Programs won't install

[Jack Gruschow]

I have a P4 3.01 with 1024 megs ram.
My problem started when I tried to install MS flight simulator 2004. Program
would not in stall. It stopped in varios places with the message " unable to
copy msgameX.cab." As a last resort I reformatted my hard disk and
reinstalled Win XP home. Still got the same from MS flight.
BUT now I find I can't install other programs. Norton A/V 2003 tells me I
have a corrupted CAB1. MS office xp can not copy from cab1.
With all three I have tried copying the CD to my hard drive and installing
from there. But exactly the same result.
Other smaller programs have installed OK. So I don't suspect CD drive. NAV
and Office were both installed on my comp before andno problems.
Why,all of a sudden, can't I install cab files.
I have 70 megs of ram free on hard disk and swap file size is 2 gigs.

Jack Gruschow

 

[Kevin]

Why, in the name of all that is bright and beautiful, would you reformat
your hard drive because you can't install a game? I don't understand that
at all! With a gigabyte of RAM only having 70 MB free is asking for
trouble. This is, I am assuming, a mistake in your typing. A swap file of
2 GB is ridiculous! Change that swap file size to about 500 to 750 MB
instead. No, wait . . . better still, get your XP install disk out and try
this all again. This time, just format and install XP to start with. Then
download and install all of the critical updates from the Windows Update
site. Then, and only then, start to install your other applications and
games. Get your Office software installed and running before moving on. It
is much more important than any game. Don't forget to enable the Windows
Internet Firewall immediately after installing XP and before connecting your
machine to the internet. You can install your Norton software later, after
the critical updates. Try this approach and see what happens.