XP Reinstall Gone Awry - \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe Error

[Guest]

I tried to reinstall XP on my Inspiron 8600 and all I succeeded in doing was
nuking my computer.

I'm currently at the point where I insert the XP disc and it goes to windows
setup, but then immediately shows a blue screen with the phrase "File
\i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The Error Code is 7. Setup cannot
continue. Press any key to exit." From there the comp just reboots and the
cycle continues.

So, the old install is gone and I continually get this error message when I
get to Windows Setup and try to reinstall. The computer was working fine
prior to trying to reinstall.

Other info: The initial reinstall stalled when some files couldn't be
loaded. I've updated the bios and flashed it. I also reformatted the HD in
NTFS and I'm using a SP2 XP disc. Neither of these worked for me:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318729
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812580

Any help you can provide to get me out of this purgatory of errors and
rebooting would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ron Badour]

See this article: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318729

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply. I updated the bios with the most recent offering from
Dell and the RAM was working prior to my decision to reinstall and seems fine
when I run the diagnostic tool, so I don't think it's that.

I'm in a rough spot now, where I can't get XP to boot or install. It just
gives me that same error over and over when I try to boot from the CD. Is
there anything else you can think of trying? Or anyway to wipe the slate and
start from scratch? I'm really at a loss right now.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Ron Badour]

I believe that ram might be used differently when doing an installation and
that you just might have faulty ram. If you have two sticks of 128 mb or
greater, pull out one stick and try the installation. If no luck, try it
using only the other stick. That 318729 article is **very** definite--the
error message is the result of one of two things: BIOS or ram.

I worked on a W98 machine a few years ago that the owner complained about a
couple of odd things happening and when I could not fix them, I decided to
format and reinstall. The system kept giving me errors that I had not seen
before and setup would not complete. It turned out that one of the sticks
was bad and as soon as I removed it, setup worked just fine.

 

[Guest]

Just to follow up:

After checking the BIOS, RAM, and hard drive it turned out to be a faulty
optical drive. I hooked up an external CD-ROM drive and the installation was
able to finish.

Thanks for your help in trying to figure out the problem.