Install hangs at 33%

Question

Install hangs at 33%

Gary Graziano 0

I have an older PC that was originally configured with 2 hard drives; one master, one slave. I tried booting it recently, and the master drive had completely failed. I purchased a new IDE drive, and am trying to get either 2000 Pro or XP Pro to install on it so that I can look at what data is on the slave. (Only the new drive is connected to the machine at this point.) I have the original install disks I purchased years ago (as well as .iso cd's from Dell and Hiren's Boot CD). Everything seems to work flawlessly until the progress bar hangs a 33%. It did that twice. It has been stuck there for several hours. Is there any way to get things "unstuck" and complete the install? I can't think of anything to do other than hitting the restart button or powering it off.

3 answers

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Answer 1

Carl-L 3,845 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Gary Graziano,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. It's my pleasure to help you today.

I understand that you are trying to reinstall Windows 2000 or XP on your new drive. Please note that these 2 versions has been out of support for a long time, and newer drive might not fully support it.

Before we proceed, may I know if this happen with all the disk you have or just 1?

In the meantime, please try these following steps to see if it helps:

Unplug all external devices from the computer.
Disable AHCI and Enable legacy USB support
Set SATA mode to IDE.

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

If you are going to modify BIOS Settings, please back up all your personal files first to ensure you do not lose data. If you need further helps, please let me know.

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Gary Graziano 0 Reputation points

2025-10-29T15:34:54.73+00:00

I realize the 2 versions of Windows haven't been supported for quite some time. I actually use 11 Pro on a much more modern machine regularly, but wanted to see if there was any data worth getting from the 486 with XP Pro. Both install disks (2000 Pro & XP Pro) have encountered this issue. I have already disconnected everything but the HDD and the CD-RW drive, but am not certain how to do the other 2 things you suggest: Disable AHCI and Enable legacy USB support, & Set SATA mode to IDE. I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate. Thanks!
Carl-L 3,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-30T09:49:45.9666667+00:00

Hello Gary Graziano,

Thanks for getting back to us.

Both of these options are available in the BIOS. You can change the SATA type to IDE by in the SATA mode section. However, this is applicable for modern BIOS and not sure if it is the same in old BIOS. The option to enable legacy USB support is in the Advanced, Peripheral or USB configuration, depends on the BIOS.

Please let me know if there are any updates.
Gary Graziano 0 Reputation points

2025-11-02T13:56:29.3733333+00:00

It's interesting how things have evolved. Notice I didn't say "solved." I found what looked like a partial solution from another forum I visit. The HDD in question is a Maxtor (now owned by Seagate), and it was suggested I try an .iso of a program called Max Blast to partition and format the drive. It worked great, I think! But now, when I attempt to boot from my XP Pro install CD, I get the "NTLDR missing" error. I'll check, but I don't think my BIOS is advanced enough to offer a choice of SATA or IDE. I'll see about legacy USB support next time I get a look. Thanks! (This may all become moot tomorrow, when I'm expecting delivery of a powered Ide to USB adaptor. That may enable me to read/write to the drive from a more modern machine.) I'll let you know of any further progress. Thanks!
Carl-L 3,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-03T11:03:09.4933333+00:00

Hello Gary Graziano,

Thanks for getting back to us.

Please let me know if there are any updates on this.
Carl-L 3,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-05T08:29:31.2333333+00:00

Hello Gary Graziano,

Just checking in to make sure that everything is alright. May I know if there are any updates yet?

Answer 2

Gary Graziano 0

As I mentioned, I had to put this little project on hold while I attended to some other chores. Also, the delivery of the IDE to USB dock was delayed by a day. I started playing with it yesterday, and believe I got the new Maxtor drive formatted by docking it with a Windows machine. (I also got pulled down the rabbit hole of Windows being finicky with USB devices. That took a couple of hours research and correction to settings.) I'll see if I can get anything installed to it today, although I have some outdoor work to do on our property this afternoon. It may be as late as Friday before I know more, but I promise to let you know. Thanks!

Carl-L 3,845 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-07T09:40:20.6333333+00:00

Hello Gary Graziano,

Thanks for letting me know.

Just let me know if this works for you. That will be a great contribution to this forum in case someone find themselves in the same situation.

Answer 3

Well, the IDE to USB dock was a mixed blessing. (It was at a pretty low price point: about $25.) The good news is I was able to view and copy data from the smaller slave drive, then re-format it to act as a storage device if needed. The bad news is that the dock appears to have cooked the newer Maxtor drive I bought. I smell fried electronics when I put it in the dock, so I thinks that's hopeless. (Thankfully, it was a cheap experiment.) Finally, we come to the master drive from the 486 (a Western Digital). I'm not able to seat it in the dock for some reason. I suspect the pins may be slightly out of alignment. I'll play with it at a later date. The remains of the 486 will soon be going to Best Buy to be recycled. The really bad news is how both my relatively new Windows 11 machines failed to stay connected to the dock long enough to accomplish anything. What success I did achieve was with a 14 year-old Toshiba laptop running Linux Mint. I do appreciate your efforts to help, but be warned: for this user, Windows' days are numbered.

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Install hangs at 33%

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