Advanced INF Installer Error

[Siasia2]

I upgraded my current installation of Windows XP Pro after
I was prompted to do so; I was uninstalling an old
software and a Diallog Box appeared saying some outdated
system files need to be replaced, so to re-install Windows
XP Pro. I chose to upgrade it instead of doing a clean
install.

The problem is during the uinstallation, I got a Error
Dialog Box that appeared with the heading: "Advanced INF
Installer. Its message read: "INF install failure. The
handle is invalid." Then the re-installation continued
with no problems.

Now, however, I can not access the Internet. When using
the Newtworking Wizard, the top two choices are greyed
out. Also, My System Restore seems to have vanished; I
cannot access it. What should I do???? Everything else is
working fine. I have tried to install twice and each time
the same thing happed. Can the XP Recovery Module help me?
How?

I am running an 850 mHZ PC. Windows XP is installed to my
Main C: drive. (Formerly I had Windows ME installed.) I
would apreciate any advice you may have. Thanks.

 

[Jerry]

The INF installer has to do with your motherboards chipset. Reinstall it
from the CD you got with the system or check the appropriate web site.

 

[Guest]

Jerry, I got your messgae. Are you talking about the operating system disk? That's what came with the computer, but I have been running Wnidows XP Pro snice then...........would a clean install of Win Xp do the trick?

----- Jerry wrote: ----

The INF installer has to do with your motherboards chipset. Reinstall i
from the CD you got with the system or check the appropriate web site

 

[jpicc1]

The Chipset is hardware. The BIOS is contained within the Chipset. Not sure what the earlier post meant by "re-installing the chipset". I am not an expert so he may know something I don't. Would replacing the Chipset with a new, pre-flashed chipset solve the problem? I can get one on eBay for $6.00 + shipping.

My computer was running fine and, all of a sudden, one day it would not boot up. I even tried running "chkdsk /r" from Windows Repair Console, but received a notification that there were permanent errors that could not be repaired. I decided to re-install Windows XP Pro and the computer was reading the info extremely slow. Took a long time to install Windows and at one point I received the "INF Install failure. Handle not valid", but it allowed me to continue installing, at an excruciatingly slow rate. When finished, Windows would take really long to boot up and would not work properly.

Common sense would indicate that a hardware problem would be likely if the computer was working ok and suddenly would not.
That would even seem more likely if re-installing windows and continually getting that error was the problem.

How does one install the BIOS from CD before installing Windows? Not sure