Windows XP installer does not launch

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Windows XP installer does not launch

My son has a MacPro with 3.2 ghz dual quad core and 10 gb of ram. Wants to play pc game (fallout), so trying to install windows xp sp3 with bootcamp onto Seagate SATA drive in Bay 2, partitioned by bootcamp 50/50. Bootcamp assistant lets me pick the windows partition and recognizes xp cd, when click to begin windows installation display goes black and says it went into "energy saver mode". Let it sit for quite a while, nothing happens. shut down computer by holding down button, then have to reset PVRAM to get any display back. XP disc is OEM SP3 newly downloaded on PC as an ISO, then burned to DVD using Roxio. NO problem viewing the disc contents on the MAC, just can't get install to launch. Though maybe a problem with Nvidia display drivers, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 13, 2009 6:04 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 13, 2009 10:13 AM in response to elabogado

Hey,

Welcome to discussions.....

You have mentioned that you are using an OEM disk and created a disk from using Roxio. That could be the problem.
1. OEM disks may not work in Boot Camp.
2. Is it a Bootable disk which you had created?

Give this a try....
If the disk is bootable (i.e. if a Windows PC boots from the same disk) then restart the Mac with the option key pressed down and when you get the startup manager select the Windows partition to start up. This should normally start installing.

Regards.........

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Answer 2

elabogado Author

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Aug 13, 2009 10:38 AM in response to Mac-Expert

Thank you for your welcome and suggestion. I purchase a full version of xp sp3 from "OLE Downloads" 689 MB download as an ISO and came with new license code. I burned the disc image file to a dvd (at full speed which I understand may be a problem). Haven't tried to install the OS in a PC, cause everything else I have runs Vista 64 Bit. Exploring the CD on my laptop (PC) it has the I386,Autorun.inf, Set-up.exe and 3 WIN51 files along with others. When it goes dark after hitting the installation button in Bootcamp Assistant, processor keeps running, so I have to hold the button in to shut down. Are you saying to let it sit a minute, then reboot and hold Option key down during that startup?

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Answer 3

elabogado Author

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Aug 13, 2009 10:44 AM in response to elabogado

My apologies. That should read I purchased the software online from "OEM Downloads".

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Answer 4

Aug 15, 2009 8:53 AM in response to elabogado

The OEM version of Windows is not officially supported. However, there are ways to make it work. The reason it doesn't work is because the OEM version of Windows assumes your hard drive is already pre-formatted and bootable for Windows. The Boot Camp assistant will partition and format your internal drive for Windows, but it is not bootable for Windows. That is why the OEM version won't work. See this thread for instructions on how to make the OEM version work:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2071417&tstart=195

The full retail version of Windows will scan the Boot Camp partition and determine that it is not bootable, and will prompt you to reformat the partition. The OEM version will not do this. Following the steps in the thread above, you will be able to enter the recovery console and give the DOS command to format the partition and make it bootable. When the Windows installer runs again from the beginning, the partition will now be bootable and the Windows installer will run as expected. Make sure you choose the CORRECT partition, which should be the C: drive. You don't want to choose the wrong drive by mistake and erase your Mac OS X partition. Windows XP SP3 also requires Boot Camp 2.1 drivers. Go to Apple's download area in the support section and download the Boot Camp 2.1 drivers for your particular version of Windows. Burn that to a CD so you can install the latest drivers.

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Answer 5

elabogado Author

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Aug 15, 2009 9:48 AM in response to Peter Hillman

I really appreciate all of the responses and assistance. Turns out the Windows installation was attempting to work the whole time, I just couldn't see it on the LG Analog Display monitor. My son also has a 46" Samsung HDTV tapped into the NVidia. Today I happened to have that set on while I tried to install XP. Sure enough, the LG display stayed black, but the whole process showed up as it was supposed to up on the HDTV. I suspect it would not use 2 displays, and his TV must be the default display. Works awesome now. Easilty the fastest "PC" in the building.

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