Yesterday I tried installing Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (Danish) on a 5 year old Fujitsu Siemens laptop. I burned several cds from the iso file that matched the hashes from MSDN subscriber downloads, but the installation failed everytime right after copying the the installation files to the harddrive. I figured it might be the cd-rom drive that was acting up, so I tried installing from a USB-stick which immediately errored out saying something about an error in one of the installation files. Again - this was on a cd burnt from a vanilla MSDN iso. Finally I tried instaling the XP SP1a version that came with the computer, and the install went smoothly. So now I'm lost. Has there been compatibility problems recorded with official MSDN XP SP3isos? If anyone can help me get on the rigth path, I would be most grateful. Seems really weird, if I have to install an old XP version and upgrade it afterwards instead of installing the newest version from the start (which has worked on every other computer, I have worked on). Thanks.
Sounds like there is corruption in your download i would try redownloading it again. or try installing it on another machine.
Thanks for answering. I have already checked the SHA1 value of my iso file. It matches the official MSDN version. And I have used it for a long time without any issues on all my other computers, so the download is fine and not corrupted. But I will try installing it again and post back with the error messages - maybe they can help you pinpoint the issue further. Hope you will check this thread again in a couple of hours.
if you have original MSDN iso why are you burning it to cd first then then adding it to bootable USB thumb drive forget the cd all together there must be some way to work with the iso to add it to usb even if you have to mount it in virtual drive as you said it all seems to be pointing to the cd drive no reading disk correctly.
the last part of his first post says he used the sp1a cd in the same drive and it installed with no issues.
OOOPS!. i missed that part he used the sp1a cd in the same drive, so then it is either corrupt file or maybe try burning cd at slower speed.
Try burning the disc with nero, choose a good brand, slowest possible speed and verify disc. Edit: I use Nero Burning Rom 8 LITE, dont get any bloatware software on your minds.
I would burn with PowerISO at 10x or so...nero is kinda crappy.. CDBurnerXP is my next suggestion..still better than Nero or the like..just MHO.. It sounds like the OP has a corrupt burn issue..
Thank you all for trying to help. I have made sure that my burns are correct and as previously posted the iso I am burning from is also error free. By the way; the error that I get when installing from cd happens at T39 and looks something like this (translated to English because I use a Danish version): Serious error. Error: Installation failed D:\I386.asms. Error message: Wrong parameter I will try slipstreaming my own disc from the working SP1a cd, but will appreciate further suggestions as to what the problem is. Actually, I seem to recall a thread somewhere mentioning that the official MSDN isos can be a little fishy on some computers. This ring a bell with anybody?
does it ask you to copy from directory?? If so, just put the file on a flash drive and point to the location when it asks.. One other suggestion is to install with USB turned off in the bios, and as as few cards as possible in the machine..maybe just vid and some memory.. Test this: start the computer by using Recovery Console, and then check the C:\$win_nt$.~ls folder. Look for the Asms folder. If the folder is missing or the files that it contains are zero bytes, the CD-ROM was not burned correctly. I have also heard of people getting by this by using DVD media as opposed to CDs...Error free or not, poweriso is a much better program than the Nero, if that is what you are using..Have you indicated the program you are using???
Well, I've given up on getting to the bottom of this. I don't know why the official MSDN iso won't install. However, if anyone ever experiences this same problem, I can tell how it can be semi-solved: After adding OEMBIOS files followed by adding drivers and rebuilding the iso with nLite, it installs properly. It bothers me, that I don't know why this works, but I'm also glad that it does. Thanks to all that responded to my cry of help.
First of all, if your software says its correct doesnt mean it is until you verify it, i had a crappy liteon burner that gave me tons of headache. Also the error you mention is one i have seen before but i cant remeber what i did to solve it, i will reply if i do. edit: Google says its a burning software/disc issue.