My windows just up and died

[Electrotechnic]

He probably tried to install over a corrupt copy. Clean wipe first then install....if thats what you did then change the HDD connectors and put the memory in another bank or soemthing!

[juba]

Resolving the Problem
The following suggestions are specific to Stop 0x7A errors. For additional troubleshooting suggestions that apply to all Stop errors, see "Stop Message Checklist" later in this appendix.

Stop 0x7A can be caused by bad sectors in the virtual memory paging file, disk controller error, virus infection, or memory hardware problems. In extremely rare cases, depleted nonpaged pool resources can cause this error. If the first and third parameters are zero, the stack signature in the kernel stack is missing, an error typically caused by defective hardware. If the I/O status is 0xC0000185 and the paging file is on a SCSI disk, check for cabling and termination issues. An I/O status code of 0xC000009C or 0xC000016A indicates that the requested data could not be found. You can try to correct this by restarting the computer. If a problem with disk integrity exists, Autochk, a program that attempts to mark bad disk sectors as defective so that they are not used in the future, starts automatically. If Autochk fails to run, you can manually perform the integrity check yourself by following the instructions to run Chkdsk provided in "Stop 0x00000024 or NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM" earlier in this appendix. For more information about Autochk and Chkdsk, see "Troubleshooting Disks and File Systems" in this book.
Another cause of Stop 0x7A messages is defective, malfunctioning, or failed memory hardware, such as memory modules, Level 2 (L2) SRAM cache, or video adapter RAM. If you added new hardware recently, remove and replace it to determine if it is causing or contributing to the problem. Run diagnostics software supplied by the system manufacturer to determine if the component has failed.
Check the hardware manufacturer's Web site for updates to disk adapter firmware or drivers that improve compatibility. Verify that your disks and controller support the same set of advanced features, such as higher transfer rates. If necessary, select a slower transfer rate if an update is not yet available. Consult your hardware or device documentation for more information.

From Microsoft's Website

[CyberCat]

I am tempeted to go with the video ram error.

xp home setup says that "Windows could not load the installer for display."
Though it also says "Windows could not load the installer for net."

I am going to change the video card and see if that helps. Also going to remove the DVD ROM too.

[BlaqMale]

you problems seem unique, the only time i've gotten an error installing windows was on and old computer that did fully support acpi and the error message said press to F5 at a certain time. Suse is up and running so now i'm baffled and intrigued. if i was in TT i try and fix it for you.

[CyberCat]

None of the hardware components apper to be malfunctioning - after swapping tham

So, here's what I did:

- Installed a new HD as primary master
- Set old HD as Primary slave
- Install XP on new HD (works properly - no errors)
- install SUSE on primary partition on old HD

Both HD's with both OS's work perfectly.

I am intending to switch to linux full time - just keeping xp on while i learn linux.