machine.inf file error

[boroboy596]

Hello
Can anybody help please ?
I have a Dell 8250 , 256 mb of ram , running windows xp home with a p4 2.4 gh processor,.
When i booted up the machine i kept getting the error load needed dlls for kernel so i tried to do a full reinstall of the OS , now it will only run set up as far as the machine .inf file and tells me it can`t copy it, so what do i do to reload windows ?
I should say the original hard drive died 9 months ago (120 gb western digital)and i replaced it with a maxtor 80gb , the machine was running ok for 9 months until that error message came up .

 

[Liquidlen]

Welcome to Techspot!
Are you doing your reload on a fresh formatted HDD, and are you using Microsoft XP disk or a re-install system disk from Dell.
Sometimes a smudge or dirty media and drive laser can cause read errors.Try a quick cleaning and then reattempt installation.
Also if that doesn't work you can copy the installation disk to a Partition on your HDD(that is not partition for O/S) and boot with a floppy to start Setup from there.

 

[boroboy596]

machine.inf file

I used both the Dell restore Disk and tried a retail copy of xp home but still no luck, and yes the drive was formatted .

 

[Liquidlen]

You are going to have to try my earlier advice.Can you boot with floppies?
Check at Dell to make sure there are not any issues with your machine.In particular check for Bios updates, any hardware issues with the new HDD, etc. Confirm system re-load instructions at Dell also ,they use proprietary software and drivers, there may be an update you need.
Barrring the above you may be looking at a Hardware issue.