Unable to finish reinstalling Windows XP Home Edition

[Guest]

I was having problems with my computer so I thought by reinstallingWindows XP
it would solve it. Now I have a bigger problem. I am stuck in the middle of
installation. A fatal error come on and then the computer restarts and can
not finish installing. When it restarts it's in the same place as before.
There is no button to cancel installation. It's a never ending circle. How
do I fix this?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Bee,

What fatal error? And were you trying to do a new install or a repair
install?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[A/CN-CH_EN]

Recommend reinstall Windows XP Pro in New Installation, don't use Update install.
When setup completed, install WinXP SP2 first.

 

[Guest]

im also having this same problem. after trying to clean my drive with no luck
i tried to repair xp. that failed so i tried to reinstall it. i was getting a
fatal error with syssetup.inf missing or corrupt. now it just reboots at that
point.

 

[Guest]

I'm having a similar problem. I just purchased XP Professional and tried to
do a clean install. During the "Installing Windows" step, if fails with:

"Fatal Error
An error has been encountered that prevents Setup from continuing
Setup failed to install the product catalogs. This is a fatal error. The
setup log should contain more information."

The setup log contains the following:

"ERROR
Installation failed F:\I386\asms. Error Message: The volume for a file has
been externally altered so that the opened file is no longer valid.
Fatal Error.
One of the components that Windows needs to continue setup could no be
installed
The volume for a file has been externally altered so that the opened file is
no longer valid."

The F drive it's referencing is my CD drive containing the XP installation
CD. Does this mean I have a corrupt install disk. It was just purchased
shrink-wrapped from Best Buy.

 

[Guest]

I am having the same problem. Had WP Pro on got a bad virus and used recovery
Cd to re-install. And it asked me for my Product key which is no where. Now
when I re-boot takes me to the same spot asking for install key. Can't i
reverse this installation some how??? Anyone with suggestions?-Lost in install

 

[Ricky]

Did you look on the computer case for the product key?