Windows XP CD SP2 will not install

Well, I have been working on this now for two days, searching these help
topics, and I just can't seem to get it to work. Here is my situation.

I have XP on my computer for quite some time now, no problems. Well, for
some reason I started getting this error message "the memory could not be
"read"" I just decided to back everything up (files and such) and reformat my
drives and re-install windows.

I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system, it
formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck about halfway
through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll or .sys) I keep hitting
enter to retry but to no avail. I thought perhaps that my HDD had gone bad,
so I made my slave the master and tried again, to no avail (Same thing)

Now, Last night around 4am it DID install, but wouldnt validate and kept
crashing. I couldnt get any updates, but then today after scouring the web I
managed to find a workaround to get to the updates, but they fail and nothing
is installed and the system just locks up when I try to update.

What is going on? Everything worked fine the first time I installed on this
machine. I actually said screw it and put in my WIndows 2000 disk (hoping
that I could upgrade to xp after it installed) but I get the same messages.

Help! I am going completely crazy!

Reese <> wrote:

> I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system,
> it formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck
> about halfway through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll
> or .sys) I keep hitting enter to retry but to no avail. I thought
> perhaps that my HDD had gone bad

More likely your CD-drive or IDE hardware is going bad. Get your hardware
checked out.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]

Yeah, I have two drives as well and tried them both, but I get the same
errors. Now they can't both be bad at the same time, can they?

This is a relativey new computer, I just built it about 6 months ago. ABit
an8 32x mobo, amd athlon 4800+ Dual Core, 2 Sony CD-RW's and 4 GB of Corsair
RAM.

Like I said, I tried switching out the HDD's and I get the exact same
problem.
I have 2 Western Digitals, a 320 and an 80. I have tried both of them as
masters and I get the same results.

Is there any way that I can check the consistancy of my CD-ROms? Somehow I
doubt they they are both bad, could it be the wires perhaps?

"Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:

> Reese <> wrote:
>
> > I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system,
> > it formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck
> > about halfway through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll
> > or .sys) I keep hitting enter to retry but to no avail. I thought
> > perhaps that my HDD had gone bad
>
> More likely your CD-drive or IDE hardware is going bad. Get your hardware
> checked out.
>
> --
> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>
>
>
>

Hello Reese,

Iit sounds more to me you have some bad ram installed, test the ram modules
seperatly with memtest ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) in a dos mode the
chance is big that you will get errors on the ram, 20 cycles testing per
module should be enough for a fail safe Windows. You can als try some other
mainboard compatible modules if you have those.

Good luck and let us know please if that solves your problem.

Best regards,
Michel Denie


"Reese" <> wrote in message
news:F5877D43-BC86-4309-82AC-...
> Yeah, I have two drives as well and tried them both, but I get the same
> errors. Now they can't both be bad at the same time, can they?
>
> This is a relativey new computer, I just built it about 6 months ago. ABit
> an8 32x mobo, amd athlon 4800+ Dual Core, 2 Sony CD-RW's and 4 GB of
> Corsair
> RAM.
>
> Like I said, I tried switching out the HDD's and I get the exact same
> problem.
> I have 2 Western Digitals, a 320 and an 80. I have tried both of them as
> masters and I get the same results.
>
> Is there any way that I can check the consistancy of my CD-ROms? Somehow I
> doubt they they are both bad, could it be the wires perhaps?
>
> "Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Reese <> wrote:
>>
>> > I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system,
>> > it formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck
>> > about halfway through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll
>> > or .sys) I keep hitting enter to retry but to no avail. I thought
>> > perhaps that my HDD had gone bad
>>
>> More likely your CD-drive or IDE hardware is going bad. Get your
>> hardware
>> checked out.
>>
>> --
>> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>>
>>
>>
>>

I appreciate that link sir, but I am unable to install windows in order to
download it. Again, after retrying many many files that it eventually copies,
and after skipping a file called "modem.sys" it is stuck on shell32.dll and I
am unsure as to whether or not to skip a shell file.

This is very very frustrating, I just don't understand why its doing this to
me.

"realcestmoi" wrote:

> Hello Reese,
>
> Iit sounds more to me you have some bad ram installed, test the ram modules
> seperatly with memtest ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) in a dos mode the
> chance is big that you will get errors on the ram, 20 cycles testing per
> module should be enough for a fail safe Windows. You can als try some other
> mainboard compatible modules if you have those.
>
> Good luck and let us know please if that solves your problem.
>
> Best regards,
> Michel Denie
>
>
> "Reese" <> wrote in message
> news:F5877D43-BC86-4309-82AC-...
> > Yeah, I have two drives as well and tried them both, but I get the same
> > errors. Now they can't both be bad at the same time, can they?
> >
> > This is a relativey new computer, I just built it about 6 months ago. ABit
> > an8 32x mobo, amd athlon 4800+ Dual Core, 2 Sony CD-RW's and 4 GB of
> > Corsair
> > RAM.
> >
> > Like I said, I tried switching out the HDD's and I get the exact same
> > problem.
> > I have 2 Western Digitals, a 320 and an 80. I have tried both of them as
> > masters and I get the same results.
> >
> > Is there any way that I can check the consistancy of my CD-ROms? Somehow I
> > doubt they they are both bad, could it be the wires perhaps?
> >
> > "Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> Reese <> wrote:
> >>
> >> > I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system,
> >> > it formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck
> >> > about halfway through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll
> >> > or .sys) I keep hitting enter to retry but to no avail. I thought
> >> > perhaps that my HDD had gone bad
> >>
> >> More likely your CD-drive or IDE hardware is going bad. Get your
> >> hardware
> >> checked out.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Well you can either have to download on the link or get help download from a
friend or replace your ram with compatible motherbord ram 99% chance that is
your problem.

