Here are my specs:

PC Case:
AeroCool AeroEngine II
(+2 AeroCool AeroFlow 120mm Fans on side)
Motherboard:
Asus P5K
Processor:
Intel E6750 Core 2 Duo 2.66ghz Conroe
(Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler)
Hard-Drives:
Primary: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA 3.0gb/s
Slave: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750GB SATA 3.0gb/s
Memory:
8gb (2gb x 4) A-Data DDR2 800 SDRAM PC2 6400
Graphics Card:
EVGA superclocked 512mb 256-bit GDDR3 GeForce 8800GT 1900MHz
Sound Card:
Bluegears B-Enspirer 7.1 channel PCI sound card
Power Supply:
OCZ GameXStreme 700W ATX12V


My problem is most likely simply to you guys but for me it is a headache. I am trying to install Windows XP Pro x64 from a cd but the cd wont start. Everything listed above seems to be functioning just fine and is connected fine as per the BIOS. Even the "Press any key to continue" message comes up after it recognizes a disc in the DVD drive on the PC, but after that.. it flashes to the bios image and then back to black indefinately... When I put in Linux.. it gives me a Linus version or number and does the same thing.. just hangs there on the black screen continuously.

So my basic problem is.. I don't know how the heck I am supposed to install this operating system onto the PC. some people are telling me I need a boot disc, but I don't have a floppy drive and was under the impression that I didn't need one. Others are telling me I need to make the DVD drive the boot drive (which I have already done), but that didn't work.

I have no idea what to do. I just want to install Windows XP 64bit on this PC already.

Thanks in advance for the help.

What I would try, is pulling out all but one memory module in your PC and try to install it again. If that doesn't work pull out everything that isn't needed, leave in the one system drive and your video card, everything else comes out.

I dont see how that would help, but I will try that if nothing else works.

Right now I am on the phone with ASUS tech support and they are telling me that it's strange because the P5k mobo doesn't require a floppy for OS installation since it tricks the OS into believing the SATA HDD's are IDE's.

I'm still on the phone and he is trying to get some more information..

Definitely try what the previous poster said about the memory. I spent 4 days trying to install either Windows and Ubuntu. It would get to approx 45% on the install and give some erroneous error message. Turns out 2 sticks of the 4gig of memory were bad.

not sure if this would apply to 64-bit XP, however when I was installing a mates 64-Vista I had to reduce the ram below 3GB in order for the installation to work. RAM was fine, and still is... Just needed to take it out for the installation.

Has the boot hard drive had an OS before?

Do you get a message "press any key to boot from CD"?

Is your SATA controller set to IDE in bios?

do you have it set to boot from your CD or DVD in your bios?

Tech support guy just told me to update the bios to 1006 and that my mobo P5K doesn't need a floppy to install an os.

I'm going to give that a try and hopefully that fixes the prob otherwise I'm at the same crossroad again.

I'll try it but my bios is recognizing all 8gb so I don't think my ram is bad or the problem.

No you dont need a floppy to install if you have the controller set to IDE.

If you get stuck again come back and answer the above questions.

Where can I set the controller to IDE?

I'm at work right now so everything is being recalled from memory.

No, there has never been any os or anything else on either of the two drives on this new pc build.

I do get a message that says press any key to boot from cd. when I hit enter or any key.. it goes to a black screen indefinitely.


I am not sure if the sata controller is set to IDE in my bios. I will check on that when I get home from work.

Also Stans question. Make sure the Optical drive is in the boot order first. Although it should boot to it anyway if the Harddrive has never had an OS.

If all this checks out the next thing would be to make sure the media you are installing from is good.

The DVD drive is the first in the boot order, I know that for a fact.

The media I am using is a genuine windows xp pro x64 disc with original product key.

I've also tried inserting a copy of my old windows xp 32 bit and it does the same thing.. just the black screen after you hit any key.


What you said about the sata controller being set to ide is probably what's going on here. I dont remember changing it in my bios or even seeing it for that matter.

So what i'm doing right now is downloading the mobo user manual from asus's website and looking at it through there and trying to remember if I ran across that setting in the bios or not.

You should take out all but one stick and try. May be a faulty module.