INstall of XP fails with BSOD on partmgr.sys on disc 6

[Licensed to Quill]

I have given up on trying to get my windows 2000 installation working as I
have changed computers and my new computer won't recognise the 2000 install
so I thought I could install XP from an install disc and boot discs. (I
can't get into windows so obviously I cant run the setup program)

Anyone got any idea why installation of XP from boot discs fails at the end
of disc 6 of the install discs with a BSOD and an error message referring to
something called partmgr.sys? Will it install if I just delete this file
from the hard drive?

FP

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Windows XP Upgrade Advisor
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


|I have given up on trying to get my windows 2000 installation working as I
| have changed computers and my new computer won't recognise the 2000 install
| so I thought I could install XP from an install disc and boot discs. (I
| can't get into windows so obviously I cant run the setup program)
|
| Anyone got any idea why installation of XP from boot discs fails at the end
| of disc 6 of the install discs with a BSOD and an error message referring to
| something called partmgr.sys? Will it install if I just delete this file
| from the hard drive?
|
| FP

 

[Licensed to Quill]

I think I must be missing something here: If am trying to load XP because I
can't boot to windows 2000 because it wont run, is there a trick to
downloading a 50 megabyte file on a computer from which one can barely get
to a dos prompt? Can one get to an internet connection to do this from a
floppy? Are you recommending booting knoppix for example and getting to the
upgrade advisor that way and if so, (I am assuming this although I have
never heard of an MVP recommending someone trying to install XP to use
Linux. Are you really an MVP? Are you SURE that the upgrade advisor will
work from either a floppy or from linux?) does the upgrade process work if
you cant get into windows? I dont wish to criticise and certainly
acknowledge your kind offer of assistance, but aren't there at least two
slightly fatal flaws to your advice? Both specifically mentioned in my
original post?

And I may be exaggerating but you dont seem to address in any way the main
question which concerns this file which XP tell me is causing the BSOD?
You're not in Bangalore are you? Did your advice come out of a script?

FP

 

[Michael Stevens]

I think I must be missing something here: If am trying to load XP because I
can't boot to windows 2000 because it wont run, is there a trick to
downloading a 50 megabyte file on a computer from which one can barely get
to a dos prompt? Can one get to an internet connection to do this from a
floppy? Are you recommending booting knoppix for example and getting to the
upgrade advisor that way and if so, (I am assuming this although I have
never heard of an MVP recommending someone trying to install XP to use
Linux. Are you really an MVP? Are you SURE that the upgrade advisor will
work from either a floppy or from linux?) does the upgrade process work if
you cant get into windows? I dont wish to criticise and certainly
acknowledge your kind offer of assistance, but aren't there at least two
slightly fatal flaws to your advice? Both specifically mentioned in my
original post?

And I may be exaggerating but you dont seem to address in any way the main
question which concerns this file which XP tell me is causing the BSOD?
You're not in Bangalore are you? Did your advice come out of a script?

FP

You don't need the 6 disks. Windows 98/Me startup disk with smartdrv.exe
added is all you need to run setup from MS-DOS, but the XP CD is bootable
which makes using the floppy disk unnecessary anyway.
See the link below for a step by step on clean installing XP from floppy or
booting CD.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
BTW, when the floppy disks fail, it usually due to a bad floppy disk.
Re-make the set of disks if you must use that method.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Licensed to Quill]

Many thanks Michael

I had already tried booting from the CD (and it wouldn't boot) as well as
booting from the setup file on the CD having booted to a dos prompt from a
Millenium boot disc (maybe that disastrous Me system was the problem?) and
I received the error message that this (setup) program can't be run from
DOS: That is why I was trying to install from the 6 floppies which I had
downloaded from bootdisc.com. So I suspected there was something in the MBR
which was preventing me from doing any of this so I ran fdisk /mbr and it
didnt seem to help: I had system commander installed on this hard drive and
uninstalled that so that wasn't the problem. The only diagnostic error
message which I can believe is the one on the BSOD which tells me that there
is something amiss with a file called partmgr.sys which might be causing all
of this so I am wondering if this is a known problem and there is a
workaround anywhere??

