uhh, having a serious problem installing windows...

FroGGer

I haven't been on for a while, havent' even had time to read up on computers and the new technologies so I have to catch up though. I have a problem though, I built a computer for a friend of mine about a year and a half ago and he messed it up pretty bad. I ran a spyware scan and found 800 spyware with adware se alone. After unsuccessfully trying to remove the viruses he had, including Trojan.Cachecachekit, w32.Randex, W32.Yimper, Trojan Horse, Trojan. ISTsvc, and W32.Allim, I decided to reformat. Well, I ran into another problem after I go through the blue setup screens and all that, and the computer reboots into the windows installation I get the following message:

Manifest Parse Error: Invalid at the top level of the document.
Error: sxs.dll: syntax error in manifest or policy file D:\I386\asms\6000\MSFT\\WINDOWS\common\controls\controls.man
on line 0
One of the components windows needs to continue setup could not be installed.

OK, so obviously a component of windows couldn't be installed, but why??
The disk is fine, could there be some faulty hardware damaged by the viruses? I can't figure this one out. I've ran the setup 3 times and I get the message every time.

Thanks in advance
_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

Google · Sponsor

Zerebro · TweakNOOB Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 39 Location: Iceland

1. Check that all wires and components are connected corectly.

2. Try another OS disk (If you have one or can get hold of one)

3.1. Try formatting the HDD with a Floopy Boot disk
3.2. After format try installing OS again.

4. Good luck

_________________
CM Stacker - ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 Sli - AMD64 3500+ - 1GB PC-3200 DUAL - eVGA GeForce7800GT - SB Fatal1ty - 2x200GB 1x250GB Segate.

Xal · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:28 am Post subject:

Make sure you format then switch off the machine and unplug it from the power, you can even remove the cmos battery. Leave it off and unplugged for about 5 mins then put the battery back, fire it up and try install again. If this does not solve your problem then the viruses had nothing to do with the issue

To my knowledge there is no virus that can write to the BIOS (at least I have never come accross any). It could only be memory resident and loading from the boot sector of the hard disk.

Good luck.
_________________
Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

FroGGer · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:44 am Post subject:

I tried another OS disk to no avail,
How would I format using a floppy boot disk?
I haven't done it in windows xp.
_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

2old2care · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:03 am Post subject:

First of all, when you re-do a format such as this, you should really delete all partitions and repartition the drive. This will force the mbr to be re-written. There are utilities to do this, but XP's boot CD also will let you delete and create partitions. Just delete all the partitions, then power off like Xal said then go back and re-create them. This forces windows to re-write the record.

BUT...more likely (in my experience) this is a hardware problem. Typically an undervoltage dimm or cpu, or a bad stick-o-memory. So the first thing to do is clear cmos, check all bios settings for correctness, and run memtest for a while. If all goes well, then reload windows. If not trouble shoot the problem up front, it will save a lot of headaches later on.
_________________
.
Liquid-Cooled Q9450 and an EeePC
.

FroGGer · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:05 am Post subject:

I of course deleted the existing partitions and re-created them, everytime
_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

Load bios defaults (provided his/her chip will run like that, dont know if AMD or P4)......leave one stick of mem in, and try again......

making a 98se boot disk isnt a bad idea either....go to www.bootdisk.com and follow directions there....with that disk you can boot to DOS off the disk, run "fdisk" and format and partition the drive in DOS....then start over with your windows install....wipe that drive.
_________________

FroGGer · Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:22 pm Post subject:

Ok, I'll try that tonight after work.
_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

Fitz Goran · TweakNOOB Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 53

I would guess your installation media has a defect.

FroGGer · Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:57 pm Post subject:

Ok, so I removed one stick of memory tried to install, didn't work. then I put the other memory stick in alone and same error message came up. Then I thought it might be the cd-rom drive? so I had a spare dvd rom laying around I installed that disconnecting the two in teh computer and the same error message came up. The only thing I didn't do is reformat and try to install using the boot disk. I have no freakin' idea what's going on, does this give anyone any more clues. Oh yeah, I tried the install with two different windows xp disks.
_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

dude...you HAVE to format....

what exactly do you mean by "didnt work"? more specifics....no bios? no boot options? does it boot to cd? does it fail along the way? whats the error message?

you get the point....

