Hi all, I'm looking for some help. I'm in dire need of it.

I'm trying to setup the computer I built. I cannot get the windows XP CD to setup properly. Here are my specs...

Athlon 64 3500+ w/ Zalman 7000a heatsink (& arctic silver)
Asus K8V Deluxe SLI 939 socket motherboard (pci-e, x10 USB ports & Firewire)
160GB SATA Hitachi HD (7200 rpm w/ 8mb cache)
1024 MB DDR400 (pc3200) RAM (2-2-2-5 latency)
16x Lite-on DVD drive
3.5" floppy drive
ThermalTake Viking case 4000BWS w/ dual 120mm fans & variable speed control knobs
OCZ Modstream 450W PSU
Onboard sound & onboard LAN
GeForce 6600GT (x1, pci-e)
Wacom Graphire Tablet 4x5
Dell 20.1" Widescreen monitor (16:10 aspect ratio)
ThermalTake XASER III Red-Silver-Black Keyboard & Mouse

Software:
Windows XP w/SP 2
Adobe Creative Suite 1.3 (includes Adobe Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, GoLive CS, Acrobat Professional)

Well here is a thread that will help you guys see what's been going on.

Ambassador's computer WIP (3 pages)

Anyhow, that thread has all the info on it, but I'll give you a reader's digest version...

I built the computer, and I cant get the stinking Windows XP CD (w/ SP2) to set up on it. The dvd-rom works fine, and so does the floppy drive. When I make my drivers for my SATA hard drive (because for some reason, it doesn't come as default on Windows), it is fine. I use the Asus motherboard CD for that. Then I reboot, and get the winxp cd in, and try to set it up. I press F6 to put in the SATA drivers (btw, it is NOT a RAID array!), and it works fine on some driver setups (I can choose which drivers to use from the Asus motherboard CD), but I think I got the right one to work. I'm not sure though, because in the end, it all crashes and burns to hell.

Then it asks me about formatting my drive (since I've done this so many times, I have to format every time). I format it...

Ok, so that works, so then it starts installing files. Next thing you know (around 40-50%), a file is missing. It asks if I want to retry (like if that ever works), or to skip it, or to get out of the setup. I hit "enter" / continue hoping it's only one file. Well it keeps happening and happening with different files that keep coming up missing. Eventually, it gives me the blue screen of death with a STUPID error warning that it is shutting down my system for its own protection.

It has done this about 10 times that I've tried to install Winblows XP.

I have gone through the BIOS to make sure I'm doing everything right, and I'm pretty sure I am. I have also gone through my Asus manual to make sure I did stuff right. My suspicion is that I'm missing something, or that the hard drive is toast.

What do you all think???

Is that a pirated version of windows cd ????? Pirated win xp does this kind of jokes sometimes.

The way round I have gone is that I've got 5 to 6 cd's of xp sp1 and sp2 ... when one gives an error .. I insert the other one ... and that keeps the windows alive.

Thanks for the reply.

I own legitimate copies (that I know of) of the Windows XP. They all have their holograms and little product keys. Yesterday I called Microsoft to see if they would help me out and I gave them my product key. They didn't say anything about it being an illegal copy, so I assume it's legit. They said they couldn't help me because I had the OEM version and not the retail. The retail comes with Tech Support and the OEM version does not.

Also, I have an older Windows XP (w/ SP1, still legitimate OEM also), and it does the exact same thing. I have a feeling it is a RAM issue or a HD issue. Point is, a hardware issue. I'm pretty sure I've done everything right on the BIOS, and I've played around with it so much I had to set it back to defaults just so I can start all over again.

Also, I found the right drivers, and I get passed that everytime. But the missing file problem still occurs, and I might even get to reboot to continue the Windows XP installation. I even get to see the Windows XP logo on my machine. Then on the next phase, it burns to hell and I have to start all over again.

This happened to me over the weekend upgrading a clients machine from windows 98 to xp home. I installed an replaced his internal cd player with another one i had at home and it worked fine. It is worth a shot anyway.

Rsch3442
User Support Tech II