSoDed
> me. The top of the message read quickly:
>
> IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
>
> or something similar to that.
>
> I have since tried numerous things to get it working properly, I tried
> to repair it via the DVD medium. I tried installing 32 bit Vista. I
> tried reformatting the entire drive and removing XP from the equation.
> Everything I do results in the same... either I get a BSoD after the DVD
> copies the windows install files to RAM (the Grey bar screen when you
> first boot) or I get a BSoD when it gets to the restart phase. Of note,
> a few times instead of a BSoD I got a blank black screen with a flashing
> grey underscore, like it was waiting for text. Those times seemed to be
> random anomalies.
>
> So now I'm here. I'm quite upset, I wasn't particularly liking Vista
> before I got my new machine but chose it for future game support and
> because I already owned a full copy of XP, this trouble getting a simple
> clean install has made me rather less enthusiastic to have it.
>
> Can someone tell me whats wrong? I don't believe theres any problems
> with the hardware, the RAM checked out fine when I tested it, I played a
> few games with the card in XP and it ran smooth, and everything else
> seems to be perfect.
>
> Thats my story, I hope someone can help if not I'm tempted to return
> the XPS and stick to my linux box... which I'm on right now btw cuz I'm
> restoring XP after another failed install attempt of Vista.
>
> Oh and I would phone Dell, but its not a dell problem, its Vista, and
> they'd probably tell me to restore the service partition and use that
> which I am not interested in.
>
> Thats it, thank you for whoever read that and had the patience to write
> an answer.
>
>
> --
> starcraft.man

starcraft.man <starcraft.man.2ssqd4@no-mx.forums.net> wrote:

> Now, it came with Ultimate 32 bit preinstalled, and a bunch of
> other crap I didn't want. In addition the fact they made one giant
> partition, as well as of course the dell service partitions. I
> made a drive image of the partitions as they came and then
> promptly wiped them off my drive as I've no need for them.

Good, now you can put everything back as it was using the image(s) you
created, that's step one. Next, create the restore CDs, I think you'll
be given the instructions when you boot it up after putting everything
back as it was. Once you've made the restore CDs (and NOT UNTIL!!!
because you'll need them if you ever need to sell or give away the
computer and for other reasons you'll discover as time goes by) you can
start decrapifying the computer. HP gives you instructions to delete
the "restore" partition if you no longer need it, if Dell does go ahead
and do that. Then try running the decrapifier:

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

You may need to remove some crapware manually.

Now use 3rd party software to shrink the C: partition to the size you
want/need and to partition the remainder of the harddrive and you're
good to go. You'll have Vista 32 installed with all the proper drivers
that Dell provided, you'll have no crapware, you'll have the partitions
you want and you can install all the software you want to install.


--
XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Seth: I just got a fresh BSoD after trying again to get you the message, this time wasn't IRQL, here was the error code at the bottom: 0x0000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFF8000985E251, 0xFFFFF980018BE508, 0xFFFFF980018DBEE0)

Duncan: Are you serious? Sounds ridiculous IMO that Vista should have a problem addressing all the memory on an install, will try that though. If it works I'll be very cross and wondering why such a stupid thing is a problem with Vista and not XP or Linux on the same machine. The &quot;Wow&quot; ain't impressing me.

XS11E: I'm not interested in system restore disks, those are usually tied to the machine/service partitions and the whole point is I don't want those. I also don't plan on selling or trashing the machine, if anything it'll become another Linux box in my increasing army of Linux machines. Not to mention I see no reason I should have to use the system disks, I have perfect media (tested on other computer) and a full license of Ultimate.

Thanks for the responses, I'm gonna go remove 2 of my 1 GB DDR2 RAM and retry.

Here's the KB article I referenced: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777

Cheers

"starcraft.man" <starcraft.man.2sstub@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:starcraft.man.2sstub@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> Seth: I just got a fresh BSoD after trying again to get you the
> message, this time wasn't IRQL, here was the error code at the bottom:
> 0x0000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFF8000985E251, 0xFFFFF980018BE508,
> 0xFFFFF980018DBEE0)
>
> Duncan: Are you serious? Sounds ridiculous IMO that Vista should have a
> problem addressing all the memory on an install, will try that though.
> If it works I'll be very cross and wondering why such a stupid thing is
> a problem with Vista and not XP or Linux on the same machine. The
> &quot;Wow&quot; ain't impressing me.
>
> XS11E: I'm not interested in system restore disks, those are usually
> tied to the machine/service partitions and the whole point is I don't
> want those. I also don't plan on selling or trashing the machine, if
> anything it'll become another Linux box in my increasing army of Linux
> machines. Not to mention I see no reason I should have to use the system
> disks, I have perfect media (tested on other computer) and a full
> license of Ultimate.
>
> Thanks for the responses, I'm gonna go remove 2 of my 1 GB DDR2 RAM and
> retry.
>
>
> --
> starcraft.man

This is an easy one - when your pc turns on go to setup and find where sata
mode is and disable raid.

