Hi, I need some help here. Okay, 2 days ago I bought my Windows XP PRO CD, and until yesterday I tried to install on my computer. I started with a CLEAN installation, which I deleted my partition then recreated it then i did a full format on my C:\. After i run "smartdrv.exe" then i installed XP under DOS with the command of winnt.exe. Everything was perfectly fine until it reaches the part where it starts installing the files that were copied at the beginning. It halted the installation on certain percentage containing errors saying that it was not able to find certain copied files which were copied in the first place. I tried skipping all these files and it went into the installation process where it comes up with winxp installation interface, but then it couldn't continue to install saying there was a problem with memory etc.. Is it because there were files not being copied correctly onto the harddrive at the beginning or is there any problem with the hardware that i am using? Please help me out here, i am really desperate to get my winxp up running. I will appreciate for all your help.

Thanks in advance! :D

Hi, go into the BIOS and choose the CD-ROM as the first boot device. Put your XP CD in and restart your computer and boot from the cd. Watch your screen, it will prompt you to hit a key to boot from the CD. Take it from here.
Bob

XP dosn't have DOS and I think you should start over. Go into your BIOS and change your boot so that your CDROM boots first. Then put the XP disk in your CDROM and reboot. It will boot right into the CD and start giving you your choices. Choose to delete your C partition and choose your file type, FAT or NTFS. If your partition is larger then 32gig it won't give you that choice, it will format using NTFS. When that is done it will format then run setup.
Go to the site below for detailed instructions. Hope this helps. Regards

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

Sorry Bob, Looks like we were typing at the same time. Have a good day.

Regards

Well, i had the other way around in which i formatted my C:\ with the command "format C:\" and then i restarted my computer then i end up in DOS with my floppy win98se boot disk. I located my CDROM drive and entered "cd i386" then under D:\i386\ I typed "winnt" it brought me there with the same thing and start installing... Is there a really big difference by booting it from the disk? I thougth the way i do works for all windows OSes. Please correct me if I am wrong, but i am definately gotta give a try with all your advices.

Thanks again :D

Just to add another msg here... should i do a memory diagnostic to check if there's a problem with my rams? I've seen some other post here that they said there were problems about winxp copying files to the harddrive in which it cannot be copied properly... don't know if you read that thread, but please let me know thanks.

If your troubleshooting your hardware at least let us know what you have. Is this the first OS on this computer? Is it a "just built" computer?
Since you gave us such a detailed description of the way you did your install, I thought you were questioning you own method.
I can only tell you this, I've installed XP a couple dozen times following the method above and its worked every time. Regards

Hello again, I build and repair and installed operating systems for a living. Don't use the floppy disks, just boot from the CD and you'll have no problem installing. I have over 100 XP installs with no problem installing from the CD.
Tell'em Smokey, you seem to know what you're talking about.
Bob

I have installed XP from Dos several times using the EZ OS Install Boot Disc...works great. Can be found at http://www.pchelplive.com/index.php

Hardware:
MSI KT266 Pro2
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
256MB DDR
ABIT Soluro Geoforce 2 MX 400

Well, i will be following the method that you guys recommended, but i want to know an answer oh how XP can't be installed under dos like any other OSes. I want a solution toward my problem. The reason for this is that it'll help me learn a way to fix this problem in the future reference at least i know what's going on the computer. Sorry to bring any inconvinience. Thanks for your help again.

P.S. should i do a memory check on this, to make sure my memories are ok?

To answer your question, XP DOES NOT HAVE DOS. XP and its NTFS file system is different then the old operating systems from Microsoft. XP has new features like the (recovery console) where you can type in your commands to do repairs. This is the beginning of the future.
My question to you is,(again) is this a new system or a system that had 98 or ME on it before? If you had another OS on this computer before and it worked ok before you tried to install XP its more then likely not a memory problem.
If its a new system that never had an OS on it before and you have two memory sticks, remove one of your memory sticks and try to install XP again. Make sure the other memory stick is seated in its slot.
Also make sure your scanner, printer, etc. are not connected to your computer.

Regards

ok I had win98 SE before on this system with no problem using it nor installing it. I guess I will be installing winXP with your method provided.

Thanks

Ok i got it fixed, there was problem with a peice of my ram... but now i can install xp without a problem.

Thanks for all your help here :D