Problems loading XPPro

[dino8031]

Recently I've been having some odd ball problems when loading XP Pro, both SP1 and SP2. I always make copies of the original discs and load from those to protect the originals. I verify the data and the copies always seem fine. The problems come when the OS is copying files to the C Drive. I get multiple errors loading files, like system files and DLL's, just about everything, on a totally random basis, where Windows tells me that the file is not loaded correctly and I need to hit enter and retry or skip it. Sometimes Enter works, sometimes it doesn't. If I skip the files and the OS loads, it's a mess. Won't boot, blue screens, software and drivers won't load. It's a mess. I did fine that if I hold down the enter key through the entire process the OS will load without errors.

I get the same behavior on different machines with totally different confgurations. It's very odd. Windows 2000 discs will load fine. It's just seems to be an XP thing.

I've loaded hundreds of operating systems and never seen this, but recently it's been happening on the last 3 machines. Switching discs doesn't seem to matter. Any theories?

Loading XP used to be a breeze. Now it's killing me.

 

[sdgserv]

I know this is a stupid answere, but what you are talking about has happened to me several times.
I just cleaned the install disk. Also some of the new CD RW do not pick up info like the slower ones. I like you have installed many hunderds of times and this problem rear its ugly little head once and a while.

So give a clean.....

 

[spyordie007]

I've seen this before under a lot of differant OSes (XP, 2K, NT4, Linux, etc.); If the system cant read the disk (for whatever reason) you're going to run into these kinds of issues.

Some posibilities:
1. The CD drive is old and has issues reading new/burned CDs. (or just doesnt do a good job for compatability)
2. The CD drive is dirty so it's getting read errors.
3. The IDE cable is bad and is causing read errors.
4. The IDE controller or chanel is bad and it is causing read errors.

Some troubleshooting steps to take would be:
1. Try a differant CD (inc. the origional).
2. Try a differant CD-ROM drive.
3. Try a differant IDE Cable.
4. Try a differant IDE chanel.

 

[dino8031]

I think you're right. It does seem like some kind of read error. The circumstances lately have all been with discs recorded on newer CDRW droves and then read on brand new or newer CDRW or DVDRW drives all of which are in good shape. I've swapped cables and changed IDE channels but still come up with occasional errors. It is very strange and something I haven't run into untill the last month or so. It's starting to take the fun out of building new machines.

 

[Kibbo]

Is there any way to clean an optical drive?