Hi there, I was hoping somebody could give me a hand with this issue. I have just formatted my hard drive (used to be running Windows ME), and now I'm trying to install XP, but I keep getting a message telling me: The file shell32.dll was not copied correctly. The file setup placed on your hard drive is not a valid Windows XP system image. If you are installing from a CD, there may be a problem with the Windows XP CD. I am given the option of skipipng the file, but I have a feeling that this is a pretty crucial DLL, and that might not be a good idea. Any ideas on what I can do about this? The CD I'm using is not a pirated CD, and it isn't scratched up or anything, so I don't know what's going on! Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

If you are trying to do an upgrade over ME, I recommend you format and do a clean install of XP. Those install over another OS have a way of retaining problems from the old OS, or just creating new ones.

Try running scandisk (from a Win9x bootdisk) on the drive you are installing Xp to. Sandman P.S. Your right, shell32.dll is a very important file.

thanks for your advice, guys. Here's the updated situation - I'm going out of my mind!! I took my computer in for repair and had them test the RAM and Hard Drive. The RAM checked out fine, so I told them not to bother running a second hard drive test (they were in the middle of doing it again, but I was desperate to get my computer back). Instead, I asked them to install a new hard drive. I picked up my computer today, hoping it would be fixed, and found that when I once again attempted to install XP, I got THE SAME ERROR. I couldn't believe it! This error has now occurred using two different XP CDs, so I know it's not the CDs that are the problem. What on EARTH is going on?! I'm at the end of my rope, and I have no O/S! Any further advice? Could I possibly continue the installation, skipping shell32.dll, and download it once I get XP (hopefully) up and running?

Try searching the Xp cd for shell32.dl_ Once you've found it extract it with Winrar from www.rarlab.com. Burn the extracted shell32.dll open a new cd or another harddrive. When setup is unable to find the file browse to where ever you extracted the file. Sandman