WinXP Clean Install - "File XXXXX is not a valid system image"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Barry Seymour
  • Start date Start date
B

Barry Seymour

I'm trying to install WinXPpro on a clean PII 350 PC so my daughter can play
games. After formatting the hard drive, installation commences to copy
files. I then get error messages to the effect that "File XXXX copied to the
hard drive is not a valid system image." Retry doesn't work, and of course
skipping the file(s) won't help either.

I have swapped out the CD ROM, the memory chips, even bought a new hard
drive. I get this with both of the two CDs of WinXP Pro I have.

Anyone have any idea why this is happening? I hope it's not the
motherboard...

Possible technical causes:

- Using 3 of the four available memory slots on this Asus motherboard circa
1998. 384mb ram.
- Brand new 20gb hard disk
- Hitachi CD ROM drive

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance...
 
Barry;
Possibly a bad memory stick.
Remove memory making sure to stay above Windows XP 64mb minimum.
Reseat all cables and cards.
Swap IDE cables.
 
Windows xp will run on 64mb? Wow. I'll try your suggestions, thanks. I think
I also have another set of drive cables I can try.
 
Barry;
Windows XP will run on 64MB...barely.
This was a troubleshooting suggestion only.
If a bad stick of memory causes this problem, it will go away when bad
stick is removed, performance may be less than desired.
250MB or more is a realistic minimum.
 
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