I am working with a PIII 800MHz, 512 Ram, A-Trend ATA-V931-CX1 Motherboard.

I was upgrading my friend to XP, but the install kept hanging at the
same point when "15 minutes remain". The mouse would freeze and
everything.  I tried for 2 days to finish the install, but without
luck.  So, I removed the HD and used it as the primary in one of my
other computers and finished the installation from where it left off.
I configured the OS as instructed, rebooted, scaned for
viruses/malware, performed a diskcheck and defragmented. Everything
was fine.

When I returned the HD back to the original Mobo, BIOS would recognize
it, but I kept getting the "windows did not start up properly last
time... choose how you want to start" (with safe mode options, etc.).
No matter what I choose, I see a brief "blue screen" flash with some
error message, and the system restarts immediately. I have tried the
"pause/break" key with no luck. I am not sure what the error is, but
the system will NOT boot. I even tried to boot the system with my HD
from another working computer.

The Mobo and HD worked fine with Win98.
The HD worked fine with XP on another Mobo.
Any XP loaded HD will NOT boot on the Mobo.

So, I thought to flash BIOS. Maybe it needs a newer version. However,
it seems that A-Trend has gone out of business or something, because
they have no website. I can't find a BIOS or Manual for the Mobo.

I even tried disconnecting all PCI cards and drives except for the
video card, and boot HD. I don't think there is a conflict there.

Mobo specs:

A-Trend ATA-V931-CX1
Award BIOS v4.51PG
BIOS-2M 2K001214
12/14/200-393-686-2A6LGV3GC-00

I think it uses:
Via Apollo Pro Plus 692/596 Chipset



I am looking for help by either:
1. Identifying why XP won't install or boot on this motherboard
2. finding a BIOS upgrade, or some other way to get the motherboard to
boot an XP install.

Thanks!

disconnect the video card, on board video is mostly the problem

^ thanks for the idea, but there is no on-board video card.  I am
using an AGP card for the video.

The thing with XP is that it is based more on the hardware and doesn't
have the old dos shell. What you need to do is check the microsoft's
.com about whether the board is even acceptable for windows. As for
the bios check with the manufacturer and see if they have an upgrade,
otherwise you are going to have to replace it. But again check for the
compatibility first.

^ I searched Microsoft's site, and can't find a mention of "A-Trend"
or "V931".  I'm guessing its not compatible.  So, it looks like the HD
is going back to a different computer, and hopefully XP will
successfully uninstall.  Any last ideas before I give up on this big
waste of time?