[Kitty Felone]

I followed the directions to "How-to repair Windows XP, How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade" but now I have another problem.

I'm repairing my mum's computer in the wee hours of the morning and I have discovered something horrifying. I followed the directions posted in repairing windows without reformatting, only now I have ran into an error it seems no one else has.


Upon loading the MS Windows XP install screen (which looks like it's reformatting the computer), it says certain files are needed:

"The file 'asm' on Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 CD is needed.

Type the path where the file is located, and then click OK.

Copy files from:
GLOBALROOT\DEVICE\CDROM\I386"


I am stuck at this screen and cannot go any further. We only have a single CD copy and on it says 'Service Pack 2 is included'. When I reach this screen on the computer, I cannot select anything--it's as if the entire computer freezes. I reboot and try again but each time this screen reaches, it still shows the same message and I still cannot select a thing--I can't even hit "OK"!

I'm very tempted to reformat and start over but that's a daunting process that I wish to avoid.

Help?

[Advertisements]

Reformatting is not a difficult task, but you do lose all your data. If you can put the hard drive in a USB caddy and plug it into another computer, you should be able to recover the data that way.

Is the computer branded? Are you using the same brand CD? That can cause problems when you reinstall, I know that Dell especially doesn't like people using CD's that aren't their own. I don't know that that would cause this specific problem tho, usually issues with brands come when you try to activate Windows...

[jt1990]

Reformatting is not a difficult task, but you do lose all your data. If you can put the hard drive in a USB caddy and plug it into another computer, you should be able to recover the data that way.

Is the computer branded? Are you using the same brand CD? That can cause problems when you reinstall, I know that Dell especially doesn't like people using CD's that aren't their own. I don't know that that would cause this specific problem tho, usually issues with brands come when you try to activate Windows...

[Kitty Felone]

It is a daunting process to reformat simply because I have 15+ programs to reinstall to ensure the computer runs smoothly, each of which needs a smooth reboot.

For this reason alone, I wish only to repair. The installation comes to the ASMS screen and refuses to allow me to select.



... some time later....

But since I have ran out of time, I have no choice but to do a full system install and reformat.

This is a fairly new HP computer; it came with Vista on it but we had it reformatted and fit for XP.
The Windows it is running is a Corporate Professional Edition. It is the same XP edition we have purchased for our office (I'm the tech girl for Child Food Program of Texas) and we use the same copy for our home computers.

I see no reason for this bump but I cannot find a way around it. I do not have the choice of testing to see if perhaps it is a bad copy CD or if the computer is stamped by HP. The screen refuses to let me maneuver around it. The mouse doesn't appear and the key strokes won't let me accept "OK". The address for the ASMS code is highlighted and blinking, as if ready to be edited. As I said, I can't do a darned thing here.

I'm going to reformat but I would still like somebody to help me solve this problem. Something tells me I'll run into it again.

Edited by Kitty Felone, 19 August 2008 - 11:24 AM.