Takeshi

Do not use qchain if it's XP SP2.

Very helpful, mazin! Using those switches, is it necessary to create the custom install directories separately first?

Logically speaking it doesn't look like the router is to blame. If you're using wireless, then see what happens with wired. It could be your computer's NIC card/port/cable/driver etc. Is this problem related to XP? Shouldn't this be in the Networks, Internet & Security forum?

1. Forget about qchain!!! You no longer need it for XP SP2 onwards. The error arises because the qchain you downloaded should have been extracted first. This has been discussed recently in the UA Windows forum, where this post should belong to. 2. You didn't say WHERE to put the icons. 3. There is the application install forum...

I'd prefer examining the individual keys as outlined by Sonic and delete the relevant offending key. No need to use any tool to do this simple task really. I call it the minimalist approach. This way you would actually learn more about where the problem lies exactly, otherwise you're none the wiser next time.

I'd say it's BIOS. If you were ghosting then I'd say HAL. If Setup doesn't detect an ACPI it might just install a Standard PC HAL. Which option did you choose in the end?

It's easy to change the default prog file dir but it's not what you want as you want three different locations. Creating the three folder locations is not a problem using the $OEM$ folder structure. Not all applications ask you for the locations: it depends on how they're written and packaged. I think you'd need to re-package the programs or perhaps use AutoIt pointing to the desired locations. Someone might be able to help you to do this.

You haven't told us what the USB drive is, is it an ext. HD, or optical drive or memory stick. You haven't said either how you copy the files, in Explorer, using cmd commands or what. And how about trying the same in another computer or using another ext. drive? Whatever the cause is, it's not NTFS permissions.

There're registry keys to change if you want to change the drive letter of the OS drive (there's a KB on this) and PM is not the tool to do it safely. Also the page file location might be wrong. It might be possible to fix these but TBH it'd be quicker to repair or reinstall.

The files in svcpack are not yet truly incorporated in the source. They're there waiting to be executed during Setup. That's the whole point. And they're uncompressed. That's why people might choose to use update packs or HFSLIP. You don't have to use these if you know how to compress them and overwrite the original files yourself.

I'm not trying to get at anybody. I'm only always trying to examine a problem critically and home in to the crux of the problem and thereby advising others to fix it when possible. I managed to reproduce the error by logging on using the Administrator account in normal mode in XP HE and it's exactly what the KB described. I remember doing it before but I repeated it just to confirm. Windows often shows error messages and they often have multiple causes. The error messages are only a final common pathway. Sometimes they're even misleading. The problem in this thread is one example.

Would you mind telling us if it's an OEM CD used in another make of laptop and what partitions are there etc.?

To install programs to locations other than the default program files directory, it depends on the prog and installer how you change it. The Start Menu > All Programs list is just a list of shortcuts from the Startup directory.

Here I'm not against using nLite by any means, but you should try to understand what goes on behind the scene as well. These don't match, do they?

It's all been covered in the Unattended Windows forum. Possiblities: update pack (compressed) HFSLIP slimming source 2nd CD DVD

Please search INF in the Unattended Windows forum...

Looking at it from another angle, why don't you disable fast user switching, or why not just shutdown the PC before you sleep?

Try this: InputLocale=1009:1009,0c0c:11009 My txtsetup.sif doesn't have a [Keyboard Layout] section, that's why I asked. SystemLocale=1009 should take care of date formatting for Canada. The localID reference on MS website is not exhaustive. You might like to experiment a bit more. But keep it as simple as possible.

Your user profile might be corrupt or the computer might have been compromised.

The KB you posted is about: The one I posted is about: The error message might be the same or similar but that doesn't prove anything. Other forum members can judge which one best describes the problem in this thread.

Try omitting Keyboardlayout and you can stop EN US from installing: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=62785 You don't need LanguageGroup=1,2,3,4,5,6. LanguageGroup=1 should suffice. Why would you want English (Canada) - US and not just English (Canada)? Is there any difference? The ref.chm only mentions KeyboardLayout = Us, do you have a reference for the others?

It's NOT the same link. Yours is KB303846. Mine is KB290109. Are you saying it's the same article? If he will not try Safe Mode then frankly I've been wasting my time.

It's more like what's described in this KB, which is entirely consistent with what I said before. I said to logon in Safe Mode but from your replies so far it doesn't seem you or whoever the computer belongs to has tried it. On top of that, it's not your computer and from what you said, you're not entirely sure what is happening either. This makes it even more difficult for us here to try to help. Things just don't quite add up. Perhaps there's something else going on that you or we don't know about. With due respect, I really think it would help if you actually go and see the exact error message or determine what else happened. Otherwise we're left guessing what really is going on.

File copying error is usually a hardware problem.

He's installing Win 2000.