Have just picked up a second hand pc with no hard drive. After installing a spare drive I have tried to load Win XP but can't get the O/S loaded. I get the first setup page then I get the message: "File setupdd.sys could not be loaded The error code is 4, Setup cannot continue" The mobo is a Gigabyte GA-7DRX. Any help please.

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Windows Setup is very sensitive to errors when reading the CD. If you have a laser lens cleaning CD, use it to clean the laser lense(s). If you don't have one, it's a good idea to getb one and use it occaisionally, especially when you are installing an operating system or burning CDs or DVDs. Make sure the CD is clean and free of major scratches. Windows Setup is very sensitive to ram errors, or in rare cases, certain combinations of ram depending on which particular modules you have, according to what your mboard requires. If the ram installed in this mboard is ram that wasn't in it previously when it was working fine and you just installed some you had on hand or you bought, or in any case if the ram is incompatible with the mboard, or sometimes if it is in the wrong slots (see your mboard manual), you may experience ram errors, or modules that are not recognized properly or not recognized at all. Ram that works in one mboard may not work properly, or at all, in another mboard - it has to be compatible with the mboard, primarily with it's chipset. If you just added ram, or if you're not sure if the ram in it was working properly previously..... See response 5 in this for some info about ram compatibilty, and some places where you can find out what will work in your mboard for sure: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... Correction to that: Mushkin www.mushkin.com If you cannot determine whether your ram you have is compatible by finding it's module ID on a list of modules that work in your mboard somewhere, you can use a utility or program to test the ram, such as memtest86, but BEFORE you try that, see this next part. Even if all your ram is compatible and is in the right slots if applicable, reading errors can be caused by poor contact of the ram in it's slots, or by ram that isn't seated in it's slots properly. See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules. http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... If your ram is compatible, "bad" ram is very RARE. Try cleaning the ram contacts and making sure the ram is seated properly BEFORE you run any utility or program that tests the ram, such as memtest86; otherwise if that finds ram errors, the results may not be valid. Personally I have never encountered a ram module, since way back when SIMMs came out, that is actually "bad" - re-seating the ram, and/or preferably cleaning the contacts on the modules has always restored any ram that was producing errors to an error free condition. ..... That said, I found this on the web. Note that some of what it says here could be caused by incompatible modules, compatible modules but in the wrong slots, or poor contact of the modules in their slots: Setup cannot copy the file Setupdd.sys. CAUSE This behavior may occur if one of the following conditions is true: One or more of the random access memory (RAM) modules that are installed on your computer are faulty. The RAM configuration is incompatible with Windows XP. RESOLUTION To troubleshoot this behavior, follow these steps: Remove some of the memory modules that are installed on the computer. Leave at least the RAM that is required for the computer to start and run Windows XP. The recommended RAM to run Windows XP is 128 megabytes (MB). The minimum is 64 MB, and the maximum is 4 gigabytes. For example, if two 256-MB memory modules are installed on your computer, remove one of the memory modules. Restart your computer, and then run the Setup program: Insert the Windows XP Setup CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive, start the computer, and then click OK to select the first option screen to install a copy of Windows XP. Click Accept, and then follow the instructions on the screen to complete the Windows XP installation. If you again receive the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section, go to step 4. Remove a different memory module, or install the RAM in a different memory slot. Restart your computer, and then rerun Setup. You may have to restart your computer several times to identify the specific memory modules that are not working correctly

I agree with above, I have seen this kind of thing many times and have always solved it by temporarily changing CD drive and Ram. Often the CD drive and ram appear to work fine in normal use but seem to be just that little bit imperfect so as to cause this kind of problem when loading windows

Many thanks you guys for your help. It was a ram issue. Best regards, Mick (UK)

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