Even colleges and universities get bogus software, so be
sure to look at the CDs very carefully. One thing that can
be problem, on the very fast CD drives using DMA, it seems
that the buried files don't get read because of timing
issues.
Try turning DMA off when installing. I seem to remember
this was also an issue with W98.
message | I don't understand how this would make a difference, but I
got them at the
| UCSD bookstore. Trust me when I say that these are
completely legal retail
| disks from Microsoft that I bought over the counter from
an authorized
| dealer.
|
| I got a program called CDCheck that scans CD's and looks
for errors/damaged
| areas. On one system, I get errors in different files of
the same directory
| on multiple passes. On the other system, I get no actual
errors, but the
| drive spins down to very slow speeds during the scan,
which takes over twice
| as long as scans on other discs of the same capacity.
After the scan, the
| event viewer shows about a dozen atapi and cdrom errors
that I DON'T get
| with other disks. In other words, I can scan any number
of other discs, and
| the speed remains high for the entire scan, Nero shows NO
problems, and I
| get no errors in the event viewer during these procedures.
I can't explain
| what the problem is, but I CAN say that it's definitely
related to the
| actual XP disks.
|
| I fully agree that disk errors seem highly unlikely, but
the evidence seems
| to point to this, and the fact that all the disks were
from the same batch
| makes it more plausible. As I mentioned, one of the
original 4 disks
| actually didn't work -- the install kept quitting with
errors. I tried a
| second BRAND NEW drive and got the same results before
trying another disk,
| which worked. This is what led me to do scans of the
other disks in the
| first place -- i.e. I didn't want to wipe out my current
install and get
| half way through a new one only to find out that the disk
was bad.
|
| I'm not trying to "get away" with something here -- I'm
simply trying to
| avoid down time as much as possible.
|
| Larry
|
| "Crusty (-: Old B@stard
"
| message | > Maybe if you would tell us the source of the CD's,
someone could give you
| a
| > more definitive answer!
| >
| > I can tell you this. I have installed XP, both home and
pro, on well over
| > 300 computers since the system was released. They were
all installed with
| > individually purchased retail CD's. I have not had a
problem with even one
| > of them.
| >
| > So, where did you get yours?
| >
message
| > | > > I did consider this, but I can't seem to confirm
anything -- i.e. if
| this
| > is
| > > a possibility, it would be nice to see someone say
"Nero does xyz, which
| > > means that in situation abc, it can actually tell you
fgh on drives that
| > use
| > > the jkl type system." In other words, the fact that
Nero "could" give
| me
| > > false information is exactly the kind of info that I'm
looking for.
| Given
| > > the fact that the Nero app is simply seeing if it can
read all the
| > sectors,
| > > and the fact that the CD has to spin down to
incredibly slow rates when
| it
| > > gets to certain parts of the disc, it does not seem
like an unreasonable
| > > cause for concern.
| > >
| > > On top of this, what about the "copy file" test that I
described, where
| I
| > > get all the "timeout," "bad block," and "error was
detected" messages in
| > the
| > > event viewer? I'm still completely unclear whether
this is a "normal"
| > > situation for the XP disc on certain systems, or
whether this definitely
| > > implies that there is a problem.
| > >
| > > Thanks again,
| > >
| > > Larry
| > >
| > > "Crusty (-: Old B@stard
"
| > > message | > > > Did you ever stop to think that Nero is giving
erroneous readings.
| They
| > > are
| > > > NOT without past problems (-:
| > > >
in message
| > > > | > > > > I've already confirmed the behavior on two system
with two different
| > > > drives.
| > > > > It seems highly unlikely that I'd get hardware or
driver problems on
| > two
| > > > > systems at the same time -- especially problems
that don't show up
| > with
| > > > > other discs.
| > > > >
| > > > > Can anybody actually confirm that the symptoms I'm
describing point
| to
| > a
| > > > > flawed disc? Is it possible that there is some
sort of copy
| > protection
| > > on
| > > > > the disc that is causing these results?
| > > > >
| > > > > Also, can anybody confirm whether or not the copy
would have failed
| if
| > > > there
| > > > > were actual problems? As I mentioned, the copy
finished without any
| > > > > popups -- it's only by looking at the event viewer
that you'd know
| > there
| > >
| > > > was
| > > > > problem. Note that I wasn't making a CD copy -- I
was doing as
| Chema
| > > > > suggested and copying the files to the hard drive.
