Windows XP installation disk gone bad?

[Jonathan Sachs]

I'm trying to reinstall Windows from my Windows XP installation DVD.
It's not working. Windows boots from the DVD, then tells me that I
need to put the DVD in the drive -- even though it is already there.
Removing and replacing the DVD, jiggling it, cleaning it, etc., have
had no effect.

I've tried this with two different DVD drives (a brand-new internal
drive and an older external drive which I have no reason to be
suspicious of), so I'm pretty confident the drive is not the problem.

That seems to be the only the disk, but all the system's other
hardware is the same, and I'm concerned that something less obvious
might be wrong.

Three questions.

First, is there any other component of my system that might plausibly
be responsible for the failure to read the DVD?

Second, if the DVD is at fault, is there anything else I can try to
make the computer read it?

Third, if not, is there any way I can get it replaced -- preferably
quickly?

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

I should add a couple of more notes to this post.

First, the installation disk that I may need to replace is a Microsoft
disk, not one obtained with the computer from a system vendor.

Second, I am able to boot other disks successfully from both DVD
drives. All of them are CDs, though -- I don't think I have any other
bootable DVDs that I could try.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm trying to reinstall Windows from my Windows XP installation DVD.

I think you mean CD, but no matter.

It's not working. Windows boots from the DVD, then tells me that I
need to put the DVD in the drive -- even though it is already there.
Removing and replacing the DVD, jiggling it, cleaning it, etc., have
had no effect.

I've tried this with two different DVD drives (a brand-new internal
drive and an older external drive which I have no reason to be
suspicious of), so I'm pretty confident the drive is not the problem.

That seems to be the only the disk, but all the system's other
hardware is the same, and I'm concerned that something less obvious
might be wrong.

Three questions.

First, is there any other component of my system that might plausibly
be responsible for the failure to read the DVD?

Second, if the DVD is at fault, is there anything else I can try to
make the computer read it?

Third, if not, is there any way I can get it replaced -- preferably
quickly?

If it was a retail license and you have proof of purchase:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;326246

If it was an OEM license, you should contact the computer's
manufacturer.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[JCO]

Have you tried to copy the content of the DVD to your harddrive? If
everything copies to a folder then you may be able to burn that to another
CD. You obviously need to do that on another computer but it will tell you
if you have a bad spot on the DVD.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

I think you mean CD, but no matter.

That's correct. I assumed it was a DVD because I didn't realize that
CDs could have the holographic imprinting that Microsoft uses.

Have you tried to copy the content of the DVD to your harddrive? If
everything copies to a folder then you may be able to burn that to another
CD. You obviously need to do that on another computer but it will tell you
if you have a bad spot on the DVD.

That occurred to me after I posted the original message. Rather than
copy the CD to the hard disk (which would not copy the boot track...
would it?) I copied directly to another CD using Nero's disk copy
function. According to Nero, I got a perfect copy; no errors.

And when I tried to install from the copy, I got exactly the same
thing as i did with the original disk.

This makes me suspect that the CD is NOT bad. Something else is
wrong. But what could it be?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

That occurred to me after I posted the original message. Rather than
copy the CD to the hard disk (which would not copy the boot track...
would it?) I copied directly to another CD using Nero's disk copy
function. According to Nero, I got a perfect copy; no errors.

And when I tried to install from the copy, I got exactly the same
thing as i did with the original disk.

This makes me suspect that the CD is NOT bad. Something else is
wrong.

How did you come to that conclusion? A perfect copy of a defective CD
would also be defective, in exactly the same way.

But what could it be?

Based on everything you've told us, it really can't be anything but a
defective CD.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

How did you come to that conclusion? A perfect copy of a defective CD
would also be defective, in exactly the same way.

Have you experienced this? Disk recording technology is designed to
detect errors (and correct them where possible), and because CDs are
physically vulnerable, their error checking features are very
extensive.

I'd be surprised to learn that CDs are more prone to undetected read
errors than hard disks, floppies, or tape, and in over twenty-five
years of using personal computers, I've never encountered one on any
of those media.

I'm not ruling anything out, but at this point I'd need some more
information to accept "bad disk" as the most probable cause.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

I'm not ruling anything out, but at this point I'd need some more
information to accept "bad disk" as the most probable cause.

