XP installation error

[Guest]

When trying to do a fresh install of Win XP, i can format the partition to NTFS and it then copies the setup files, and then reboots. Then the screen comes up that says, Welcome to XP, installing files, 39 minutes left.... after about 30 seconds a error window pops up saying, "One of the components that windows needs to continue setup could not be installed. Manifest Parse Error: Invalid at the top level of the document. " Has anyone else seen this?

 

[Palpatine]

It may be irrelevant but i had a MSI Turbo-R motheboard and it needed a bios upgrade to instal WinXP correctly. Check if there is a similar problem/solution with your mobo.

 

[wyldwezl]

Yes, I had the same error on a multi-drive system. I tried twice to reinstall. Apparently, the file is corrupt or something. I also suspect that you, like me, are using a less-than-legit "copy" of XP. Anyway, I re-fdisked the drive and tried again. This time XP tried to assimilate one of my other drives (I had neglected to reset my boot drive in the Adaptec BIOS) and now I have this cute startup menu whenever I try to start my main drive, choosing between XP and Win98SE (XP is not installed there . . .). If I'm not quick enough to catch it, the bootup will bomb if I don't select Win98 almost immediately.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of it? I've been told that using fdisk /MBR will fix it, but I don't want to risk losing the data on that drive.

 

[Guest]

The menu you are seeing can be edited from the BOOT.INI file, which should be in the root of the drive XP "assimilated". I think it is hidden by default, so you may need to set your system to show all files. Open the file up, and you will see something similar to this:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows"


You will want to change the default line to Default= C:\="Microsoft Windows". Set Timeout to "0". This will instantly select 98 when you boot, saving some time. Example:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=0
default=C:\="Microsoft Windows"
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows"






You can get rid of the NT boot files completely, but it is probably easier to do it this way. Next time you install XP though, unhook the drive you aren't installing it on, to keep XP from changing it.

Another way is to take a look at this KB article, which explains how to actually remove the NT boot files: "Q103049".

 

[wyldwezl]

Thanks for the advice-- I'll give it a try tonight.

"resistance is NOT futile . . ."