Problems formatting Windows XP

[Corvass]

I'm having nothing but problems formatting my computer. At first I formatted everything using the windows xp as a boot disk, started a new partition and started copying windows onto it, many of the windows installation files would not copy during this phase, so after formatting and installing several times to try and get it eventually I got to the actual Windows install menu.

Here it installed fine then at about three minutes until it was done I got a critical error (blue screen thingy) and it messed up.

Now whenever I try and install windows several files will not copy "Setup cannot copy . . . . " the first few files it won't copy are:

kodak_dc.icm
mdwmdmsp.dll
nikedrv.sys
rio8drv.sys
spnike.dll
sprio600.dll

etc etc, I have tried using different Windows cd's and it dose not work and the cd I am using is brand new and has worked before, help please!!

 

[Rik]

Sounds like its your optical drive or its data cable may be the cause of your problem!!!!

 

[Corvass]

Yeah I was told before it could be a problem with my drives, the computer has an after-market dvd rom drive in it, and I am currently using that for the instal instead of the cd-rom drive. When I used the cd-rom drive I got far more errors than I do now, any suggestions on what to do?

 

[Rik]

As i said in my previous post, it could also be the data cable, they are quite cheap these days!!!!

 

[b2bomber81]

Cables AND drives are cheap these days. Go get a new cable, try that out. If that doesn't work, get a new drive and fuggetaboutit! Depending on how old/new your system is, you probably need a new drive anyway??

CD drives will actually cause your system a lot of problems when they start failing. I have two systems that almost simultaneously started having slow booting issues. The one system took almost 10 minutes just to go through the POST. I disconnected the drive and it cured the problem. Turned out the CD drive was shot, and it was trying to read something that wasn't in there!

So anyway, go pick up a new cable or drive, format the hard drive and start over with a new installation. Good luck!

 

[Corvass]

Ok, so I tried with a new data-cable and it still did not work. I then got a new CD player and tried that in it, with the new cable and the other old drive not hooked up, and STILL the same errors. . . any suggestions??

 

[mailpup]

Is this a brand new build or an old one that you're just reformatting? If it's a old build, delete the old partitions during the setup before setting up new ones. Perhaps that might help.

 

[Corvass]

soooo I got it working, turns out there was a bad RAM chip in it. . . I used that memory tester program and it found thousands of errors so I took one of the ram chips out now it works great! bah. . . its always something I should have thought up first. . . thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Lefty!]

maybe i should try that too? but when i pull out my ram my moniter will not turn after wards. any sugs?

 

[bxdobs]

There appears to be a common thread of people asking about the same files failing to copy during XP Clean installs.

Could this be a hardware issue ... very suspicious ... I am in the process of trying to figure out this as well ... I have a 4 year old Dell Laptop that has served me very well which started acting up so I decided to reinstall the OS and Drivers ... before doing this I ran all the diags and memory tests continuously for several days with no errors.

I have taken the OEM XP Pro cd and done a verification test on each file including the files from the drivers.cab file which appears to hold all the 30+ files being complained about. There are no scratches on the CD ... the missing files are all on the CD and the drivers.cab file has no errors and I can extract all of the files with no issues.

If there was a hardware failure/CD failure I would not expect that this list of files would be consistant for one machine let alone what appears to be an epidemic of the SAME files on multitudes of other machines ... the other observation is that the failures are not one after the other ... not to say that the failed files couldn't be contiguous in the cab file which could suggest a damaged cab file ... the fact that the cab file is NOT having an issue leads me to believe there may be a piece of code that is playing silly bugger with us ... I have purchased at least 2 dozen Dell PC's over the past 5 years and haven't really kept track of the OEM disks to their Original PC's basically because early on I had done disc comparisons and having found no differences between OEM disks of the same SP, I just hung on to the latest SP version ... could it be possible that the newer OEM SP2 disks may have more checks to ensure the OEM disk can only be loaded on the Machine it was delivered with? If so, the only way forward would require that we have to find and reinstall the original OEM disk and then apply service packs.

 

[bxdobs]

Ok I stand corrected ... I finally found that I had an intermmitent memory module ... The Dell TESTS apparently were not aggressive enough to find this ... After restoring the original memory modules supplied by Dell the SP2 loaded no problem.

Memory failures were one of the common threads with this type of failure but I guess I still don't follow how its always the same files that show up. Oh well now off to see if "LIFETIME WARRANTY" means anything.

 

[LookinAround]

a LIFETIME guarantee on a computer part?

If i saw that advertised somewhere i'd be sure to read the fine print first. Would give good odds you'll find (tho just my guess):

• "Lifetime" has expired
• The "guarantee" provides you a discount on buying a new replacement where discount equals their calculation of the depreciated value of the failed component. Which when deducted from replacement costs the charge will still give them profit and cost you the $$ which would make me (if i were in ur place) think twice about doing business with someone using deceptive claims

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Most RAM is accompanied by a "Lifetime Limited" warranty, which suggests that the manufacturers will not assume fault for complications related to wear and tear, instead, only those which they deem as caused by their production process etc. This is true in most situations for plain old "Lifetime" warranties as well. Though, I am sure it varies on a case to case and company to company basis.

You might get lucky , but don't invest too much hope in it.

 

[DelJo63]

knock knock; this thread was from 2006 :wave:

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

knock knock; this thread was from 2006 :wave:

Knock knock, LookinAround and myself were responding to bxdobs whom posted yesterday:

Memory failures were one of the common threads with this type of failure but I guess I still don't follow how its always the same files that show up. Oh well now off to see if "LIFETIME WARRANTY" means anything.

 

[DelJo63]

and to whom the comment was directed

 

[LookinAround]

i usually go through posts by clicking Today's Posts and reading through the threads returned but i know i don't typically notice the dates which is ok via Today's Posts. Not so ok if you stumble across something via a link or just searching for a topic.

Hmmm.. .think i should post in suggestions and feedback as an automated message sure would be nice to remind the member of the thread's date and ask if they really want to reply!

 

[DelJo63]

Many have done exactly this -- even to make the same suggestion

the real issue for OLD posts and threads is:

just how the new information relates to an OLD symptom or issue?​

 

[LookinAround]

hmmm... i think i'd disagree wrt underlying issues

i think if one reads an OLD symptom which isn't still relevant to today's technology, the symptom itself would be the message reminder to check the date (e.g. if it was a question on how to install Win98)

I think the real issue wrt old threads is whether anyone in the thread is still looking/hoping for an answer. That's only addressed if one remembers to check the date so as to know if the person they're trying to help even still cares! (or getting a friendly reminder about the date when the hit Post Reply)

Coming at it from a different angle...
Based on the limited time i've been around (i'm still a newbie compared to yourself! ) i've seen a few instances of old threads resurrected by new members seemingly anxious and chomping-at-the-bit to help by answering someone's question. Your "knock knock" was a nice and friendly reminder that this was an old thread. I've seen several "not so friendly" reminders sometimes get posted by others. So a friendly and automated message reminder has other merits as well.