Here's a way I could get more information. If someone has the same
edition of WinXP as I do, we could run CRCs on our disks to see if
they are the same.

I found a utility at http://www.brandonstaggs.com/filecheckmd5/ that
looks suitable, but I'd be happy to use anything that comes
recommended.

My version of WinXP is "Windows XP Professional Version 2002."

 

[MAP]

Third, if not, is there any way I can get it replaced -- preferably
quickly?

Use a friends cd with your lic. key.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

Use a friends cd with your lic. key.

If only! All of my friends who might have one live a couple of
thousand miles away, and borrowing a Windows CD by mail seems like a
little too much to ask. I'll have to buy one if I need one, so I'd
like to be sure I need one first.

Another possible cause of the problem occurred to me: the alternate
directory I'm trying to install to is far enough from the start of the
drive that PartitionMagic says it won't be bootable. I discounted
that warning because I know it's not always true, and this partition
_used_ to be bootable. But I've eliminated all of the causes that
seemed probable, and I think that this one seems as likely as a bad
CD.

Unfortunately, to test this theory I will have to install over my one
usable system partition (not likely) or buy a new hard disk. I'm
inclined to buy a new disk tomorrow and give it a try. Unlike a new
Windows installation disk, a bigger, faster hard drive will be useful
even if it doesn't solve the immediate problem.

 

[Andy]

I'm trying to reinstall Windows from my Windows XP installation DVD.
It's not working. Windows boots from the DVD, then tells me that I
need to put the DVD in the drive -- even though it is already there.

At what specific point during Setup do you get this message? What kind
of interface does the DVD drive have and to what interface on the
motherboard is it connected? Depending on what the specific error
message is, the solution may be that a device driver for the DVD drive
interface on the motherboard may have to be loaded.

 

[PaulM]

You mean CD not DVD. Windows XP is not on a DVD.

How to replace Microsoft software or hardware, order service packs and
product upgrades, and replace product manuals

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;326246

--

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

At what specific point during Setup do you get this message? What kind
of interface does the DVD drive have and to what interface on the
motherboard is it connected? Depending on what the specific error
message is, the solution may be that a device driver for the DVD drive
interface on the motherboard may have to be loaded.

The message occurs shortly after I accept the license terms. I can
check the exact spot if you think it's important, but I should
emphasize that I have installed Windows on this computer from this CD
several times before, so it seems unlikely to me that the CD is
missing a driver now.

The drive has an EIDE interface, and it's attached as a master to one
of the motherboard's EIDE connectors. (Am I missing something in the
last part of your question? It seems redundant to say that a
[whatever] device is attached to the motherboard's [whatever]
interface.)

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

How to replace Microsoft software or hardware, order service packs and
product upgrades, and replace product manuals

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;326246

Thank you... that will be useful if the CD turns out to be the
problem.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

The reason why the Windows CD said it couldn't read a file turned out
to be that Windows isn't relocatable. I hoped that I could move a
copy of Windows from the disk's first partition to the second
partition and boot it if I hid the first partition, so that the second
partition was the first un-hidden one. Not so, and I got a misleading
message for my trouble.

Once I copied the Windows partition to the first partition on my new
disk, the Windows CD liked it just fine.

But more weirdness happened later in the installation process. After
the CD loaded all of the files, asked me a couple of questions about
configuration, and prompted me for the serial number, it hung
somewhere in the middle of the "installing network" stage. "Hung"
means that it periodically changed the information screens that it
displays for the user's entertainment, and flashed the disk select
light occasionally, but the completion indicator ceased to advance,
and the "nn minutes left" message ceased to count down. (I let it run
for hours to be absolutely sure.)

I tried rebooting and found myself at an earlier point in the install,
shortly before the prompt for the serial number. The installer
progressed to the same point as before and hung again.

Next I'm going to try installing a fresh copy of Windows and running
the Files and Settings Transfer wizard to move my applications and so
forth from the old system to the new one. (I think the wizard is
supposed to move applications -- the documentation is typically
vague.) But I'm also interested in any ideas people may have about
what happened to the repair.