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Had to re-install winXP on my dads computer today

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found it a bit rediculous that during the installation process it could not find files that it needed to install that i needed to search through the install disk to find and select so that it could install them.

it has been like 3 hours since it started installing, i just hope it works and doesnt get completely infested with viruses in like a week and a half
-chris
 
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coach_z said:
found it a bit rediculous that during the installation process it could not find files that it needed to install that i needed to search through the install disk to find and select so that it could install them.

What you describe doesn't sound typical (having been through countless Windows OS installs). Aside from wondering why the dramatic step of reinstalling was necessary (no backup? no drive image?), having to manually browse to files and otherwise struggle with an XP install is the exception, certainly not the rule.

coach_z said:
it has been like 3 hours since it started installing, i just hope it works and doesnt get completely infested with viruses in like a week and a half

If it's taken three hours to install, I think a hardware upgrade is in order. Again, that's very unusual. And, yes, it will be infested with viruses and otherwise attacked in far less than a week and a half if you don't run a firewall and A/V software. That's a given in the Windows world, and I suspect every Mac user here already knows that.

As a Windows user since version 3, and now a new Mac user, I'm loving my Mac. I completely understand why the Mac experience is so darn cool, and I'm still pleasantly surprised by the things I find/learn about it. At the same time though, after dropping in on a lot of Mac forums, I now visit just this one regularly. A large part of the reason is that the folks here are incredibly helpful, friendly, and seem to leave the "Mac Rules, Windows Sucks" stuff at the door. In other words, most everyone here is probably here because they prefer using a Mac or want to know more about using a Mac, etc. I don't think getting a pat on the back because you hate Windows is likely to happen, nor should it be necessary. And, no Bill Gates didn't pay me to say that, as I'm typing this on my Mac. :)

Mark
 
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Is that an original installation disk. I know I had issues using a backup of an XP Pro installation disk at work where it couldn't access the files, so I had to dig out the original. There is definitely something wrong with the HD or CD/DVD drive if it is taking 3 hours so far, the whole install even on a slow computer (I just installed Pro on a AMD 800mhz with 128ram the other day) should never take more than 1.5 hours
 

dtravis7


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Very true. I just did a reinstall of XP Pro with a Mint Factory CD on my AMD Athlon 700 Mhz system that I use as a backup, and it took maybe 38 minutes or so. I would also wonder what shape the XP CD is in or maybe his CDROM drive. The only time I have ever had XP ask where files were was when either the CD Media was messed up or a bad CDROM Drive.
 
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As other users have said, if you are having this many problems there is most likely a hardware issue.

It could be the hdd, CD/DVD, RAM, video card, motherboard, or even the power supply.

If you know how to check these items, I would try checking them individually.
 
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Once again, Windows proves to a PITA for the average user.....
 
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So, were you successful, or was there some type of hardware problem?
 

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