XP Setup file copy problem

Hi,
I am a reasonably intelligent and capable user with an XP setup install problem.

Quick overview. I have a stable XP2600 XP Pro SP2 setup working for ages without problems I believe it free from viruses and malware. I religiously back up monthly because I have a lot of stuff in there I don’t want to lose. I have two discs, one for the OS and installed programs and the other for data.

Outlook 2002 started to degrade and the problem spread to Office 2k until I thought I would install my backup. It turned out to be corrupt "“ I forgot to verify it "“ and decided to do a re-install repair of XP to try to clean it up.

When I reach a certain point, install says it cannot find files, it varies but about 70 to 100 files fail from i386 cab. I had slipstreamed a SP2 disc and assumed I must have goofed and tried again with original upgrade XP Pro SP1 disc but it refused even more files, all from the i386 cab.

I tried a different CD drive and a total of 5 different XP discs but never could copy these files (some are critical system files) so I am convinced it is not a read error.

In each instance I can see the files are right there where they should be on the discs but setup says it can’t find them, they are all right there! It must be a will-not not cannot copy, but I can’t figure why or what to do to overcome the problem.

I know I can as a last resort, wipe the disc and start again, but I’d much rather not there is a lot of stuff there that will be difficult to replace.

I really hope some of you guys can come up with something as my work list is out of control by now.

Thanks in advance,

 

Try this to eliminate a problem with your CD drive not reading beyond a certain sector:

Copy the I386 folder from the CD to your HD. If it won't copy, you'll need to change out that drive.

If it does copy, you can do the install from that folder to eliminate the CD from the equation completely.

HTH

 

Gizmo:

This could also point to a memory problem even though I realize this is probably the exact same memory you've had since day one. You can pull your sticks and clean them with a pencil eraser and reseat them and you may also be well advised to check your power supply - if one encounters a lot of "file can not be found" errors during a Windows installation, its quite often an indication of file corruption resulting from something being set out of whack - not necessarily a CDROM problem. Surferdude's recommendation tales the CDROM drive out of the equation so try that and keep us posted. Hopefully, that does it.

 

I really don't know the answer for sure but I wonder if it could have something to do with IE7. Do you have it installed? Installing it would no doubt add a bunch of new or updated IE and Windows files and perhaps it's looking for those newer versions of the files. So, if you have IE7 installed, you might try uninstalling it, then try the repair.

 

corrupt office files...

Gizmo,

After you straighten out your CD drive problem, possibly try a 'repair' of just msOffice. In the 'Help' menu of one of the Office apps, click 'Detect and Repair'. You'll need your Office CD.
This would be a lot less work than doing a WinXP repair if your main problem is with Office. Good luck. (You're in good hands!)

B

 

I was just off to bed (02:30 here) and caught your replies before closing.

Thanks for a bunch of thought provoking ideas, I did have a still install problem with IE7 so there may be milage in that - don't like it anyway - so It'll go!

Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow but I'll try all suggestions on Sunday and report back. I'm way past Office repairs now, XP is barely functioning so I have to bite the bullet. but I did start there

Thanks for the rapid replies.

 

Hi, I'm back!

Thanks for all the suggestions, I've been working through them one at a time.

I don't have IE7 installed - I use Firefox.
There is nothing wrong with the two optical drives.
Office has been repaired.
The memory has been swapped out.
The PSU is almost new with no readable faults and I use a APC battery box.
The i386 file was copied to the D:\ Data hard drive.

There lies an odd problem.
I copied the whole i386 directory and verified it. But when I attempted to point windows to it during install, it became invisible!

In fact, everything except "My documents" and "Outlook backup files" was invisible! Now I am convinced it is a setup problem not hardware.
I still 'see' the files on the Windows disc when Windows tells me it can't find them.
They cannot be corrupt as XP was originally installed from it with no problem and the disc is in mint condition.

The only thing that changed was, I had fewer files it couldn't 'find'. about 30 instead of the original 100 or so.

I'm tearing my hair out.....

Oh! and I keep losing the licence number for AVG each time I re-install.