Problem with New install of XP Pro

[Web Gecko]

Howdy

Currently trying to reinstall XP Pro on my
friends' Dell Latitude R400GT lap top
( PII 400 with 128MB DRAM / 256K cache
& IBM Travelstar 6.5GB HDD
Toshiba XM-1902B CDROM ) with no luck.
XP Pro was initially installed as an upgrade from
Me on same machine ( install went well 1st time ).

Due to virus activity on HDD last time
( msblaster / welchia worms etc ) and
other corruption problems we decided to
low level format the drive
( with IBM/Hitachi utilities ) and
repartition/DOS format which works
OK. XP Pro runs OK on this system
although performance wise it is
kind of "on the edge".

So we are doing a new install of XP Pro
onto a freshly formatted HDD and
booting off the XP Pro CD.
The first step of the install goes OK
where partition spec and files are copied.
The next step of setup crashes after
booting setup off the HDD and trying
to access a certain file on the CDROM.

Crash produces screens of info
( too much for here ) and I don't know
how to capture it all.

The CDROM starts to click in a strange
way before the crash as well
( hardware problem or CD media corrupted ?)
but has never exhibited faulty behaviour
before this.

CRASH INFO

Basically says that setup failed as
a component could not be installed

problem in : sxs.dll which found some kind of error

in a manifest policy file on the XP CD.

path : d:/i386/asms/6000/msft/windows/common/controls

the controls folder contains comctl32.dll ,
controls security
catalogue

and the problem file ( maybe )

controls.man ( manifest policy file )
listed at the end of the error path.

This seems to be related to some kind of
xml or other script ( C++ include ? )
or schema stuff for basic window
controls ( assembler stuff ?).

Every time we try to install, setup falls over
at this point. Seems to be saying there is a problem
at line 0/top of document "manifest parse error".

It's possible this file is corrupt on the XP CD
( using Me here ) and we don't have another original
CD. We could try to feed the retry here a good copy
of controls.man but not sure whether this will help.
Could also try to copy the CD and replace the bad
file but how do I create a bootable CD which
picks up the setup boot info from the original ?

We are trying to avoid having to set up another version
of Win so we can install ( upgrade worked initially )
i.e. new install booting from XP Pro CD.

Has anyone heard of this problem ? Could it be related
to CDROM driver problems i.e. setup may have driver
bugs / probs ??? Any ideas welcome.

A CLEAN copy of controls.man ( I think !!!??? ) is
appended below.

cheers

Web Gecko

?8O)}

CONTROLS.MAN





ToolbarWindow32
ComboBoxEx32
msctls_trackbar32
msctls_updown32
msctls_progress32
msctls_hotkey32
msctls_statusbar32
SysHeader32
SysListView32
SysTreeView32
SysTabControl32
SysIPAddress32
SysPager
NativeFontCtl
Button
Static
Listbox
ScrollBar
SysLink
tooltips_class32
ButtonListBox
SysAnimate32
SysMonthCal32
SysDateTimePick32
ReBarWindow32
Edit
Combobox
ComboLBox



chou for now

[Web Gecko]

Howdy

Plz note that control.man is not displayed
correctly in the previous post
( a lot of stuff was auto editted out at some point
- maybe here but not sure ).

So I have attached control.man to this message
in a ZIP file as .MAN won't attach here !!!

Thanks

Web Gecko

?8O)}

[xerox]

gecko, sounds like the CD could be corrupt. Have you installed from this CD before?
Are you able to install any other operating system. If you can test with another CD and see if you get the same problem. If you get the clicking sound, it will probably be the CDROM.

[raftero]

shot in the dark,i had a somewhat simular problem using Hp recovery disk,don't remember exact eror but missing cdrom driver file and several others,turned out to be a bad cdrom,swapped out the cdrom and all went well.

[Web Gecko]

Thanks to Xerox and Raftero for the ideas

I suspect the CD media may be corrupt for
XP Pro. I installed Me on the same system
previously and my friend then upgraded to
XP Pro from Me. The CDROM has not
exhibitted any faulty behaviour
previously but who knows, anything is
possible.

My bet is the media though initially.

ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS

How can I turn HTML code OFF for a post ?
Can I do this as I realise that the text for the
controls.man file I pasted into my original
post was treated like HTML and all the
< ? and > characters etc., were editted out ?
I don't think this file is in any way relevant other
than that it may be corrupt
( if you search an XP Pro partition for controls.man
you should locate the same file ) on the
XP Pro CD we are using
( which may have been damaged since
XP Pro was originally installed ).

Interesting small file. Looks like HTML but
is probably XML defining window control
variables ( C++ object/class stuff ???) which
are being sucked into assembler or something.
Anyone know what msft is ( MS Function Table ?) ?

Anyways if the original CD has the same problem
then we may have to load Me first and do an XP
upgrade ( and see what happens next ).

What could possibly go wrong !!!????

cheers

Web Gecko

?8O)}

Remember September 11

It's burned into my brain

Quote

"Planet earth viewed from space is a tiny blue jewel
a speck of lint floating in a seemingly infinite cosmos
( so write the cosmic dust mites anyways ).
Our spirit may soar and we may reach for the moon
and other worlds
but for now we should not delude ourselves
that we have any other long term life support system
than good old mother earth.

The 21st century will present humanity with
critical and serious challenges
that relate directly to our long term survival
and perhaps that of life
if we wake up and learn the important lessons
rise to the challenges
we may make it to survive on mars and beyond
If we can't cut it here in the next 100 years
then we probably won't cut it
anywheres else
and then what will all our smarts
science and technology be worth
or amount to then ?

All races are in the same boat, one boat
planet earth
so we need to stop thinking and acting
like noone else has the same needs and rights
as we do.

The future is in our hands collectively.
Noone else is to blame or is responsible
but us. Let each of us look then to our
own responsibilities and see what we
can contribute, however small
for the good of all."

A quote from the archaic writings
of The Cosmic Dust Mites
of planet earth