_________________

2old2care · Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:10 pm Post subject:

Has it passed memtest?

http://www.memtest86.com/
_________________
.
Liquid-Cooled Q9450 and an EeePC
.

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/15875/?o=20

http://www.ntcompatible.com/Error_in_installation_of_XP_t18415.html

here are some other threads that might help......

....the board an MSI board? =P
_________________

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

Clean the install disc.
_________________
Owner & Administrator
www.Tweaknews.net
www.Pocketbookpinch.com

Zerebro · TweakNOOB Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 39 Location: Iceland

sickofsoyo · Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:17 pm Post subject:

Is there a virus that can inbed itself in the ram? I thought I heard about a virus doing that. Maybe that could be the problem? I would also try to install windows with minimal hardware... IE 1 cdrom, 1 hdd, vid card, mobo + proc and PSU and disconnect any unneeded fans and hdds, 1 stick o ram.
_________________
P4 3.2ghz
lanparty pro875b
Enermax Liberty 500 Watt Modular PSU
Sony 52X CD-RW
Samsung 120gig SATA hdd
Maxtor 100gig SATA hdd
Powmax Demon case
ATI X800 XL AIW, 525 Core, 525 mem
Creative X-Fi Platinum
PDP systems Patriot Ram 2,3,2,5 timings

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Nah, a RAM virus is impossible. RAM is volatile flash memory, basically...........once the power is cut off, any data in the RAM goes *poof*. There's no way for a virus to "lodge" iteself into the RAM.

I'm thinking you have a hardware problem. Either a failing HDD, or I've seen this happen with a failing mobo as well.
_________________
Big enough to scare you

FroGGer · Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:34 pm Post subject:

Is there a way to check if the mobo is failing? All seems fine. Can a virus damage a motherboard? The computer is only a year and a half old. I know sometimes hardware fails prematurely, but I hope that's not the case.
_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

did you read those links i posted?
_________________

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

FroGGer · Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:15 am Post subject:

OK, I got it working. I haven't had a lot of time and last night was the first time I got to it in a week. As per TH's links, I disabled all the caching options and things like that. In addition, I also reset the CMOS and I got it working. WE'll see what happens after I install the software. For now, all is good.
Thanks a lot guys.

_________________
ABIT IC7 MAX 3, Corsair PC4000 Pro, P4 2.6C @3.23 GHz 1:1, 2.5-4-4-7, 2 WD Raptors in RAID 0

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

let us know it working!!!

Glad to help!
_________________

polio · TweakNOOB Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 35

having the same problem, windows wont install because it can load a file (not always the same one), sometimes it does install but then it is very unstable and hangs frequently. have tried 3 different win xp cds and same problem.
and these cds work fine on other comps

i just bought my comp and i think it might be a faulty HD or RAM.
sometimes win setup says ur hard disk is damaged and sometimes it doesnt.
im gonna try to exchange the ram and HD today and see if that helps.

i read the threads in the links above. it seems newer mobos have feature not compatible with win xp installer and u have to disable.

can u tell me how u disabled the caching on the mobo and solved ur problem?
thx
_________________
AMD64 X2 4200 SAM2, ASUS M2N-E, 4x1GB Transcend 800MHz, 2x Seagate 160GB SATA2 8MB 7200rpm, XFX 7600GT 256MB, LG 18X DVDR, Gigabyte Triton case, Zalman 450W PSU, BENQ 22in widescreen 5ms, Samsung 46" LCD Full HD, Philips Home theater

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

It might also be the optical drive failing you.

Have your cleaned it lately?
_________________
Owner & Administrator
www.Tweaknews.net
www.Pocketbookpinch.com

polio · TweakNOOB Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 35

its new but i will try

when i did install windows those times that it did work, i also installed office 2003, halo, counter strike etc, + tons of other programs and they all worked fine. that made me think its not the optical drive itself

any other ideas anyone?
_________________
AMD64 X2 4200 SAM2, ASUS M2N-E, 4x1GB Transcend 800MHz, 2x Seagate 160GB SATA2 8MB 7200rpm, XFX 7600GT 256MB, LG 18X DVDR, Gigabyte Triton case, Zalman 450W PSU, BENQ 22in widescreen 5ms, Samsung 46" LCD Full HD, Philips Home theater