Laptop XP Problem

I have a Samsung GT6000 series laptop

it is a 400MHz pentium II and has 256MB of ram

i have managed to install Windows XP sucessfully on it before but everytime i shut the computer down it crashed.

i am now trying to install Xagain and it cannot boot from the XP disk so i have to install windows 98 first then upgrade to XP

once it has finished copying the XP startup files (Preparing directory) it reboots the computer, it then goes to a black screen where it stays there with the hard disk light stuck on and i have to reboot it again and thats as far as i can get!

HELP!

did u happen to upgrade the bios at all.
most (old) lappys need a new bios for xp

the bios has not been upgraded at all as far as i know, the problem is that i have actually had XP running on this laptop in the past just that it crashed when shuttinh down

i have also tried to install win2k and that failed and crashed on the install so im not sure whats wring with it!

When XP crashed the screen went black as it went into powersaving mode do you think it has something to do with powersaving??? or is it just crashing!!?

im pretty positive a bios upgrade will fix your probs
the main difference is the power management from the
older os's
i have upgraded 9 or 10 old lappy's to xp and they all needed a bios
to run properly

ok well i hope it works but i have NEVER upgraded a bios before how do i do it and how do i go about doing it??

thanks for you help so far by the way

http://www.samsungpc.com/gb/support/gt6000/bios/bios-instructions.html

i was looking thru the info on that particular laptop. directions and the latest bios are there.
make sure u can boot from the floppy, and make sure that nothing can interupt the process during the flash.

should be ok after that

hey!

thanks for the link, however i do have a problem, i have currently got windows ME on my laptop, i have created a bootable floopy disk (1.44Mb) but i cannot fit the bios.rom file and the splash file on the same disk, do these files have to be on the disk you are booting from or can i put them on a seperate floppy?

thanks again

the only system files u need are

command.com
io.sys
msdos.sys

it'll all fit fine after that.
me puts a lotta crap for a boot disk that it doesnt need
make sure u back up the bios (it'll ask if u want to)

ok so i can delete all the other files that windows puts on the floppy?

ill give it a go!

lets hope it works!!

thanks again for your help

ok i have got an error

it says

cannot flash when memory managers (e.g HIMEM) are present

press any key to exit


i assume i have to turn off the memory manager?

how do i do that??

ok i cant flash the bios cause it says the following


Cannot flash when memory managers (e.g. HIMEM) are present

Press any key to exit

i assume i have to disable the himem but how??

bummer about this time difference

im at work so i cant look at my flash disk but...

on your boot floppy there is a file config.sys
what are the commands in it?

its just all code and stuff, nothing english!! i have been trying to get this to work all day and i cant get it to work!!

Open up the Config.sys file on your bootdisk in a text editor. Notepad will work just fine for this.

Look for a line that reads something like this:



Delete that line.
Reboot with bootdisk, reflash BIOS.

ok ill try that only one problem is that i have no operating system on it now is it still possible to do that?

ok i have managed to open up the confog.sys file in dos but cannot find any referance to the device a:\ himem

i made the boot disk from windows ME

anything else i can do!!??

View all hidden files on the floppy, either rename or delete himem.sys...

ok success!!

i am getting an extended memory error when the computer boots now but the bioos has been flashed sucessfully

sweet
load xp and i will keep my fingers crossed


p.s. i always sweat when i recommend to a new guy to flash the bios

lol your not the only one

i still have a problem

when the laptop starts up now i get an error that says:

ERROR
0232: Extended RAM Failed at offset: 1B


If it makes any sense i have upgraded the memory from 128Mb to 256Mb


i now cannot load ANY operating system (Windows 98) being the main one

HEEEELPP!!!!

ok i basically have not got enough memory to run the windows setup program 8)

and im also getting invalid stak dumps and KERNAL erros


i am in deep sh1t here!!

Ok, I'm joining this discussion a bit late, I'm sorry, but just to recap...

1. You couldn't get Windows XP installed on your laptop, right?

2. You previously had Windows 98 on it.

3. You recently upgraded the RAM.

Now, I suspect that the newly upgraded RAM may be bad or incompatible, I'm sorry, I should have noticed this earlier. What I would do, at this point, before you start stressing too much, is test your RAM. You can download a very good utility, MemTest86 that will create a boot floppy to test your RAM. It's free, by the way, too. It sounds to me as though that's the root of the problem. As always, hope this helps, and let me (us) know how you make out.

[Edit]
My reason for asking if you previously ran Windows 98 is this: Windows 98 addresses RAM differently (AFAIK) than 2000/XP does, and you can often run Windows 9X with bad RAM and just occasionally get blue screens...
[/Edit]

right

the memory is compatible with the laptop

i have had XP WORKING on my laptop before apart from it crashed on shutdown everytime

i have had 98, ME working on my laptopn with the new memory installled

i want to go back to XP

i have flashed the bios, now i am getting extended memory problems before the windows 98 and ME setup begins to the decription of stack dumps, KERNAL Errors and not enough free memory to run this applivcation!!

i basically cannot install any operating system on my laptopn at this time

i really need help!!!

Just for the sake of argument, will you humor me and download MemTest86? You'll probably want to let it run for about 30-40 mins...

I just noticed something... Your post here indicates that you're having problem with another machine, too... A desktop, I suspect. This got me thinking... I am curious as to how 'clean' the incoming power is to your location... Do you have UPS(s) that the PCs are connected to? Maybe someone who reads this is an EE and can verify this, but I suspect that RAM is one of the first things to go when there are brownouts/dirty power. At any rate, I would test the RAM on the other PC as well.

Perhaps the RAM in both machines is fine, but by testing them it's ruled out as a point of failure...

Anyone have thoughts or comments on that thoery?

yeah

for a start its a laptop, i only have one and therefore cannot test it on anyother machine

i ran the memtest and all 256mb ram had an error on it - but like i said i have had this memory running successfully before its only since the bios was flashed that the error was occuring

when the POST boot takes place (when the laptop is turned on) the following error occurs

0232 extended ram failed at offset: 1B

1st enter the bios and load default settings (always do that after a flash)
if that doesnt fix the error
load the old bios and we will work from there
im 99% positive it's a acpi problem because the lappy was made before acpi.

ok im not suer where to find the default settings in this bios, its a phoenix bios is there a shortcut key to press??

also wheres the old bios???

ok i have resorted to going back to an old version of the bios, the oldest one that was on the samsung site.

my memory problems hav disappeared and im installing XP now but im not holding out much hope if im honest!!

thanks for all your help

Nick

ive been thru the samsung site and they arent very forthcoming on information and thier bios updates are way behind the times.
i think without giving the unit up to a tech for some trial and error stuff we might have taken this as far as we can.
unless anyone else can come up with a xp specific idea

the problem with the old laptops is that the bios was setup before acpi
so they need to be updated for xp. i will keep this samsung thing in mind in case i come across it again.