Skipping files in an installation is not an option at all because it will
end up in a damaged installation.

If no other option take the pc to a PC Technician for testing.

Best Regards,
Michel Denie

"Reese" <> wrote in message
news:ED545AFC-F515-4527-9914-...
>I appreciate that link sir, but I am unable to install windows in order to
> download it. Again, after retrying many many files that it eventually
> copies,
> and after skipping a file called "modem.sys" it is stuck on shell32.dll
> and I
> am unsure as to whether or not to skip a shell file.
>
> This is very very frustrating, I just don't understand why its doing this
> to
> me.
>
> "realcestmoi" wrote:
>
>> Hello Reese,
>>
>> Iit sounds more to me you have some bad ram installed, test the ram
>> modules
>> seperatly with memtest ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) in a dos mode the
>> chance is big that you will get errors on the ram, 20 cycles testing per
>> module should be enough for a fail safe Windows. You can als try some
>> other
>> mainboard compatible modules if you have those.
>>
>> Good luck and let us know please if that solves your problem.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Michel Denie
>>
>>
>> "Reese" <> wrote in message
>> news:F5877D43-BC86-4309-82AC-...
>> > Yeah, I have two drives as well and tried them both, but I get the same
>> > errors. Now they can't both be bad at the same time, can they?
>> >
>> > This is a relativey new computer, I just built it about 6 months ago.
>> > ABit
>> > an8 32x mobo, amd athlon 4800+ Dual Core, 2 Sony CD-RW's and 4 GB of
>> > Corsair
>> > RAM.
>> >
>> > Like I said, I tried switching out the HDD's and I get the exact same
>> > problem.
>> > I have 2 Western Digitals, a 320 and an 80. I have tried both of them
>> > as
>> > masters and I get the same results.
>> >
>> > Is there any way that I can check the consistancy of my CD-ROms?
>> > Somehow I
>> > doubt they they are both bad, could it be the wires perhaps?
>> >
>> > "Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Reese <> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system,
>> >> > it formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck
>> >> > about halfway through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll
>> >> > or .sys) I keep hitting enter to retry but to no avail. I thought
>> >> > perhaps that my HDD had gone bad
>> >>
>> >> More likely your CD-drive or IDE hardware is going bad. Get your
>> >> hardware
>> >> checked out.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>

Whoops, spoke in haste, I created a boot up from a cd. I have to wait now
until the windows CD gets done formatting the drive (again) before I can
attempt this.

"Reese" wrote:

> I appreciate that link sir, but I am unable to install windows in order to
> download it. Again, after retrying many many files that it eventually copies,
> and after skipping a file called "modem.sys" it is stuck on shell32.dll and I
> am unsure as to whether or not to skip a shell file.
>
> This is very very frustrating, I just don't understand why its doing this to
> me.
>
> "realcestmoi" wrote:
>
> > Hello Reese,
> >
> > Iit sounds more to me you have some bad ram installed, test the ram modules
> > seperatly with memtest ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ) in a dos mode the
> > chance is big that you will get errors on the ram, 20 cycles testing per
> > module should be enough for a fail safe Windows. You can als try some other
> > mainboard compatible modules if you have those.
> >
> > Good luck and let us know please if that solves your problem.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Michel Denie
> >
> >
> > "Reese" <> wrote in message
> > news:F5877D43-BC86-4309-82AC-...
> > > Yeah, I have two drives as well and tried them both, but I get the same
> > > errors. Now they can't both be bad at the same time, can they?
> > >
> > > This is a relativey new computer, I just built it about 6 months ago. ABit
> > > an8 32x mobo, amd athlon 4800+ Dual Core, 2 Sony CD-RW's and 4 GB of
> > > Corsair
> > > RAM.
> > >
> > > Like I said, I tried switching out the HDD's and I get the exact same
> > > problem.
> > > I have 2 Western Digitals, a 320 and an 80. I have tried both of them as
> > > masters and I get the same results.
> > >
> > > Is there any way that I can check the consistancy of my CD-ROms? Somehow I
> > > doubt they they are both bad, could it be the wires perhaps?
> > >
> > > "Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:
> > >
> > >> Reese <> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> > I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system,
> > >> > it formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck
> > >> > about halfway through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll
> > >> > or .sys) I keep hitting enter to retry but to no avail. I thought
> > >> > perhaps that my HDD had gone bad
> > >>
> > >> More likely your CD-drive or IDE hardware is going bad. Get your
> > >> hardware
> > >> checked out.
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> >
> >

Well, I made it to 100%, but then when the system restarts I get
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<WIndows root>\system32\hal.dll
Please reinstall a copy of the above file.

