Linux then windows help

[Tunnelmath]

My friend got a used computer with Unbuntu? Linux installed on it - it worked fine, but he wanted windows so i said i would install it for him. I reformatted and began installing windows but some files would not copy to the harddrive from the CD. I tried many things and am now stuck. I get an error "Stop: c00000221 bad image checksum in shell32.dll" or something like that when it begings to load windows. I deleted partitions and ran fixboot and fixmbr but it still does the same thing - even when i tried the 2nd hard drive that was in the computer. Am i missing something? Please help

-Shaun

[Erik]

Sounds like you might have a bad CD.

What version of Windows is this, and is this a CD that you bought?

[Sylvander]

1. How to make a free “Smart Boot Manager” floppy
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41498
This makes it easier to boot a chosen drive [particularly the one holding the EBCD].

2. How to make a free EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
This has a number of useful utilities included including "Image" [for DOS, by Terabyte] & "File Manager".
Post #4 on this thread shows how I used the File Manager to copy the Windows installation files to a [FAT32] partition and ran the installation from there, then left the files there permanently [a VERY good idea].

[Tunnelmath]

I tried 2 different CD's neither is a CD bill gates would like. But each did the same thing. It is possible the cd's are bad, but i dont think that is the problem. I will check out those links you gave and see what i can do with those.

[Sylvander]

Found this...
STOP C0000221 Bad Image Checksum After Adding RAM (http://support.microsoft.com/?id=172340)

[Tunnelmath]

It seems to me that the problem is not copying the files FROM the cd, but to the drive itself. I booted up with a win 98 boot disk, and i cannot view a "dir" of c:. it says abort retry or fail each time i try. I tried installing windows again after removing what seems like a bad ram chip, and now i get a different file that is giving the checksum, but windows had a few files it could not copy when it installed so i skipped them. The files started with dbgeng.dll and there were about 8-12 of them. Linux was on the system before, does that make changes?

The second link you posted mentioned deleting pagefile.sys, but i cannot find it.
Any help would be awesome.

[Sylvander]

What kind of partition was Ubuntu installed on I wonder?
I think you need to repartition with partition types [FAT32, NTFS] that suit the version of Windows [which Windows?] you are trying to install.

KILLDISK (http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm) will tell you about the partitions on the HDD [and also zero-fill it if you decide that's a good idea].
Download using the "Download Bootable Disk Creator for Free version of KillDisk" link.

[Paul Komski]

suggest you zero the drive

[Tunnelmath]

I am trying to Zero the drive now. I am doing it with a bootable CD because this computer that is working does not have a floppy drive.

[Tunnelmath]

Ok, i just finished using the killdrive program and wiped both the hard drives in the computer out. then i ran Winxp setup, it formatted and started installing and it could not copy the same files, but i canceled after dbgeng.dll (the fist file it doesnt like) and now on restart "NTLDR is missing" - I think that just comes up because i didnt finish the windows install.

[Paul Komski]

Try copying the relevant files to the hard drive first. Format the drive (as FAT) from a DOS based floppy that has CD support. Make a directory called i386 in the root of the C Drive.
At C: prompt type md i386
If the CD has smart drive on it then at the C: prompt type smartdrv to speed-up the copying.
If X: is the drive letter of the CD you would now type
copy X:\i386\*.* C:\i386 noting the gaps between y and X as well as between * and C

Then to run the installation from the HDD remove the floppy and CD and at the prompt type C:\i386\winnt

[Tunnelmath]

I have a win 98 boot disk, and when i use it, i can get into the c: drive and view contents, however when i am at the a: prompt and type "format C:" it says i connot format a network drive? Why is it reading c: as a network drive?

[Paul Komski]

I believe that somtimes happens when partitioning/repartitioning/reformatting.

Delete all HDD partitions using Fdisk and then try formatting after rebooting:
http://home.pacbell.net/dbk4297/fdiskformat.html

[Tunnelmath]

Ok, i deleted all partition infor like Paul Said and it still said network drive, so using FDisk I recreated a new partition (other than the one the failed windows install created) and i am currently formatting the drive. Next i will do what paul and sylvander suggested - copy windows install files to HDD and run it from there. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

[Tunnelmath]

I finally got it to work. When copying the install files in dos from the cd to my computer, it stopped after a while and said could not read form d: drive. Now i attempted an install before with a different disk, but just to be sure i copied those same files to a different computer and it worked fine on that one. So apparantly the CD drive in that computer works some of the time and deciede to stop whenever it feels like it which is never long enough to install windows. I replaced the drive, and windows installed perfectly.

Thanks for all of your help. I wouldnt have been able to pinpoint the problem without your help. I just wonder why the drive copies half of the cd then decides to stop. Most expirence ive had with faulty drives either they read the cd or not when you put a cd in.

at least it works now!
Thanks

[Paul Komski]

to pinpoint the problemYes - that is specifically one of the reasons for attempting an install directly from the HDD because the "problem files" get identified.

either they read the cd or not when you put a cd inWith computers just about anything that can happen does eventually happen. If they ran like clockwork this forum and all the troubleshooting that goes on wouldn't exist.