Troubleshooting a bootup error

[Sneezer]

Yes, I changed the SATA cables out (and even rearranged them on the motherboard so that, instead of the DVD being slave to the first HDD, the second HDD is now slave and the DVD is on its own channel) but it does the same thing. This time I got almost completely through the install; it was on the last step, then blue screened and rebooted (and, again, the HDDs weren't showing up, so I had to shut down completely and then boot up).

Could it be a problem with the SATA controller, since I seem to lose all SATA functionality when it errors out and reboots (it's so fast, I don't get to see the error message on the BSoD)? Is that controlled by the BIOS, and would/could it be fixed by flashing it? If so, how can I get Q-Flash to see the USB drive?

I don't have another power supply to test with.

The only card in this box is the GPU, which is PCI-E. No standard PCI cards. Think that might still be an issue?

Again, thank you for your help! Would rep you more, but I have to spread some around....

 

[carnageX]

Since you say its giving a BSOD on install of Windows, I would have to say its either something wrong with the disc, or something hardware related.

Try testing your memory (one stick at a time is preferable) with Memtest86+ - run it for 2-4 hours at least (not just a few passes).

Remove any expansion cards, and only leave necessary components (video/hdd/disc drive/ram).

If the memory passes, I would try a different hard drive if you can.

Easy way to cheat if the BSOD is flashing by too fast and you can't get an option to slow it down, is to record the screen with your phone, and transfer the video file to the computer and play it frame-by-frame where the BSOD occurs and see if you can see the STOP code.

 

[Sneezer]

Gah... I thought I might have had it working; I formatted and installed on the secondary/slave drive, rather than the primary/master drive, and had it sitting idle for about 6 hours last night. Figured I would continue doing so all this week, so I booted it up and went and made dinner, ate, etc. Turned the monitor back on after 1.5+ hours and it was back at the startup script with the boot disk error (not sure how long it was logged in for before rebooting)...

I'll try the Memtest 86+ -, if I can get it to stay logged in to Windows long enough.

 

[carnageX]

Memtest86+ doesn't need to be ran in Windows. It's a disc you boot off of and tests the memory.