I tried to use the repair option, but am clueless as to how to actually use
it, I assumed it would be fairly easy, but I get a prompt like you would in
DOS. Here I thought it would just scan windows and fix any errors, but I
guess they don't want to make it that easy.

Any help would be appreciated.

"Reese" wrote:

> Well, I have been working on this now for two days, searching these help
> topics, and I just can't seem to get it to work. Here is my situation.
>
> I have XP on my computer for quite some time now, no problems. Well, for
> some reason I started getting this error message "the memory could not be
> "read"" I just decided to back everything up (files and such) and reformat my
> drives and re-install windows.
>
> I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system, it
> formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck about halfway
> through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll or .sys) I keep hitting
> enter to retry but to no avail. I thought perhaps that my HDD had gone bad,
> so I made my slave the master and tried again, to no avail (Same thing)
>
> Now, Last night around 4am it DID install, but wouldnt validate and kept
> crashing. I couldnt get any updates, but then today after scouring the web I
> managed to find a workaround to get to the updates, but they fail and nothing
> is installed and the system just locks up when I try to update.
>
> What is going on? Everything worked fine the first time I installed on this
> machine. I actually said screw it and put in my WIndows 2000 disk (hoping
> that I could upgrade to xp after it installed) but I get the same messages.
>
> Help! I am going completely crazy!

Just try this:
option I:

Boot from your CD and follow the directions to start Recovery Console. Then:

Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini (enter)
DEL C:\Boot.ini (enter)

BootCfg /Rebuild (enter)

Fixboot (enter)

option II:

Boot from your CD and follow the directions below to start Recovery Console.

Insert the Windows XP Setup CD and restart the computer. Make sure the cd
rom is first bootdevive in the bios, start the computer and If prompted,
select any options required to boot from the CD.
When setup begins, follow the prompts; choose the repair or recover option
by pressing R.

At the system prompt, type expand d:\i386\hal.dl_
c:\windows\system32\hal.dll. where d is your cd rom drive letter. Once you
have expanded hal.dl_ type "exit" and restart the computer.

Best Regards,

Michel Denie



"Reese" <> wrote in message
news:9993506A-6969-47B1-BED3-...
> Well, I made it to 100%, but then when the system restarts I get
> Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
> <WIndows root>\system32\hal.dll
> Please reinstall a copy of the above file.
>
> I tried to use the repair option, but am clueless as to how to actually
> use
> it, I assumed it would be fairly easy, but I get a prompt like you would
> in
> DOS. Here I thought it would just scan windows and fix any errors, but I
> guess they don't want to make it that easy.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> "Reese" wrote:
>
>> Well, I have been working on this now for two days, searching these help
>> topics, and I just can't seem to get it to work. Here is my situation.
>>
>> I have XP on my computer for quite some time now, no problems. Well, for
>> some reason I started getting this error message "the memory could not be
>> "read"" I just decided to back everything up (files and such) and
>> reformat my
>> drives and re-install windows.
>>
>> I insert the XP Home Edition with SP2 (legit) and boot up my system, it
>> formats the HDD's and begins to copy files, but it gets stuck about
>> halfway
>> through with "Setup cannot copy the file (Random .dll or .sys) I keep
>> hitting
>> enter to retry but to no avail. I thought perhaps that my HDD had gone
>> bad,
>> so I made my slave the master and tried again, to no avail (Same thing)
>>
>> Now, Last night around 4am it DID install, but wouldnt validate and kept
>> crashing. I couldnt get any updates, but then today after scouring the
>> web I
>> managed to find a workaround to get to the updates, but they fail and
>> nothing
>> is installed and the system just locks up when I try to update.
>>
>> What is going on? Everything worked fine the first time I installed on
>> this
>> machine. I actually said screw it and put in my WIndows 2000 disk (hoping
>> that I could upgrade to xp after it installed) but I get the same
>> messages.
>>
>> Help! I am going completely crazy!

Reese <> wrote:

> I tried to use the repair option, but am clueless as to how to
> actually use it, I assumed it would be fairly easy, but I get a
> prompt like you would in DOS. Here I thought it would just scan
> windows and fix any errors, but I guess they don't want to make it
> that easy.

You are at the worng place - you went to the Repair Console: that is not the
place to do a Repair Installation.

For Repair Installation, see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...ps/doug92.mspx

But, in any case, it seems to me that you are flogging a dead horse. There
is something terribly wrong with your hardware, and you can't expect Windows
to install or run successfully on it.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]