XP Install Missing Files: Correct Fix
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 12:58 am
Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by Nesmira
(3 messages posted)
Alright, I got done reading all your posts and I'm afraid that none solved the issue.
Now, let me clear up some of the confusion going on.
First issue is the CD file structure. It does NOT matter
which ISO9660 format you use as long as it remains ISO9660. None of the critical
install files are truncated. example: driver1~.cab
That is why on the REAL XP install CDs, you will see files LONGER THAN 8 characters!!!
A good example so you see I am not lying is to check out the XP image in the DOCS folder. If you already modified the original install files
by using DOS 8:3 filename, you will see a truncated file. That original file name
is in FACT:
winXP_logo_horiz_sm.gif
That image is referenced in the original README.HTM placed
at the root of the CD. So that blows away the whole DOS 8:3 theory.
Second, DO NOT rename files. example.dll is NOT the same
as example.dl_. The reason is because alot of these files are placed into windows
CAB files and the "_" underscore seperates them for indexing. If you clearly look
at your system32 folder
you will notice the lack of underscores. When missing a file (namely a DLL) windows
replaces the file from the custom CABs it created during installation and renames
it without the underscore. It does this to protect the integrity of the operating
system and to also limit the files neccessary in the directory. You ask: Why wouldn't
they just keep everything in a CAB from the start? Here's why. Install would take
forever. Remember, not all computers are the same, and that's why there are drivers
too. Hardware specific reasons. I'm not going into detail on that. You get the
idea.
It is NOT the speed which you burn CD's, the type of media
(well, maybe...if you buy really really cheap crap) or so called "Weak sectors".
How can a sector be weak? Either you can read it, or not. There is a difference
between being dirty or scratched or old cd readers to be dirty. It is possible however
to have bad files from damaged media. Of course, there are too many people with
the same problem for us all to have bad files. Even someone else who posted that
they got Corporate XP discs with the Microsoft Hologram on them.
This is NOT a pirated version issue either. Microsoft did
NOT get smart overnight and suddenly stumble across a way to trick us. It is ALL
based on pure logic, not conspiracy.
If you are still stubborn about the ISO argument. Go here and learn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9660.
The install files are not longer than 8:3 anyway.
Now that all the rubbish is taken care of, lets get to the REAL resolution.
Microsoft published an article which was somewhat more realistic. You can find this
article here:
Random Files May Not Be Copied During Text:Mode Setup
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=257954
Indeed, the files are certainly random. They change from person to person, disc to
disc, machine to different machine. Different files missing? Different machines?
Yup, I believe this is a hardware issue. Perhaps performance reasons. I know from
my own experience, I have not seen this on newer machines, not to say that it doesn't
happen. In the microsoft article they mention bus speeds. 100MHz and 133MHz particularly.
All the machines I have come across that did this were specifically 100MHz or 133MHz
bus speeds.
This issue would normally be closed at this point, however this happens on machines
meant for 133MHz bus speed and installed with 133MHz memory and CPUs. The same goes
for 100MHz systems.
For all those CompTIA A+ techs out there, this should make some sense. Lets say
you are copying a file.
Step 1. The program needs to copy a file.
Step 2. The program utilizes the kernel in memory and passes the command to the processor.
Step 3. The processor processes the command and says (in laymans language) ok, I
need to tell the CD-ROM to retrieve this file and send it to memory which I will
then copy to the hard drive.
Simple right?
So if all goes well, Mr. CPU reads the disc, finds the file, and routes the appropriate
data through the chipset to memory. From there, the CPU gives the command to retrieve
data from memory and now route back through the chipset to disk. ALL DATA MUST BE
PROCESSED AND SENT TO MEMORY!!! This is the basics of hardware and data processing.
Now, all these processes are based on time. Your memory has a time to it. It's
called a cycle, and measured in MHz. Hypothetically, your system bus is as fast
as the slowest component will permit. Now, lets say the memory is faster than the
bus. Microsoft is correct in the idea that the hardware was not limiting the correct
cycle time.
In this theory, since the memory has a faster cycle, it would report information
too fast and incomplete to the CPU's normal bus reading speed and miss data chunks
to report that the data is corrupt (not in order). Or missing like the error message
you all get. Corruption is inability to read from the source. However the error
message does not tell you "Cannot read file from disc". It simply says, "File is
corrupt or missing". The program does not distinguish the difference between corrupt
or missing. We know for a FACT that it is NOT missing. Since this happens randomly
on machines for different files, we know it can't be corrupt files. Corruption also
happens when memory modules are bad, but then again, we can't all have bad memory.
So here we are back to the same problem. Random errors. Random to you maybe, but
not the computer. :-)
A reasonable explanation is that the cycle time in memory can appear to make data
incomplete and corrupt since the CPU checks the CDROM again to see if the data is
intact during its transfer to memory. If memory does not match the data on disc,
it is corrupt and not passed to Hard disk.
Depending on the data order being copied vs. your bus speed will be your corrupt
or missing files. The larger the gap, the more the missing or corrupt files. It's
a detailed mathematical equation based on time.
If you still didn't get that, pretend you are playing baseball(transfering files).
And the pitcher(memory) throws 5 balls(data) at once for you(the CPU) to catch.
Are you going to catch every single one? Didn't think so.
Now, this is a test. I am not for certain it will work. But, I have exhausted and
eliminated all the other possibilities. I will be testing this tonight and try a
variety of solutions. From memory performance, to size, to quantity and quality
of memory sticks. I hope it works and I will report all findings back to this forum.
Sorry for the long post, but this problem has got to be resolved.
Thanks for reading!!!
-Nesmira
- Written in response to:
- re: missing files (mike: Sunday, February 15, 2004 at 7:51 am)
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