I'm not entirely
| > > > clear,
| > > > > however, on how to interpret the results. Chema
said "If there are
| > some
| > > > > reading errors, CD is Wrong." Did this refer to
errors that pop up
| > > during
| > > > > the copy, or errors in the event log?
| > > > >
| > > > > One other thing, I did three copies -- both discs
on one computer
| and
| > > one
| > > > > disc on the other. All three copies are showing
the exact same
| size.
| > > > Does
| > > > > this imply that there wasn't any actual corruption
in the data --
| i.e.
| > > if
| > > > > there was corruption, wouldn't the sizes of the
copies vary a bit?
| > > > >
| > > > > Thanks again,
| > > > >
| > > > > Larry
| > > > >
| > > > > "Jim Macklin"
| message
| > > > > | > > > > > It is perfectly legal to make a archival copy,
in fact I
| > > > > > make two, one copy to use as a working copy, one
copy to be
| > > > > > stored off-site (fire, tornado) and the original
goes in the
| > > > > > safe deposit box.
| > > > > >
| > > > > > There is only one computer and there is no
distribution.
| > > > > >
| > > > > > I suspect that your atapi drivers are corrupt or
even
| > > > > > missing some or the drive has mechanical/optical
problems.
| > > > > >
| > > > > > Use some compress air from a can (no moisture,
oil or dust)
| > > > > > and blow the inside of the drive in case there
is some dust
| > > > > > or lint inside the drive.
| > > > > >
| > > > > > Download and reinstall standard atapi drivers
and reinstall
| > > > > > current burning software.
| > > > > >
| > > > > > Think about trying a different drive, CD-RW
drives are very
| > > > > > cheap now, I've seen them for as little as $20
new.
| > > > > >
| > > > > >
| > > > > > "Larry L." <
[email protected]>
wrote in
| > > > > > message
| > > > > > | I'm NOT making copies. Didn't you see the
steps suggested
| > > > > > by Chema in the
| > > > > > | post right below yours? He said:
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > | "Do an easy test.
| > > > > > | Select and copy all content (all files and
folders) of the
| > > > > > | CD to a folder in your HD. If it goes through,
then CD is
| > > > > > | OK. If there are some reading errors, CD is
Wrong."
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > | This is why I was copying the files. I don't
even have
| > > > > > any intention of
| > > > > > | making a "backup" copy of the CD -- my test
was simply a
| > > > > > troubleshooting
| > > > > > | step and I wasn't even the one who thought of
it. I have
| > > > > > NO desire to do
| > > > > > | anything illegal -- which is why I bought 4
discs as I
| > > > > > stated in my original
| > > > > > | post. I simply want to confirm that the discs
I have --
| > > > > > ALL of them -- are
| > > > > > | not flawed. I talked to numerous people at
Microsoft
| > > > > > today, but nobody --
| > > > > > | including the official tech support guy -- had
any idea
| > > > > > whether or not the
| > > > > > | symptoms I'm describing point to something
wrong with the
| > > > > > disc or not.
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > | I'm trying to avoid getting half way through
an
| > > > > > installation and discovering
| > > > > > | that one or both of my discs are bad -- which
is what
| > > > > > happened before. I
| > > > > > | just want to get an answer to this simple
question: Are
| > > > > > my discs "flawed"
| > > > > > | or not? Are the symptoms I'm describing a
sign of a
| > > > > > flawed disc, or are
| > > > > > | these issues something I just don't need to
worry about?
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > | Thanks again for any help with this,
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > | Larry
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > | "Kernelpanic" <
[email protected]>
wrote in
| > > > > > message
| > > > > > |
| > > > > >
| > > > > > | >
| > > > > > | > "Larry L."
| > > > > > message
| > > > > > | >
| > > > > > | > > Just to update this, I checked the event
logs and I
| > > > > > see a bunch of cdrom
| > > > > > | > > related errors during the time I was
making the
| > > > > > copies -- a whole bunch
| > > > > > | of
| > > > > > | > > "bad block" errors on one system, and a
few "atapi --
| > > > > > device did not
| > > > > > | > > respond" and "cdrom -- an error was
detected" on the
| > > > > > other system.
| > > > > > | What's
| > > > > > | > > going on here? Is this normal? I don't
understand
| > > > > > how I could be
| > > > > > | getting
| > > > > > | > > these errors in the event viewer without
any errors
| > > > > > actually popping up
| > > > > > | > > during the copy -- i.e. there is no
indication that
| > > > > > the files didn't
| > > > > > | copy
| > > > > > | > > properly, so what are the event log errors
referring
| > > > > > to?
| > > > > > | > >
| > > > > > | > > Thanks again for any further
assistance/information on
| > > > > > this,
| > > > > > | > >
| > > > > > | > > Larry
| > > > > > | >
| > > > > > | > News flash Larry. I suspected that you were
making
| > > > > > copies, but you did
| > > > > > | > mention it. Making copies of the MS CD is
"Illegal".
| > > > > > Even though the
| > > > > > | EULA
| > > > > > | > states that you can make a backup copy of
the software
| > > > > > for "archival"
| > > > > > | > purposes, I don't think they mean making a
copy of the
| > > > > > Install CD. But
| > > > > > | > again, that's my interpretation of what they
are saying.
| > > > > > | >
| > > > > > | >
| > > > > > |
| > > > > > |
| > > > > >
| > > > > >
| > > > >
| > > > >
| > > >
| > > >
| > >
| > >
| >
| >
|
|
