Problems with XP repair install

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trooper11

Limp Gawd
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Feb 19, 2004
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Ive had an issue with windows files becoming corrupt so I have been attemping to run a repair install of Windows XP Pro.

The system is an older dell dimension 8300

The problem is that every time I go through the repair install process, it starts failing to copy files from the I386 folder of the cd.

Ive been going through all sorts of different ideas trying to get around the problem, but nothing has helped. So far Ive tried:

Using another XP Pro disc ---- same result

Using another disc drive ---- tried two different drives, only one of them actually improved things, but the process was still halted at a file trying to be copied, just took it longer to hit that point

Testing out ram --- it had 4 sticks of ram in it (2x 512mb and 2x 256mb), so I pulled all but one stick and repeated the process with only one of the sticks installed and nothing was different. I cant check the voltages or speed the ram is running at in the bios becuase the dell bios heavily restricts what info can be accessed. Have tried running memtest, but no errors have shown up.

Copying I386 folder to another source --- I transfered the I386 folder to a usb flash drive and two of the hard drives installed in the pc. When I pointed to them for a file that couldnt be copied, it would work, but eventually even pointing to them resulted in the same error.


If anyone has any other ideas, Id really appreciate it, thanks.
 
Simple answer: stop trying to do a Repair installation and do a clean one.

Complicated answer: get the diagnostic utility from the hard drive manufacturer and run both the Quick/Short diagnostics, and regardless of the results, do the Advanced/Long/Thorough test immediately afterwards and do a full surface scan too.

If both tests come up 100% clean with no errors, then I'd still be doing a clean installation if possible. If you have access to a working PC with a burner in it, head over to www.ubcd4win.com and build your own UBCD4Win so you can (hopefully) boot off it and access the data on that hard drive where the corrupt XP installation is in order to back up your data if you can (to another drive, partition, network drive, etc).

Try those and see what happens...

ps
One last tip: remove ALL HARD DRIVES from that machine EXCEPT the one you want to do the Repair installation on. NEVER have a bunch of physical hard drives in a machine when installing the OS or attempting to repair a corrupt one. Remove all of them except the drive in question and work with it till you get everything resolved; when that's done, put the other drives back in/re-attach them. They just get in the way during the troubleshooting/repair phases, so yank 'em out. Don't disable them in the BIOS, that's not good enough. You need to physically disconnect them, power and data cables, and work with just the one drive.
 
well trying it with only the single drive plugged in didnt help unfortunately.

i would prefer not to do a clean install, especially if its going to give me this same error once I get to this point in a clean install. i was hoping to find some clue as to why its failing here

of course if there is no other choice, ill have to reinstall completely
 
It could be simply the fact that the files on the disk are older than the ones you want to replace. I've had this happen a few times.......once I manually copied the I386 folder to a location on the hdd........once I used a different disk.......once I just skipped the files. All worked fine afterwards.
 
Most every time I have experienced the problem you are having with a PC it was RAM related.

I suspect if you try to do a clean full install you will have the same problems you are having now.

You said you tried with just one stick of ram in the PC but have you tried other slots and a different stick? Also visually inspect the capacitors on your mother board for bulging and or signs of leaking.

Try running Memtest, I suspect your system won't pass.
 
does it matter if i run memtest on each stick of ram on its own or with all 4 installed at once?
 
Well I guess it depends on how much testing you want to do. I would pick one of the 512 sticks and see if the system will pass memtest. If it passes but still wont install you have at least ruled that out as a problem.

If the system does pass with one stick then try all 4 and run it again so you know everything with the memory is OK or not.
 
I'd say all 4 at once as a single test (memtest runs a shitload of 'em in sequence) would be the best way at first. Believe me, if you have any RAM errors at all, they'll turn up in the first 5 seconds of starting memtest and you'll see plenty of RED WARNINGS appear that you simply can't miss. If that happens, pull 3 sticks out and test one, if it passes after a minute or two, try then next, same thing, try the last, same thing.

There's no need to run a full memtest pass on all the sticks in the machine at one time, as I said; if there's a bad stick, or even more than one, you'll know it. If there is an error, then the issue is finding which stick(s) are defective, so it's a stick-by-stick test.

You can do all this testing inside of an hour, probably less. If each stick doesn't show errors within 10 mins of running memtest that's a good sign, so if you're willing, put all 4 back in and re-test all 4 sticks in the machine for a FULL memtest cycle, all the way through 100% until it tells you the RAM passes.
 
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