"starcraft.man" wrote:

>
> Hi there. I hope whoever is reading this has serious patience because
> this is gonna take some explaining. First off let me say I know enough
> about Windows after having used it since the beginning of 95, I even
> dabbled a bit in DOX 4.x when I was younger, so I'm no laymen. I also
> have ample experience recently with Linux, the command line and other
> assorted technology.
>
> I got my new Dell XPS 710 a few days ago and ever since I have been
> trying to get my dual boot and partitions in. The hardware is as follows
> if important :
> Core 2 Duo E6600
> nForce 590 SLI Intel
> 1 X SATA 320 Western Digital HDD
> 4 X 1 GB DDR2
> nVidia 8800 GTX
> VP930b Series monitor w/ DVI connector
>
> Now, it came with Ultimate 32 bit preinstalled, and a bunch of other
> crap I didn't want. In addition the fact they made one giant partition,
> as well as of course the dell service partitions. I made a drive image
> of the partitions as they came and then promptly wiped them off my drive
> as I've no need for them. I got a hold of my SATA driver for an XP
> install and put it on a Floppy.
>
> So I reinstalled XP onto it with no trouble at all after installing the
> SATA drivers. I put it on a small 20 GB partition, with intention to
> install any additional apps I need that don't work with Vista onto a
> shared NTFS partition (40 GB to be made later). Once I had XP updated
> and configured, I imaged that as well (I use a drive/partition imaging
> suite called Acronis True Image, by far the best I've seen). So with XP
> imaged in case of any failures I moved on to Vista.
>
> I have a friend who lent me his Vista installation media, he also had
> gotten Vista Ultimate but purchased his copies with access to 32 and 64
> bit versions of Vista. So I of course dropped in the disk and booted
> into it, made a 40 GB partition and then installed 64 bit version in it
> to see if I could get that working. It copied all the files, then
> expanded and followed the installer along... when it came to restart the
> machine it did so and when it reloaded into the Vista install it BSoDed
> me. The top of the message read quickly:
>
> IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
>
> or something similar to that.
>
> I have since tried numerous things to get it working properly, I tried
> to repair it via the DVD medium. I tried installing 32 bit Vista. I
> tried reformatting the entire drive and removing XP from the equation.
> Everything I do results in the same... either I get a BSoD after the DVD
> copies the windows install files to RAM (the Grey bar screen when you
> first boot) or I get a BSoD when it gets to the restart phase. Of note,
> a few times instead of a BSoD I got a blank black screen with a flashing
> grey underscore, like it was waiting for text. Those times seemed to be
> random anomalies.
>
> So now I'm here. I'm quite upset, I wasn't particularly liking Vista
> before I got my new machine but chose it for future game support and
> because I already owned a full copy of XP, this trouble getting a simple
> clean install has made me rather less enthusiastic to have it.
>
> Can someone tell me whats wrong? I don't believe theres any problems
> with the hardware, the RAM checked out fine when I tested it, I played a
> few games with the card in XP and it ran smooth, and everything else
> seems to be perfect.
>
> Thats my story, I hope someone can help if not I'm tempted to return
> the XPS and stick to my linux box... which I'm on right now btw cuz I'm
> restoring XP after another failed install attempt of Vista.
>
> Oh and I would phone Dell, but its not a dell problem, its Vista, and
> they'd probably tell me to restore the service partition and use that
> which I am not interested in.
>
> Thats it, thank you for whoever read that and had the patience to write
> an answer.
>
>
> --
> starcraft.man
>

Thank you very much Duncan, that solved the problem. I cannot believe Microsoft is incapable of coding a product that works with 4 GB of RAM at installation. Then again, I don't think I expected them to bend over and allow the media industry to cripple their flag ship OS with DRM built in. I suppose everyone gets surprises...

Anyway, thanks again. I won't be putting back in the 2 GB of RAM until I'm fully set up and imaged. I am very cross over the waste of my time on such a stupid issue MS should have dealt with...

starcraft.man

Hi Starcraft man,

In a separate post I outline exactly the same problem you have. It seems
Vista is incabale of reliably installing on a machine w >2gb of memory.

