“setup can't copy files” error during XP installation

Question

During installing Windows XP, I got errors like "Setup can't copy ks.sys, modem.sys etc...etc.."

I skipped the error messages, but after all that Windows XP is not detecting cd drive or USB. How to solve this?

Answer 1

If you can't install an OS from scratch either:

• the installation media is bad

• the DVD drive is bad

• the computer hardware is fundamentally unstable

It is very, very bad when you cannot perform a clean install of an OS -- that is the most basic test of "is this computer actually working?"

Answer 2

simply buy a new CD for XP this one is faulty

Answer 3

You might try using a linux live cd and see if that works. Most likely causes of your problem are bad cd or bad drive. A bad computer is also possible but less likely, assuming that it worked before you tried reinstalling the OS.