I do know that when I installed system commander it also installed partition
manager which only divides partitions and puts swap files in the other
partition (which is a process appropriate to XP as well) so I can't
understand why anything to do with partition manager would prevent (if
necessary) the install proces deciding that the only thing it can do is to
format the hard drive and install from there (I HAD in fact given up on the
idea of upgrading the 2000 OS and thought it would do this anyway)

SO (given that despite having grreat products, V-Com can't afford to support
any product which is any more than ten minutes old) is there anything out
there anywhere which might tell me what on earth this error message which I
presume is stopping XP from loading from DOS means? I know that MS has a
legendarily bad search function which almost always manages to miss the
document you are looking for so I was wondering if any MVP with ACTUAL
access to the knowledge base could find anything relevant to my situation?
Or could this be something in the BIOS or possibly a hard drive problem
beginning to rear its head? the error message did also go on about
disabling DMA access or write access or read ahead caching or something or
other but I never believed any of that when MS says it in such a message.
It just looks too much like send the user on a wild goose chase. I suppose
it might be appropriate if you are installing windows 3.0 on a 200 meg hard
drive with 8 Meg of RAM but otherwise it looks like the sort of stabbing in
the dark which might cause more problems than it could solve.

FP

 

[Michael Stevens]

Many thanks Michael

I had already tried booting from the CD (and it wouldn't boot) as
well as booting from the setup file on the CD having booted to a dos
prompt from a Millenium boot disc (maybe that disastrous Me system
was the problem?) and I received the error message that this (setup)
program can't be run from DOS: That is why I was trying to install
from the 6 floppies which I had downloaded from bootdisc.com. So I
suspected there was something in the MBR which was preventing me from
doing any of this so I ran fdisk /mbr and it didnt seem to help: I
had system commander installed on this hard drive and uninstalled
that so that wasn't the problem. The only diagnostic error message
which I can believe is the one on the BSOD which tells me that there
is something amiss with a file called partmgr.sys which might be
causing all of this so I am wondering if this is a known problem and
there is a workaround anywhere??

I do know that when I installed system commander it also installed
partition manager which only divides partitions and puts swap files
in the other partition (which is a process appropriate to XP as well)
so I can't understand why anything to do with partition manager would
prevent (if necessary) the install proces deciding that the only
thing it can do is to format the hard drive and install from there (I
HAD in fact given up on the idea of upgrading the 2000 OS and thought
it would do this anyway)

SO (given that despite having grreat products, V-Com can't afford to
support any product which is any more than ten minutes old) is there
anything out there anywhere which might tell me what on earth this
error message which I presume is stopping XP from loading from DOS
means? I know that MS has a legendarily bad search function which
almost always manages to miss the document you are looking for so I
was wondering if any MVP with ACTUAL access to the knowledge base
could find anything relevant to my situation? Or could this be
something in the BIOS or possibly a hard drive problem beginning to
rear its head? the error message did also go on about disabling DMA
access or write access or read ahead caching or something or other
but I never believed any of that when MS says it in such a message.
It just looks too much like send the user on a wild goose chase. I
suppose it might be appropriate if you are installing windows 3.0 on
a 200 meg hard drive with 8 Meg of RAM but otherwise it looks like
the sort of stabbing in the dark which might cause more problems
than it could solve.

FP

I couldn't tell from the above, but did you try booting from a Win98/Me
startup disk with smartdrv.exe added and run winnt.exe from the i386 folder?
If you didn't,you should try it.

--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Licensed to Quill]

You don't need the 6 disks. Windows 98/Me startup disk with

"if you must use that method"

OK Michael you were right, if I wanted to achieve that end I shoudl have
listened to you from the outset: It was just that I had started doing an
UPGRADE to obviate having to reinstall my software and I wasnt sure I could
repair that from the floppy with smartdrive method: Eventually however I
decided that this install on a secondary computer on the network wasnt worth
the bother and took your advice and it does seem to be installing

Many thanks

FP

 

[Licensed to Quill]

Yes, just a plethora of error messages: Firstly on putting files on the HDD,
it got to 13% then crashed at some innocuous cursor file

THen it got all the way and on reboot gave the error emssage 0x4,0,0,0,
almost immediately after the blue setup screen opens, then when I tried
executing the optoin of going back to the previous Operating System, it
gives invalid boot disc.

Doesn't seem to make a difference if I run from CD-ROM or from HDD, still
doesnt get very far. (As a fail safe, I installed a spare 2.5 gig hard
drive yesterday just to see if it was something wrong with the CD or the
hardware and formatted the drive NTFS and the install went perfectly. Not
sure what to do next? There ARE three partitions on this HD with the C
being about 2 gig, but as the install process seems to be zutomatically
doing an upgrade install, - or why would there be an option to roll back to
the previous OS?, - having trouble with putting the boot sector or the
master boot record on the HD on which it is installing windows AND screws up
the previous install in the bargain) I can't see that the formatting of the
drive into two or three partitions can be making the difference)

FP