stop 0x0000008E error when trying to install XP

[new2IT]

I inherited an older computer from my sis, but I'm running into a few issues. According to her, the computer was working just fine, and after getting some music files off of the HD she wanted to format the drive. But something went wrong, apparently she couldn't find the original recovery disk that came with the computer so she downloaded it online and burnt it on a CD-R.

She gave me the recovery disk, but the computer won't boot up from the CD disk or the hard drive, it says it's missing the \system\hal.dll file. I don't really know what she did to the computer, but since I want to do a clean install of XP I don't see why it should matter. However, while attempting to install XP I'm getting a blue screen with these errors:

stop 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0xF7429CFD, 0xF7007800, 0x00000000)

setupdd.sys - address F7429CFD base at F7400000, Datestamp 3D6DD67F

I'm not really sure what these codes mean, but one google search suggested faulty ram. I tried installing while removing a stick at a time, but I get the same errors, and because it was working I'm not sure this would be the problem. I think something might be wrong with the hard drive because I can't format it from recovery. When I try to format, it says it can't format removable media. chkdsk won't work either, I forget what it says exactly but it's something like "drive is unrecoverable".

I'm a bit lost as to what is wrong and what could have caused it since it was working. Tomorrow I might try plugging the hard drive into this computer to test the drive and make sure it's okay, but I'm not sure what the best way to do this would be. I can't use HDtune because I already have it installed and it is expired, and I'd rather not pay $35 to use it one time. Are there any similar programs that can simply test if a drive is working properly?

Any suggestions are greatly welcomed, does it sound like it would be the hard drive or something else? I'm completely stumped right now

 

[Hefemeister]

I would say the most probable cause is a hd error. What hd do you have? Have you ran a disk diagnosis program on it? Is it sata or ide? If it is sata do you have the proper drivers for a f6 install? Have you tried to repartition the drive with a program like gparted? Are you sure you are installing to a drive partition with enough space?

 

[MindoverMaster]

It looks like a RAM problem, Hefe.

"STOP 0x0000008e" error message during Windows XP setup

 

[new2IT]

I would say the most probable cause is a hd error. What hd do you have? Have you ran a disk diagnosis program on it? Is it sata or ide? If it is sata do you have the proper drivers for a f6 install?

There's my problem!! This is my first PC with a sata drive, and I completely forgot that older versions of XP don't come with sata drivers.

I just downloaded the drivers, used nLite to merge it with the XP install disk, (because this PC has no floppy drive), burnt it on a disk and viola, XP is currently formatting away.

Thanks for the help, looks like it was a typical PEBKAC error.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Glad you got it sorted!