In case this is needed, I have Windows XP Pro... I installed the drivers from the disk that came with my Abit AW8-MAX motherboard and when I restarted the computer I got a screen that was blank except for this message "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using te original setup CD-ROM Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair" So what did I do next...I hit the reset button on my pc because I couldn't exit the screen, and then got into my bios and set it to boot from CDROM(and saved, im not an idiot lol) and then stuck my XP disk in and restarted the pc again, and then it came to the "press any key to boot from cd" and I did, and low and behold.....I got the error screen again. It won't let me get to the windows setup screen. I tried disabling all boot devices except for the CDROM, I tried hitting a key repeatedly when I got the boot from CD message, I tried clearing my cmos, I tried banging my head against the wall(not the most productive) I'm so stressed out right now, I'm considering sacrificing a helpless animal to appease the computer gods lol. I don't care if I have to format the drive and do a fresh install,(but I can't even do that because I can't get to the windows setup screen!) I have a seperate OS drive so its no big deal, but I just want this thing fixed. I'm using an 8 year old dell to type this right now. Please help me.

I assume this happened when you were doing a new install of XP. First do you have another computer that you can put the hdd into and copy the pci.sys from that computer to this drive? Or if you have the ubcd you might be able to copy that file or at least zero the disk out to try again.

Also, in your BIOS, make sure that under PCI options you choose "resources controlled by Operating system". As well as making sure "plug and play OS?" is set to YES. Musky If the voices inside my head paid rent, I'd be rich!

You'd probably be much better off to wipe the drive and start over. Download the drive manufacturer's HD utility software and low-level format the drive. You'll then need to create at least one partition (using your XP CD). Continue with a fresh install on that partition. By doing a "low-level format", you'll be completely removing any possible corruption being caused by existing data (or fragments) on the drive. I often come across this problem and have found this approach to be the quickest (and cleanest) solution. Please let us know if you found someone's advice to be helpful.

When I have gotten errors stating files are missing in a situation like yours, it was either because: - the laser lens on the CD drive was dirty. Try using a laser lens cleaner CD. - the CD drive was well used and faulty. Try using another CD drive. It is also possible there is a problem with the drive's data cable or it's connections - you could try another data cable. - the XP CD was a legitimate one but badly scratched or dirty. Try cleaning the cd, or using a remedy that supposedly reduces or eliminates the effect of the scratches. - the XP CD was not an original CD but a copy, made on a DVD/CD burner onto a CD-RW disk. (It was someone else's computer and that's all she had for an XP CD - I do not condone using a copied disk, and you can't Activate a copied XP disk, at least you can't any way I know of). I copied that disk from a DVD drive to a CD-R disk on a CD burner - no problems after that. Why was the CD-RW unreliable? A poor quality disk? (she said it worked okay for a while, then errors happened after that), or somtimes a CD-RW made in one drive will not be read correctly by another drive that can read CD-RW, or older or well used CD drives may not be able to read CD-RW disks reliably. If you're going to make a copy of a Windows disk, it should be to a CD-R, preferably made in a CD burner, not a DVD/CD burner, for the greatest chance of it working in any CD drive that is new enough to be able to read a CD-R disk.