Question : BSOD Stop Code on Dell 410 XPS

I am helping a friend with a Dell 410 XPS (essentially, a gaming computer with a high-powered video card) who just recently started getting the blue screen of death whenever he attempts to boot the machine. Here is what I have done so far to try to fix the problem:

1) Boot to the OS Installation CD with the hard drive attached, but the CD-Drive set to boot first.
       Result: The installation program begins and runs successfully until the "Windows Starting" warning, after which a BSOD with a Stop Code 0x0000007B (0xF78D2523,.....
2) Boot to the OS Installation CD, but with the hard drive detached.
       Result: At bootup the machine notices the missing hard drive, gives you an F1 option to go ahead with booting, and the installation program loads and runs successfully until it reaches the same "Windows Starting" stage, at which point (though with a somewhat longer time delay than for the case with the hard drive attached) the very same BSOD and stop code appear.

I have restored all BIOS settings to their defaults prior to both of the above maneuvers. It is the second case that has me flummoxed, as I don't know how this particular stop code could arise when there is no hard drive on the system (it being a stop code associated with problems in the drive controller usually). I searched around and found someone with a similar (though not identical) Dell machine and problem who changed the SATA settings in the BIOS from ACHI to IDE (or some such choice). This did not change anything and I restored the BIOS to the standard ACHI setting for the SATA controller.

I have considered the possibility that this is a problem associated with one of the add-on cards, but have not yet been able to get hold of a video card that fits in the slot currently occupied by the one that came with the machine. There is no evidence that the video card is not working, however, and in my own experience I have only once found a problem originating in the video card that didn't produce something visible (the machine would not boot at all, and I thought it was the power supply, but it was just the defective video card dragging the MOBO down to a nonboot condition...replacement of the vid card obviated replacement of the powersupply [though I only discovered that after replacing the latter!]).

Any ideas are most appreciated, as I am loathe to go to Dell tech support before I've tried everything I can think of on my own, or through my friends here at EE.
Sincerely,
potterjazz

Answer : BSOD Stop Code on Dell 410 XPS

Might just be a bad HDD

Does the tower case have a FDD?

Boot from the Dell CD having downloaded the SATA driver for the XPS/Dell Dimension 410 from here and copied the files to a floppy.

Go for the repair/reinstall and use the F6 option to load the SATA driver for XP.