Windows XP Installation Missing files?

I have been drafted to trouble shoot my in-laws computer. The system is an AMD 700 Mhz (K62 i think) with a 40 gig HD, 256 mb ram. They started experiencing problems after loading SP2. The system eventually would not get past the splash screen when it started up. After several attempts at loading safe mode I decided to cut our losses and do a clean install. Curiously, the system they purchased with XP was formatted for FAT32 and not NTFS. It appears the box was built pre-XP availability and was upgraded when it was sold in January '02.

The problem now is that after formatting the HD it has problems copying files over from the Windows XP disk. No apparent physical problems with the disk but I went and grabbed an extra XP disk from home. Same problem. So now the OS will not install.

My guess is that there's either a problem with the CD-rom, the HD or the IDE controller. Does anybody know what would be the most likely issue? I may be able to find a CD rom to swap in and try.. not so sure about the HD. CHKDSK was run and appeared fine. Any ideas to help me get back on my in-laws good side would be appreciated!

IdC

 

Most likely is the CD-ROM . .

wrs

 

Before going out of control and buying a new HD or IDE controller card I'm going to try and find a spare CD drive to swap out with the current one to rule that out.

And in the hardware thread I was asked to be more specific. After reformatting, NTFS partitioning and after the XP install program starts copying files from the CD it starts popping up errors stating it can not locate various system files. REGEDIT.EXE SHELl32.SYS or .DLL etc. etc. etc. Obvious problem reading the drive.. just wasn't sure how prone CD drives are to failure vs. the controller card or HD.

IdC

 

If the problem isn't solved with a different CD drive I would considered checking the RAM.

 

closing this one please continue here...http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?t=275190

buck