If I find I solid solution I will let you know.

dl

"Andrew" wrote:

> This is an easy one - when your pc turns on go to setup and find where sata
> mode is and disable raid.
>
> "starcraft.man" wrote:
>
> >
> > Hi there. I hope whoever is reading this has serious patience because
> > this is gonna take some explaining. First off let me say I know enough
> > about Windows after having used it since the beginning of 95, I even
> > dabbled a bit in DOX 4.x when I was younger, so I'm no laymen. I also
> > have ample experience recently with Linux, the command line and other
> > assorted technology.
> >
> > I got my new Dell XPS 710 a few days ago and ever since I have been
> > trying to get my dual boot and partitions in. The hardware is as follows
> > if important :
> > Core 2 Duo E6600
> > nForce 590 SLI Intel
> > 1 X SATA 320 Western Digital HDD
> > 4 X 1 GB DDR2
> > nVidia 8800 GTX
> > VP930b Series monitor w/ DVI connector
> >
> > Now, it came with Ultimate 32 bit preinstalled, and a bunch of other
> > crap I didn't want. In addition the fact they made one giant partition,
> > as well as of course the dell service partitions. I made a drive image
> > of the partitions as they came and then promptly wiped them off my drive
> > as I've no need for them. I got a hold of my SATA driver for an XP
> > install and put it on a Floppy.
> >
> > So I reinstalled XP onto it with no trouble at all after installing the
> > SATA drivers. I put it on a small 20 GB partition, with intention to
> > install any additional apps I need that don't work with Vista onto a
> > shared NTFS partition (40 GB to be made later). Once I had XP updated
> > and configured, I imaged that as well (I use a drive/partition imaging
> > suite called Acronis True Image, by far the best I've seen). So with XP
> > imaged in case of any failures I moved on to Vista.
> >
> > I have a friend who lent me his Vista installation media, he also had
> > gotten Vista Ultimate but purchased his copies with access to 32 and 64
> > bit versions of Vista. So I of course dropped in the disk and booted
> > into it, made a 40 GB partition and then installed 64 bit version in it
> > to see if I could get that working. It copied all the files, then
> > expanded and followed the installer along... when it came to restart the
> > machine it did so and when it reloaded into the Vista install it BSoDed
> > me. The top of the message read quickly:
> >
> > IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
> >
> > or something similar to that.
> >
> > I have since tried numerous things to get it working properly, I tried
> > to repair it via the DVD medium. I tried installing 32 bit Vista. I
> > tried reformatting the entire drive and removing XP from the equation.
> > Everything I do results in the same... either I get a BSoD after the DVD
> > copies the windows install files to RAM (the Grey bar screen when you
> > first boot) or I get a BSoD when it gets to the restart phase. Of note,
> > a few times instead of a BSoD I got a blank black screen with a flashing
> > grey underscore, like it was waiting for text. Those times seemed to be
> > random anomalies.
> >
> > So now I'm here. I'm quite upset, I wasn't particularly liking Vista
> > before I got my new machine but chose it for future game support and
> > because I already owned a full copy of XP, this trouble getting a simple
> > clean install has made me rather less enthusiastic to have it.
> >
> > Can someone tell me whats wrong? I don't believe theres any problems
> > with the hardware, the RAM checked out fine when I tested it, I played a
> > few games with the card in XP and it ran smooth, and everything else
> > seems to be perfect.
> >
> > Thats my story, I hope someone can help if not I'm tempted to return
> > the XPS and stick to my linux box... which I'm on right now btw cuz I'm
> > restoring XP after another failed install attempt of Vista.
> >
> > Oh and I would phone Dell, but its not a dell problem, its Vista, and
> > they'd probably tell me to restore the service partition and use that
> > which I am not interested in.
> >
> > Thats it, thank you for whoever read that and had the patience to write
> > an answer.
> >
> >
> > --
> > starcraft.man
> >

starcraft.man:
The ram problem has something to do with the bios or the
motherboard. The same problem is present with XP x64 with 4GB ram. The only
solution that I've seen is to use only 2GB or maybe 3GB ram. I haven't had
this problem because I'm running AMD processors which have handled 4GB ram
without problems so far.

--
Dennis Pack
XP x64, Vista Enterprise x64
Office Prof. Plus 2007

"starcraft.man" <starcraft.man.2sszea@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:starcraft.man.2sszea@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> Thank you very much Duncan, that solved the problem. I cannot believe
> Microsoft is incapable of coding a product that works with 4 GB of RAM
> at installation. Then again, I don't think I expected them to bend over
> and allow the media industry to cripple their flag ship OS with DRM
> built in. I suppose everyone gets surprises...
>
> Anyway, thanks again. I won't be putting back in the 2 GB of RAM until
> I'm fully set up and imaged. I am very cross over the waste of my time
> on such a stupid issue MS should have dealt with...
>
> starcraft.man
>
>
> --
> starcraft.man