Windows XP Home Installation Error

Question

I,m tring to reinstall Win XP Home but when it starts coping files some files will not copy during setup.  I deleted the partition and fomatted to NTFS but when it starts to copy files certain files will not copy.  I'm using the dell cd that came with my PC.  I was told that the cd maybe bad so I purchased Win XP PRO but I get ntldr is missing when I insert the disc. How can I restore the pc.  I didn't delete the other partitions on the drive only windows partition.  I like to think I'm know a lot about computers but this one has me stumped.  Any suggestions thanks in advance.   p.s I skipped the files windows couldn't copy but when the installation starts I get a stop error.

dunedin · Answer

Hi,   We could fix the 'ntldr missing' error but I think you`d better sort the other problem first.   Set up won`t copy files Since it is not a CD problem, the usual reason for this error is faulty RAM.   If you have more than one stick of RAM (256MB or more) take one out and try to install XP again. If it does not help or makes things worse swap the sticks and try again. This will identify if you have a bad stick. OR You can put either of these free programs on a floppy and test the RAM   memtest86            http://www.memtest86.com/   Windows Memory Diagnostic            http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

redress · Answer

I have been working to bring back on line a Dell 4100 with 256 Mb RAM that went down with a hard drive failure. I’ve gotten a new 80 gig hard drive and a new CD drive with read write ability. The new CD drive replaced the original drive that was installed elsewhere while the system has been down. The original system ran on Millennium (missing at the moment). I bought a new XP dell system disk to upgrade.

When placing the XP in the CD drive and booting, the system will not boot from the CD. I went in the Bios, version A09, to be sure the CD booted before the C drive. When boot is attempted, the POST is completed, but the XP Cd does not boot. The system errors-out on NTLDR is missing. Restart from there just restarts the loop. I have tried the 6 boot disks from the floopy drive. They are all loaded and then, partitioning is done, formatting is completed, but then, this message is displayed:

The following value in the .SIF file used by setup is corrupted or missing.

Value 0 on the line [SourceDiskFiles] with key “SP1.cab.”

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3

I assume this is displayed when it is time to use the CD Rom drive to continue the install. From this point, I have tried a multitude of ideas to no avail.

I have successfully loaded the new HD with XP by placing it in another computer using the same CD drive that is taken out of the 4100. When the HD is placed back in the 4100, it stops are post at the handoff to the system software and infinitely sits there, not ready the hard drive or CD (based on led).

I’ve attempted installs more than once.

I’ve changed the IDE 0 and 1 ribbon cables.
I bought a new ribbon cable and placed both the CD and the hard drive on the new cable.
I put the CD drive in the primary position on the Cd drive
I put the CD on IDE 1 and the hard drive in IDE 0; I reversed them.
If removed battery and discharged the CMOS.
I set the Bios to default.
Tried setting CD as master and HD as slave and the reverse.
I connected ONLY the CD drive to the IDE cables and removed the floppy. I message is given to place a disk in drive A, regardless that there is no floppy drive, or anything else!

It does appear that the BIOS recognizes the hard drive and the CD because their ID appears in the bios.

I hope you are looking for a challenge. Obviously I appreciate an help you can offer.

redress · Answer

I have been working to bring back on line a Dell 4100 with 256 Mb RAM that went down with a hard drive failure. I’ve gotten a new 80 gig hard drive and a new CD drive with read write ability. The new CD drive replaced the original drive that was installed elsewhere while the system has been down. The original system ran on Millennium (missing at the moment). I bought a new XP dell system disk to upgrade.

When placing the XP in the CD drive and booting, the system will not boot from the CD. I went in the Bios, version A09, to be sure the CD booted before the C drive. When boot is attempted, the POST is completed, but the XP Cd does not boot. The system errors-out on NTLDR is missing. Restart from there just restarts the loop. I have tried the 6 boot disks from the floopy drive. They are all loaded and then, partitioning is done, formatting is completed, but then, this message is displayed:

The following value in the .SIF file used by setup is corrupted or missing.

Value 0 on the line [SourceDiskFiles] with key “SP1.cab.”

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3

I assume this is displayed when it is time to use the CD Rom drive to continue the install. From this point, I have tried a multitude of ideas to no avail.

I have successfully loaded the new HD with XP by placing it in another computer using the same CD drive that is taken out of the 4100. When the HD is placed back in the 4100, it stops are post at the handoff to the system software and infinitely sits there, not ready the hard drive or CD (based on led).

I’ve attempted installs more than once.

I’ve changed the IDE 0 and 1 ribbon cables.
I bought a new ribbon cable and placed both the CD and the hard drive on the new cable.
I put the CD drive in the primary position on the Cd drive
I put the CD on IDE 1 and the hard drive in IDE 0; I reversed them.
If removed battery and discharged the CMOS.
I set the Bios to default.
Tried setting CD as master and HD as slave and the reverse.
I connected ONLY the CD drive to the IDE cables and removed the floppy. I message is given to place a disk in drive A, regardless that there is no floppy drive, or anything else!

It does appear that the BIOS recognizes the hard drive and the CD because their ID appears in the bios.

