[Error] WinXP - winnt.exe - several files not found when installing

[footswitch]

EDIT: For possible problem and its solution read below this post: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...st&p=692602

Hello there, guys. I'm kind of lost here so I'm really needing some support

Description of the conditions (if you want to see the problem itself, scroll down):

I have an old laptop which has no CD-ROM drive and no floppy drive, so there's no option to boot from an external source.

It has Windows 98 installed and I want to install Windows XP without removing Windows 98.

-The hard disk has two partitions: one (2GB FAT) with Windows 98 and Windows XP installer folder (i386), and the other one (50GB NTFS) is empty; there's where I want to install Windows XP.

The Windows XP installer folder I'm using is from an unattended CD, full of updates and some extras. Most of it was made with nLite.

The CD works perfectly well if booted directly from it.

Description of the problem itself:

- Remember I'm using an edited installation folder.

Scenario 1 - Trying to install from i386 folder in DOS:

- So I boot up to Windows 98's DOS, enter the i386 folder and run winnt.exe.

- The XP installer copies some initial files...

- After a while, an error pops up saying it couldn't copy a certain file.

Scenario 2 - Trying to install from i386 folder in Windows 98:

- I open Windows Explorer, go to i386 folder and run winnt32.exe

- The XP installer copies some initial files and then restarts the computer

- It boots to the same installer as if I ran it directly from DOS and eventually the file copy errors appear.

If I choose to ignore the file, lots of file copy errors keep coming up.

EDIT: YES, my i386 folder is exactly equal to the one in the CD (MD5 hash check)

So... Does anybody knows the solution for this? Should winnt.exe be ran with certain inicialization parameters?

Thanks in advance for your time and support.

Regards,

footswitch

Edited September 12, 2007 by footswitch

[footswitch]

Possible hint: Does this have anything to do with DOSNET.INF or TXTSETUP.SIF? Could I edit them in any way that would solve the problem?

...

Both files have this last line:

; Customized by nLite - www.nliteos.com

[IcemanND]

did you remove anyhting when you created the cd with nLite?

[footswitch]

did you remove anyhting when you created the cd with nLite?

I didn't make the CD myself, but...

The CD works perfectly well if booted directly from it.

nLite seems to have been used only for splistreaming updates.

[footswitch]

Currently investigating and testing MS' KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931532

(Error message when you start Windows XP unattended Setup by using Winnt.exe together with the /2 option: "Setup was unable to copy the following file: <FileName>")

[slipk487]

is there a svcpack folder or anyother files/folders that the setup could be refering to that are not in the i386 folder.

Edited September 11, 2007 by slipk487

[footswitch]

is there a svcpack folder or anyother files/folders that the setup could be refering to that are not in the i386 folder.

I'm not sure if I fully understood your question, but all the installation items are located in i386 and its subfolders.

[slipk487]

what im saying is on your cd is there any other files/folders that are on the cd that you dont have in the same directoy with i386. also i rembered that the svcpack is in the i386 folder. but do you have anyother folders like an oem or $oem$ that might contain files that would be copyed to the hard drive.

[footswitch]

what im saying is on your cd is there any other files/folders that are on the cd that you dont have in the same directoy with i386. also i rembered that the svcpack is in the i386 folder. but do you have anyother folders like an oem or $oem$ that might contain files that would be copyed to the hard drive.

Then I understood you. All the installation items are located in i386 and its subfolders.

[footswitch]

Currently investigating and testing MS' KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931532

(Error message when you start Windows XP unattended Setup by using Winnt.exe together with the /2 option: "Setup was unable to copy the following file: <FileName>")

Modified winnt.exe doesn't solve the issue.

I wrote down the names of some of the missing files, and they are part of the [Files] section in dosnet.inf, just like thousands of others.

I just can't figure out why these files are producing errors, and the rest isn't.

Even in the i386 folder, those files exist (name.ex_)

Note: most of those files have a .mui extension (like file.xxx.mui), but not all of them...

Some of the files:

admparse.dll.mui

advpack.dll.mui

custsatnd.dll

extmgr.dll.mui

hmmapi.dll.mui

html.iec.mui

icardie.dll.mui

(...)

[IcemanND]

Just because it boots and works does not indicate that it will work for an install from an OS. There are options within nLite to remove the ability to install from within another OS.

[footswitch]

Just because it boots and works does not indicate that it will work for an install from an OS. There are options within nLite to remove the ability to install from within another OS.

Cool. What about making it work from within another OS? Any suggestions?

EDIT: I don't want to offend anybody. It's just that my problem is still going on since last week. This is really frustrating...

Edited September 12, 2007 by footswitch

[Ponch]

I have an old laptop which has no CD-ROM drive and no floppy drive

So you tested your install CD on an other PC but maybe files needed to install your notebook are not on the cd and thus not on the (MD5 checked directory) hard disk. + I don't think Winnt32 is inteded to be started under Win98 (could be wrong here but I think I have a point in my first statement ).

[footswitch]

I have an old laptop which has no CD-ROM drive and no floppy drive

So you tested your install CD on an other PC but maybe files needed to install your notebook are not on the cd and thus not on the (MD5 checked directory) hard disk. + I don't think Winnt32 is inteded to be started under Win98 (could be wrong here but I think I have a point in my first statement ).

Well...

a ) all the files that the installer says it cannot copy ARE THERE.

b ) these files (.mui) don't exist in an original release (one without slipstreaming stuff)

c ) the other PC that i've tested is also a notebook, and please notice: if I boot (from the CD) in another PC and pass the file copying stages, then move the hard-disk to any other PC (before booting from the HDD after a restart), the rest of the install process goes well.

EDIT1: yes, winnt32 is made to be run from within a 32-bit OS.

EDIT2: no, I cannot perform step c) for my case, because I want to keep Windows 98 in order to be able to do a fresh install of Windows XP "anytime I want", without having to "open the laptop, remove the HD, perform the first steps in another computer, place the HD back on the laptop..."

EDIT3: Third case scenario:

Use a virtual machine.

- Boot to MS-DOS with CD-ROM support with Win98 CD

- Insert the Windows XP CD

- cd i386 (enter)

- winnt (enter)

- file copy process begins... copies some files... after a while:

- cannot copy file x... ESC... a little more files copied and... cannot copy file y...

So now I'm doing this directly from the CD and the same problem occurs.

Now if I boot directly with Windows XP CD in that virtual machine... once again, all goes well.

Edited September 12, 2007 by footswitch

[footswitch]

Hm...

[Data]

MsDosInitiated=0

And MAYBE... just MAYBE it's because MS-DOS only supports the old 8.3 file names... (FOOTSW~1.DOC instead of footswitch.doc)

'Cause I just realised that the errors ONLY occur with files that don't obey to that rule

EDIT: Changing MsDosInitiated to 1 doesn't change anything.

So... any hints on how to solve this?

Edited September 12, 2007 by footswitch