Problems with a reformat

[mr_mann14]

I started reformating by brother's computer, and in the reformat phase, it froze at 20%. I restarted the computer and I kept getting the message, "The file I386/Ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 7". I searched on google and found the Microsoft Knoledge Base article on it. I followed the solution, but still got the same error.

I went into Fdisk and deleted all the partitions and reformated into FAT32.

So I decided to try and replace the CD Drive. I put in a new CD-ROM Drive, and ran the reformat again. This time it went past the Ntkrnlmp error, so I went into the rescure center, and ran chkdsk /r and it just said "The Volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems." But I ran the reformat just to see what happened.

This time it completed the reformat phase, but when it started the setup right after, it said "Setup cannot access the CD containing the Windows XP Installation Files."

I'm almost positive it is not the the Windows XP disk because I reformated my other computer the day before I started this one. I'm just wondering if it is a faulty HD or if it's something else?

 

[INeedCache]

I'd go to your HD manufacturer's website and download their diagnostic program. Most offer a choice of making a bootable floppy or ISO image on a CD. Run the program to check your HD for errors. If it comes up good, write zeros to the drive using either the utility from the HD manufacturer or a third party tool. Then try reformatting. If the diagnostic finds errors on your drive, you'll need a new one.

 

[mr_mann14]

Thanks for the quick responce. I'll get back to you when I'm done

 

[mr_mann14]

I did what you said, use the diagnostic, it said everything was fine, so I did a quick low level format (zeros to first 300mb and last 100mb). But I still get missing files during the installation, so I'm going to try a new windows installation.

 

[mr_mann14]

I did a full low-level format from the maxtor diagnostic tool, but I was still unable to install 2 seperate disks of XP (mine, and my uncle's). So I decided to install Windows 98 to see if that would install and it did. So I guess I narrowed the problem down to the XP CD.

 

[owen20033]

I think you can try this. Take your hard drive to the other health computer and do the format on that computer

 

[mr_mann14]

I think you can try this. Take your hard drive to the other health computer and do the format on that computer

Well now I can do the format, but I can't setup XP on it. Here's what I've done so far:

I've ran Memtest on the current RAM i'm using = No errors
I've tried multiple XP disks
I've ran the Maxtor diagnostic, which came back with no errors (and I've tried a couple different pieces)
I used the software to low level format it
I've slipstreamed SP2 into my XP Home disk using nlite. (When I try to get the XP source files from any of the Pro disks, I get erros when trying to get files from the i386 folder.)
I updated the bios
I tried pressing F7 to bypass the ACPI thing
I tried setting the HDD to Large instead of auto/LBA.
When I try to install windows with the XP Home disk I get "file i386vgaoem.fon could not be loaded. The error code is 7", but the file that gets the error seems to change some times. This comes up before you get the to do the partitioning thing.
The XP Pro disks will go past the format, but during the part where it copies the files onto the hard drive, I get _______ file could not be copied and I get the option to retry or skip the file. Someitmes when I retry the files, they'll work, but some times, I'll have to skip them.

This was the next thing I tried... I went with the pro diks, made a 5 gig partition, did the installation while retrying, skipping the files that didn't work. After I installed it, I got a very minimal version of XP, there were no themes or desktops to choose from or basicly anything in the programs menu. But this allowed me to go put in the XP Home (slipstreamed w/SP2) disk and installed it from there, I chose new installation, and then it went and installed it like normal from the disk and it read all the files and everything. When I got the computer set up, I installed partition magic to delete the partition that was there for the XP Pro, but when I reset it, I got an error message in PM saying "Cannot lock drive, error 27," and then it reset the computer and the problem came back and I couldn't get into windows again and I get the same problems again.

 

[TechMaster]

Please tell us more about your hardware. What size Hd are you using?
I would reccomend Reformating the HD using the software that came with your drive (or you can download it). Uninstall any soundcards, ethernet cards, modems, printer, scanners.. etc... Only leave a CD-Rom drive that you will use to install Windows from. You mentioned that you used two different XP cd's. You also mentioned that you succesfully installed win98. This leads me to believe that you may have some hardware that is not compatible with XP.
Did you have XP installed on this machine before?

Like I said, Try installing XP on a bare bones system in order to minimize potential conflicts.

Good luck!

TechMaster