I hope you are looking for a challenge. Obviously I appreciate an help you can offer.

dunedin · Answer

Oh boy! You seemed to have rolled from one error to another. :smileyhappy:

1. I think you have used the wrong set of floppies.

2. If you loaded XP with the drive in another machine it most probably won`t boot up when you return the drive to the original machine. The HAL is usually wrong

What is the best way to fix this?

(After writing all the instructions below, it occurred to me that the easiest option would be to put the old CD drive back in the machine, and the new hard drive too. It probably will not boot because of the HAL error and a repair install or a reinstall will fix that. Anyway, there are a few options for you to try. Hope on of them works.)

Well, you now have XP successfully installed on the new hard drive (but it probably won`t boot) so you either

1. Put HD in the intended machine, boot up with the correct floppy and run a Repair install

OR
2. Put HD in intended machine, boot up with floppy and just do the install again since you don`t have anything to lose. I think you would be better just to start again with a fresh install

This is all assuming the machine does recognise the CD drive

If it does not recognise it when you try to do the above, since the old CD drive seems to work, put it back in and get the system up and running. Then put in the new CD drive and try to get it working then.

Here is how to work the floppy and where to get it

Boot up with a Win98 Startup floppy with CDROM support, then navigate to the i386 folder on the CD (at the A:> prompt type the letter of the cdrom drive, then "CD i386" without the quotes) Then at the X:\i386> prompt (where X: is the letter of the cdrom drive) type "Winnt.exe". That will run the normal Windows Setup.

You can get a startup floppy here:

Bootdisks
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

PS if this does not work and you need more help in a hurry, start a new thread which everyone else will see.

I`m saying this since I think I might not be online later on. After 4 hrs I`ll definitely be gone.

redress · Answer

The 6 floppies were downloaded off of Microsoft’s site. They booted, partitioned and formatted the hard drive without a glitch. Whenever I try to access the CDROM is when there is a problem. Repair Install would not run from the floppy disk or the CD drive. I get the same error as when I tried to run the new installation of XP.

You state, “Well, you now have XP successfully installed on the new hard drive (but it probably won’t boot) so you either….” I got XP there only by putting it in other computer (which failed to run when switched)

Suggestion 1: Unless you know something I don’t, I think the disks are correct. When I ran Repair, it crashed with the same error as Installing XP.

Suggestion 2: I’ve done dozens of attempts to boot and run Install. The system will not boot from the CDROM nor will it trade off from the 6 floppies to the CDROM. I tried another known bootable CD, which also fails to boot from the CDROM.

I can’t try reinstalling the original CDROM in the drive because I don’t have it. It is somewhere else in my son’s machine.

The bios information shown below leads me to believe that it sees the CDROM. If I move the CDROM and HD, the WDC and HL-DT changes to where I put the units.

Using the downloaded Win98 disk with CDROM support I was able to access the CDROM for the first time, but got little accomplished. The software noted the drive was not FAT32 (It’s NTFS from the formatting).

The message “Setup needs to know where the Windows XP files are located. Enter the path with i386 as default for F3 to exit. I took the default. Then the message “Windows did not detect a Smart Drive” arrived with F3 to exit and enter to run without it. I entered. Then the message Windows XP requires at least 375 megabytes of free disk space to able to run. Unable to locate the disk space. F3 to exit and that was it; no other choices. At least there were new errors and that’s the closest I’ve gotten to life from the CDROM.

My version A09 bios are currently set at:

IDE controller BOTH

IDE boot Primary WDC WD800JB00JJC (read from HD assume)

Secondary HL-DT-STDVD-ROM GPR8 (read from CDROM)

IDE Drive Configure

Primary master 2nd

Primary slave 3rd

Secondary master 1st

Secondary slave 4th

IDE Boot shows

First Boot Device ATAPI CDROM

Second Boot Device FLOPPY

Third Boot Device IDE HDD

Fourth Boot Device Disabled

The message when I attempt to boot to the CD without a disk in Drive A is “Invalid boot disk Drive A.” When I successfully booted with the 6 XP installation floppy disks and got startup running, I formatted the hard drive with 3 partitions, C which is half the drive and D and E, a quarter each. Of course there is no boot disk in drive A because I want to boot from F which is the CDROM. Besides, the Floppy is second in the sequence.

My DOS is poor, but I have used it many times in the past. I have no faith in my knowledge because I don’t use it often enough to remember the commands.

When a boot with a Milennium boot disk, and do a DIR on drive A, I see the directory. When I try any other drive, the return is “INVALID DRIVE SPECIFICATION” when the disk is present in the CDROM on all drives.

If your people with your expertise don’t lead me to a solution, maybe it is time to shoot it twice and bury it in the back yard. I’ve been working on this 4 hours or so a day for weeks. I’m thinking of blaming the motherboard and getting a new and improved one! That changes the BIOS and updates the drivers and speed depending on what I get. I really don’t want to spend that much money on it, but I don’t want to waste my time either.

Other ideas???

THANKS ALL

simpswr · Answer

This is not the full solution, but the correct BIOS for XP is A11, which you can download from the Product Support button at the top of this page.. . do you get the "Press any key to boot from CD-ROM" prompt? . you may have to reset the boot order after the BIOS update.

Have you disconnected all external peripherals except the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and be sure those are not USB, or wireless? Any internal USB card should also be removed.

wrs

Message Edited by simpswr on 09-24-2005 04:34 PM

Windows General

Windows XP Home Installation Error

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