Windows XP / nLite question

[stevie_b]

Following on from this thread, I've bought a couple of copies of WinXP Pro on an OEM license.

 

I'm trying to customise the installer using nLite. Has anyone else on here successfully customised an OEM version (i.e. not the full retail version) of XP using nLite (or any similar application)? The problem I'm having is that my CD drives can't read the CD when in Windows, but I can boot up the PC using the CD (it starts the winxp installation process, but I aborted for obvious reasons before it gets to write anything to the hard disk). See post 54 in the other thread for all the gory details, but I've pretty much ruled out the cause of this being a faulty CD drive. It's as if the CD is manufactured in such a way that prevents it from being read from within an existing copy of Windows. Is this possible?

 

I haven't tried reading the CD from Linux: I could try that next, but I don't know what I'd do about it even if that works. Make a copy I guess...

[NeoFuture]

stevie check out the eee pc installer for windows xp ill try and find the link allows you to install on a flash drive, great for tweeking with nlite cause you can kee changing the install !!

[NeoFuture]

http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:nlitexp

[stevie_b]

Thanks for the reply. I don't think that would work though, because it would fail at step 5 ("Create a folder and copy the XP installation files (everything) from CD to that folder.") The WinXP I already have installed on my PC won't, for some weird reason, read the WinXP installation CD I've purchased. It spins up but eventually reports a "data error (cyclic redundancy check)". Therein lies the problem: I can't read the CD from within XP, so I can't customise the XP installer.

 

What I'm trying to work out is whether it's supposed to be that\way, or whether there could be a fault with the WinXP installation CD I bought. Bear in mind that I bought two installation CDs, and they both exhibit exactly the same issues/problems.

 

Any ideas?

[NeoFuture]

you have a legit cd, you have a lisence key, therefore you can legally copy that cd to your pc, how you do that is your choice, be if from one of the more popular file sharing sites, as long as you are lisenced you are not doing anything wrong

[Konrad]

 

Any ideas?

 

Yes, change CD drive. It doesn't matter what CD you have, you can burn copy downloaded from torrent etc. Licence key is important, nothing else.

[Digsy]

Steve, did you buy yours from "softdvd1"? If so then I also have two copies. I'll check them out tonight to see if I can read the disk at the file level from inside Windows.

[stevie_b]

Yes, change CD drive. It doesn't matter what CD you have, you can burn copy downloaded from torrent etc. Licence key is important, nothing else.

 

I've already tried that. I've tried the CDs in 3 different CD ROM drives. One of them is a relatively new DVD Rewriter drive that is supposed to read just about anything. One of the 3 drives is on a different PC altogether, just so I could eliminate potential problems with RAM or motherboard issues!

 

To recap, here's what I've done so far:

1) Bought 2 copies of WinXP, both of which exhibit exactly the same symptoms as described below. This last bit kind of rules out any one-off fault with the CD (e.g. scratched CD). Both CDs appear to be in brand new condition, with no scratches at all.

2) The CDs appear to be 100% genuine: they have holographic labels, and come with a WinXP booklet and Authentication key.

3) I've tried reading the CDs in 3 different CD ROM drives across 2 different computers. All the drives report the same error. This makes a fault with the CD-ROM drives (or any other hardware fault, e.g. dodgy RAM) highly unlikely.

4) Immediately after I tried reading one of the CDs, I tried reading a different software CD I have. This was read perfectly first time. This reinforces the view that the hardware isn't at fault.

5) I can boot up one (possibly both, I haven't tried the other one yet) of the PCs using either CD. It runs through the WinXP setup process as normal. I had to abort it before it actually installed anything, but this indicates that the CDs are OK.

 

I've been using IT for many years, and I've only come across one other such occasion like this: on a completely different PC, I tried reading a CD from a magazine cover in Windows 98 (that dates it for you!). I couldn't read it. By chance, I discovered that I could read it by using Red Hat linux (I'd already set up the PC as dual boot).

 

Now, magazine cover CDs are not known for their robustness or quality, so that didn't faze me too much. But to have it happen to 2 different CDs, both of which I believe are official Microsoft CDs, is a bit much to swallow.

 

The most likely explanation I can come up with is that the CDs were produced as part of a bad batch, and send them back to the seller for a refund. Or maybe they were damaged in transit, but in a non-visible way (flexed perhaps). But even that is inconclusive: why can I boot up the PC using it, but not read it from within Windows itself?

 

Anyone have any experience of this kind of thing? All views welcome!

[Digsy]

Stevie,

 

I just tried one of my two XP discs. Not sure if this will help you or not, but:

 

The first time I tried to just insert the disc and look at its contents in Windows Explorer, the machine just sat there doing nothing. I had to kill the process using Task Manager to get PC to become responsive again.

 

The second time I tried reading the disc by asking Nero to make a copy. This seemed to go fine (Nero opened up the disc in a few seconds and started copying). I didn't let this run through to the end, however.

 

Third time I tried Explorer again and I could read the contents fine. The autorun install programme also started up about a minute after I inserted the disc.

 

Hope this helps!

[stevie_b]

Thanks Digsy. That does help. I also have Nero on my PC, so I can try the same thing as you. I'll post back here on how I get on.

 

BTW, I bought my copies from "Entertainment4U2" on the play.com website.

[stevie_b]

I've just tried copying the Windows CD as follows:

 

I can select the files/folders in the top level of the CD (it will sometimes let me do that) and attempt to copy them to the hard disk. The copy operation proceeded OK for a few minutes, until Windows spat out the error "Cannot copy SUPPORT: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)".

 

I then tried making an image copy of the CD using Nero. Again it worked for a while, but then Nero reported an "unrecoverable read error", followed by "Burn process failed".

 

I then took the CD out of the drive, and put it back to see what Windows would make of it. The answer is "not a lot": the CD just span and span, but didn't appear in windows explorer and didn't bring the autorun menu up.

 

Something about the CDs I bought is very wrong. My best guess is that they were damaged in the post.

[Digsy]

How far did Nero get through making the image? I quit out after about 25%

[Mike]

My copy arrives tomorrow (hopefully, I think the guy is coding it from scratch!) - do I just whack it and install it over the top of the current version? I just was the reg key really, but I have no idea where to put it...?

 

Help!

[stevie_b]

Do I just whack it and install it over the top of the current version?

 

Essentially, yes. Why do you specifically need the authentication key? I'm assuming that you're already running a copy of XP that you *cough* picked up from somewhere, and want to make it legit?

 

If that's the case, I'm not sure if the new license key that comes with your purchase will work with your existing XP. No matter: the easiest thing to do is to back up any files you want to keep, then reboot the PC with the new CD in. Then just follow the on-screen instructions to install XP over the top of the existing installation.

 

If your reasons for doing this are more complex (e.g. wanting to get rid of an existing virus-ridden XP install), then post back and we'll take it from there.

[Mike]

Nope, that's it sir - thank you very much... I'll report back when I have my wallpaper back and the thing has stopped nagging me every two second!? I'm not a victim!!

[stevie_b]

Mike: you might not strictly need to back up your files before re-installing XP (I think it tries to leave all your personal stuff intact), but you'd be mad not to, just in case anything goes wrong.

 

Digsy: I've tried copying both of the WinXP CDs I bought using Nero: one bombed out at 94%, and the other at 93%. Suspiciously similar! I wonder if it's a bad batch or something?