XP Setup problems: cannot copy files

[Meiapaul]

I'm trying to install XP Home XP with SP2 which I bought OEM from scan, but I keep getting errors saying "cannot copy file [File name]. The first error is at 9%, then i get a load more, then at 35% a BSOD. A friend suggested it was my disk drive, because it was a DVD combi, but I've swapped it with a CDRW drive and a plain old CD drive, and still the same pile of errors...any ideas?

Here are my specs:
3500+ winchester
Abit Fatality AN8
1Gb Geil Value (I'm only using 512 for the install)
Various CD drives
Maxtor 200Gb DiamondMAx 10 SATA
Vantec Stealth PSU

[SHISH]

Firstly if you`re overclocked then kill it down to basic spec.
Is your disk drive up to scratch/formatted correctly, preferably before you try the install ? Loose cables on either setp drive or system drive, bad psu/power connection.
Checked all that then take all cards out not necessary for install, ie you only need graphics card mainly, no net/sound/other cards in pci slots. Is memory in slot properly?
Check the disk itself. A simple thumbprint or small scratch barely visible can kill it or a heavy handed load by the drive can put a very slight crack in the centre.
Always a solution, just a matter of finding it and I reckon after doing installs for the last 30 odd years I`ve seen most of them.

[Meiapaul]

All cables are connected firmly and working to the best of my knowledge (The disks are all detected, and the HDD formats fine). I only have one RAM module in, which I've swapped with another one, and tried in different slots. I have tried 2 different windows CDs, one of which has worked before on a different PC, and one which is brand new, both are clean. PSU is working, as the mobo, PCI-E graphics etc all power up fine, and BIOS Voltages seem correct. I've been trying it with my grf connected, and the motherboard's sound card addon module, but I'll try again without it, probably with no luck. I've changed which SATA port I use, and the IDE port, yet still no change...

[Taz]

I had a similar problem a few years ago trying to get Win2K onto a machine that I had overclocked. It produced the same errors if I tried installing using an NTFS filesystem, even though the format part of the install went fine. Once I reinstalled using FAT32 the errors went away.

[Ceefer]

I recently tried to install Windows XP Home on a computer based on an Aopen S661FXM motherboard. The Windows CD was one that I have successfully used several times before. I got almost exactly the same problem as described in the OP. Tried two other optical drives with the same result, so I guess there is a problem with the CD, though I can't see any marks or scratches on it. Does anyone know of a utility that can be used to check a CD-ROM?

[Ferral]

It may be the CD / DVD drive you are using, they can be quite annoying sometimes. Try swapping the positions of the drives on the mainboard IDE ports, you could well be getting some bad data transfer causing the problems.

[Meiapaul]

Ive swapped the drives with other IDE ports and other drivess, but they have all been relatively cheap: the original was a combi drive from ebuyer for £20, the other is a lite-on cdr which is also £20, and the other was a beige thing pulled from an old old RM machine, would a higher quality drive be worth buying?

I've also scanned my XP disc using nero CD DVD speed, and it came up 99.63% good, and 0.37% damaged...is this enough to RMA the disc to scan and get another one, or should that be insignificant?

[wizzard!]

I recently tried to install Windows XP Home on a computer based on an Aopen S661FXM motherboard. The Windows CD was one that I have successfully used several times before. I got almost exactly the same problem as described in the OP. Tried two other optical drives with the same result, so I guess there is a problem with the CD, though I can't see any marks or scratches on it. Does anyone know of a utility that can be used to check a CD-ROM?

dvdinfo will check for cd and dvd errors and its free...look on google...

[wizzard!]

any error on a disc..especially if i had paid for it would be a definate no no...return it!

0.37% off 700mb's...when you consider how small some files are thiscould easily lead to a lot of errors!!!!

[Meiapaul]

I've contacted scan about an RMA now, so hopefully a replacement CD will solve my problems...

[Agent]

Have you run memtest on your system ?

[Meiapaul]

Yes, but I didn't know what to make of the results...the chances of getting two dead sticks is pretty slim, and I dont think it would cause the errors to occur at the same point every time, no?

[Agent]

Yes, but I didn't know what to make of the results...the chances of getting two dead sticks is pretty slim, and I dont think it would cause the errors to occur at the same point every time, no?

They don’t need to be dead, an incompatibility is enough. What results did you get? Clear passes or any errors?
As for errors at the same point every time, this is not uncommon, as often it will allocation specific sections of the RAM to store information. This does depend on the application being used, and im not entirely sure if windows setup does it this way, but it’s a common method within setup programs of this nature, so it would not surprise me at all.
While it could of course be the CD, pressed CD’s have a failure rate of well under 1% iirc (i cant back that figure up though as i cant find the article im looking for)

[Meiapaul]

They don’t need to be dead, an incompatibility is enough. What results did you get? Clear passes or any errors?
As for errors at the same point every time, this is not uncommon, as often it will allocation specific sections of the RAM to store information. This does depend on the application being used, and im not entirely sure if windows setup does it this way, but it’s a common method within setup programs of this nature, so it would not surprise me at all.
While it could of course be the CD, pressed CD’s have a failure rate of well under 1% iirc (i cant back that figure up though as i cant find the article im looking for)

I seemed to get 0 passes on the first test I'll buy 256mb of another brand tomorrow from PC World or something to test it...if it doesnt work, I can always return it I suppose. I'll go for a "brand" like corsair or something, which should rule out (or fix) a ram problem...

[Meiapaul]

Bought 256Mb of hynix stuff from PC world, worked a treat The Geil worked fine in a mate's system though...I'll try and flog it to him