Unable to install software from CD

[Radish]

I have a bunch of software CDs I've been unable to install. What they seem
to have in common is that, although they claim to run on Windows XP, they
seem to have been written for an earlier version of Windows, then modified to
run on XP.
For example:System requirements, Operating system:
Windows95/98,ME,XP
Typically the setup program runs briefly but does nothing, whether I let
it run upon inserting the CD, or running setup.exe manually from the CD.
Sometimes it'll do more, but nothing is ever loaded from the CD.
I'm wondering if there's something in my specific computer setup that's
preventing installation, ie that the setup program doesn't like or doesn't
know how to handle.
I'm running Windows XP Media Center.
Thoughts?

 

[philo]

I have a bunch of software CDs I've been unable to install. What they
seem
to have in common is that, although they claim to run on Windows XP, they
seem to have been written for an earlier version of Windows, then modified
to
run on XP.
For example:System requirements, Operating system:
Windows95/98,ME,XP
Typically the setup program runs briefly but does nothing, whether I let
it run upon inserting the CD, or running setup.exe manually from the CD.
Sometimes it'll do more, but nothing is ever loaded from the CD.
I'm wondering if there's something in my specific computer setup that's
preventing installation, ie that the setup program doesn't like or doesn't
know how to handle.
I'm running Windows XP Media Center.
Thoughts?

I recently worked on a machine that had a similar problem...
I replaced the cdrom and it worked fine after that

 

[Big_Al]

Radish said this on 2/4/2009 4:36 AM:

I have a bunch of software CDs I've been unable to install. What they seem
to have in common is that, although they claim to run on Windows XP, they
seem to have been written for an earlier version of Windows, then modified to
run on XP.
For example:System requirements, Operating system:
Windows95/98,ME,XP
Typically the setup program runs briefly but does nothing, whether I let
it run upon inserting the CD, or running setup.exe manually from the CD.
Sometimes it'll do more, but nothing is ever loaded from the CD.
I'm wondering if there's something in my specific computer setup that's
preventing installation, ie that the setup program doesn't like or doesn't
know how to handle.
I'm running Windows XP Media Center.
Thoughts?

You can make a folder and then copy the entire contents of the CD to
that folder on the HD. Then from that folder run the setup program.

In some cases this works. One, it tests to see if you can read all of
the data, and two, occasionally programs don't mind being moved to a
subfolder like X:\test\.... Normally from a cd, its just X:\....
If you get copy errors, you might have a drive issue.

Last resort is to test the install on a friends PC, if you can find
someone willing to do it. But if this is happening on several
installs of several programs, I'd be inclined to look at the drive or
your XP OS.

 

[Radish]

Radish said this on 2/4/2009 4:36 AM:

You can make a folder and then copy the entire contents of the CD to
that folder on the HD. Then from that folder run the setup program.

In some cases this works. One, it tests to see if you can read all of
the data, and two, occasionally programs don't mind being moved to a
subfolder like X:\test\.... Normally from a cd, its just X:\....
If you get copy errors, you might have a drive issue.

Last resort is to test the install on a friends PC, if you can find
someone willing to do it. But if this is happening on several
installs of several programs, I'd be inclined to look at the drive or
your XP OS.

I hadn't thought of installing from the hard drive. I'll give that a try.
I did successfully install one of these programs on an old computer running
Windows 98.
The CDROM device seems to work ok, and I've installed software that's more
recent. Photoshop for example.
As far as looking at my XP OS, I haven't a clue. I suspect there's
something in there that's incompatible with the installation of these older
programs, but I don't know who would know where to look other than an
under-the-covers MS OS techie.

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

I hadn't thought of installing from the hard drive. I'll give that a try.
I did successfully install one of these programs on an old computer running
Windows 98.
The CDROM device seems to work ok, and I've installed software that's more
recent. Photoshop for example.
As far as looking at my XP OS, I haven't a clue. I suspect there's
something in there that's incompatible with the installation of these older
programs, but I don't know who would know where to look other than an
under-the-covers MS OS techie.

Hello Radish,

It sounds like there might be a problem with the version of
the Windows Installer application you are running. I ran
into a similar issue about a year ago when I was trying to
install Jasc's Paint Shop Pro v9.00. I had upgraded my
Windows installer to the newest version (I think 3.1) and
the setup program for Paint Shop Pro did not like it.

Sincerely,
C.Joseph Drayton, Ph.D. AS&T

CSD Computer Services

Web site: http://csdcs.site90.net/
E-mail: (e-mail address removed)90.net

 

[Radish]

Good suggestion. I found version4.5.
Didn't work.
Thanks anyway.

 

[Radish]

Good suggestion. I found version 4.5.
Didn't work.
Thanks anyway.