Hi, I'm new to this site and its my first post.
I'm having problems installing win xp home sp2 on an AMD computer. The computer was running xp when it was bought and now i can only install win98! Usually i manage to trouble shoot problems myself but this has got me stumped...
When installing xp, it copies the set up files, starts to install and then i get an error message. The messages vary depending where in the installation it stops but they generally say there is a corrupt file like .sif.
Ive tried having it connected to the net while installing and removing peripheral devices incase of conflicts etc but to no success.
I don't have the spec with me but it is about a 2ghz AMD with 512mb ram 80gb hd.
I've never owned and amd and so i don't know if i'm missing some install procedure... can anyone help me please!!

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How many partitions do you have? What kind of Partition do you have (NTFS or FAT32)?

Try to make 2 partions, before installing try do a full format.

make sure the install disk is not dirty or damaged ,maybe borrow a xp from a friend

Hi, In response to your replies, i have reformatted the drive each attempt and created one primary(active) partition. I've used Fat32/Ntfs file systems accordingly without any success. It has on 2 occasions almost completed the installation (bringing me within the last 1-2minutes of the finalisation) but then i get a message 'cannot complete installation due to a corrupt file..' If i remember correctly the system then shuts down via the blue screen. however i'm not 100% as its at my parents & i'm not there for another week........

I would really like to resolve this so if any one can help please post!! Many Thanx

my opinion is its either a bad install disk or the harddrive has issues ,when boot to the xp cd next time do a R instead of install ,and go to the recovery console and do a CHKDSK /f at the prompt

This shortcut to thread i found shows the same problem in detail including error messages. Please have a look at this thread as it might paint a clearer picture..

Thanx for advice so far i will try these and let you know

good link ,but it just says some of the same things im saying

I would go with corrupted Disk. Make sure the disk isn't scratched.

at last i've got to try installing xp again and i've tried 3 x xp original disks, 2x home , 1 x professional. On each install attempt i'm getting a message saying "cannot install file *.*. File setup placed on hard drive is not a valid winxp system image" I need help please!!

Here are some other suggestions you can try.
- If it stops by giving a blue screen then there is high posibility that some H/W is causing problem.
- See if you can remove any additional H/W like a additional graphics card or an additional sound card. Personally i dont prefer AMD's.
- Disconnect all external USB devices.
- Try to replace you CD/DVD ROM

Let me know

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