windows install problem... cause?

[athlonxp2000]

hi everyone...
can someone tell me what is at fault when trying to install windows, it says it cannot install because it cannot find a particular file(s) from the CD-ROM? i know the CD isn't the problem, because it came fresh out of the box. the CD-ROM isn't the problem either i tried doing the install with another CD-ROM on the same computer (by replacing the first CD-ROM), and i still got the same errors. can someone tell me what could be wrong??? thanks a lot.

 

[Shooters]

Well for starters what version of Windows is this?

 

[athlonxp2000]

win2k thanks!

 

[TheCorm]

This issue has come up very recently with another user. As mentioned there, it's often a problem that is assumed to be with the CD-ROM drive or the disk itself when 9/10 times it is actually the memory that is faulty.

If you can get hold of some replacement RAM or try 1 of the sticks at the time then you should be able to track down the fault. If it's not the RAM then it may be the drive of the cd-rom...ensure that it is wiped clean and no scratches.

 

[athlonxp2000]

the funny thing is that i ran a burn-in program overnight that tested the cpu, ram, hd on the previous OS installed on the system and it ran perfectly fine. any ideas?

 

[LeStEr]

Originally posted by: athlonxp2000
the funny thing is that i ran a burn-in program overnight that tested the cpu, ram, hd on the previous OS installed on the system and it ran perfectly fine. any ideas?

I would try a memory test.

 

[Magic30]

Try memtest x86 .. you can create a selfbooting floppy of it easily.

 

[athlonxp2000]

thanks everyone... all your diagnoses were accurate... it was the ram. i used memtest86 and i got a lot of errors.
i will get the RAM replaced. thanks a lot!