SP2 Setup Screen Failure

[ultimateav]

I am trying to put on a new install of XP Home SP1 onto a machine that has previously had 98/Me on it and it seems as though whoever had it before me has tried to install Win2K SP2 on it but stalled it half way through and everytime it starts up, it just hangs and causes a fatal error. It is looking for a .cat file that isn't there.

It is a Dell Dimension 4100 P3 and I have tried going into BIOS and booting from CD but that doesn't seem to be working either - can anyone recommend the best solution???

 

[bcastner]

Boot from a win98SE boot disk that contains fdisk, and use this to remove all existing partitions.

http://www.bootdisk.com/

Go into BIOS setup and change the boot order so that the CD ROM drive is listed first. Boot from the XP CD and let XP partition, format and install XP on the hard disk drive.

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q313/3/48.asp&NoWebContent=1

 

[ultimateav]

Bcastner, have tried all that but the XP install failed and kept on coming up saying that it could not install some files like migwiz.exe, merlin.acs and a few others for some reason - all it did then was lock-up and refuse to install any further. I have tried re-installing Win98 thinking that would make a difference and then upgrading to XP, it has installed 98 quite quick but now everytime the computer starts, it passes the Win98 startup screen but then just as the background goes green, it says that Explorer has caused a major fault and I press close, and the startup process just hangs - absolutely nothing happens yet there are no Scandisk faults and the install didn't bring up any problems as it loaded itself on - have you experienced this before! Could it be a hard disk problem, motherboard???

 

[bcastner]

If you get repeated errors during install due to problems copying files:

. it is possible the CD is damaged or dirty. Clean the CD or try a different installation CD for XP

. the most common reason for this is RAM errors, surprisingly. XP is much tougher than Win2k or Win9x on RAM quality. Test the RAM:

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

http://www.memtest86.com/#download0

 

[ultimateav]

Have ran the memtest86 - what is it I am looking for with this and how can I rectify the situation - do I need a new hard drive? I am only doing this for a favour as well, would it be better to take it to a local store and get them to properly look at it and rectify any other problems whilst they are there - at the moment there is no OS on the HDD at all - can I fix it myself???

If I'm not back in five minutes, just wait longer!

 

[ultimateav]

Have run the windows diagnostic and results have come up as follows

MATS+ (cache enabled ) 2 errors
LRAND 1 error
WMATS+ 10 errors
WINVC 13 errors

Is this a major issue??

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If I'm not back in five minutes, just wait longer!

 

[bcastner]

You need new RAM.

 

[ultimateav]

Is that as in need to buy a new 256MB RAM part???

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If I'm not back in five minutes, just wait longer!

 

[bcastner]

Yes.

 

[ultimateav]

Bcastner, replaced 128MB with 256MB card and XP home has installed with one problem installing the Java stuff but that shouldn't be a problem as I am downloading the latest runtime environment from their website. I presume that will sort out any niggles with the install problems. Other than that, everything else seems to be running fine now - thanks once again - you truly are an MVP!!

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If I'm not back in five minutes, just wait longer!

 

[bcastner]

Good job.