Won't install or run live cd

i have an E-System 3115 which from what i can gather is the same as an asus system.
processor; intel c dual core T2080 1.73Ghz
Ram ; 2gig of ddr 2 533mhz

ok the fault! it all started when my hard drive started to fail. i could hear noises comeing from it when operating signalling that it was on it's way out. After a few crashes and re-installs of vista home which came with the laptop it hit the stage where it would just not recover or install the os.
So i purchased a new 250gig sata drive and installed it with no problem. Ever since i have been unable to install an os. I have tried running ubcd4win live cd and also knoppix and ubuntu live cd's with the same result. i can run dos no problem. i have run memtest for 24hrs straight with no errors.
using my old windows 98 se disk i can partition and format the drive without incident.
But when trying to install any os the laptop loads all the setup files and then it just restarts.
Any ideas?

so, with the new hdd, you can't install vista home?

it will not install 98'se, xp, vista, or linux.
i can run dos utils an so on but as soon as i try to install any operating system or run a live cd the laptop just restarts after loading the setup files.
things like memtest will run quite happily for hours with no errors

it take it from the lack of response that nobody has a clue what is going on.
I have run UBCD4 and completed a whole host of the mem and cpu test with no problems but still it restarts after loading the setup files.
Please help i am getting desperate

well you cant look past the possibility that the new 250gb drive is damaged, so the first thing I would do is pull it out of the laptop, and test it in a desktop PC. Since laptop HD is SATA, you dont have to worry about any adapters, just use the same SATA power and Data SATA cables that the desktop drives use. While you have the drive in your PC, you can also try booting from your windows disk and installing the OS on the drive. If that process goes fine, you can simply put the drive back in the laptop and begin to install the drivers such as network, sound, video, etc.

There is also a chance that your laptop will not support drives over a certain density. For this you would have to check with the manufacturer, perhaps there is a bios update that would be required. This is less likely, but it has been known to happen. Given that this is a newer laptop I see no reason for there to be a limit, unless its artificially set to prevent the laptop from using a drive bigger than X, in case the manufacturer has another model range that does.

If the laptop properly detects the drive during POST and in the bios, ie the drive is labeled properly, or you can boot from a diagnostic CD and perform hard drive read/write tests, then the drive and the laptop are working together, and the problems may lie with your installation disks, or the optical drive in the laptop.


Laptops are funky to work with sometimes as there is very little you can often take out and test else where, but I would start with trying the disk in a desktop system and seeing if the drive can be formatted and installed with windows there. If it is successful all you have to do is pull the disk out, put it back in the laptop, and then install your drivers.

Well i found out what the problem was.
The hard drive is fine and the optical drive is fine. It appears to be a fault with the connection on the motherboard for the optical drive, as i had the same fault when installing a new DVD Drive but with no optical drive installed the laptop runs fine. So now i am using the laptop without an optical drive installed. Go Figure?