Hmm - a work of art, yet - gracias.

It's a beautiful summary, and I'll save it in event of any encounter with XP, also apply the corrections [see below]. This is alas, about W2K-Pro. There may be something there I haven't grokked in relation to the present problems, but so far it looks as if my sequential tale was inadequate. (Yes the Oak CD-ROM drivers, etc. were part of the W-98 std. 'emergency boot disk' - though agreed that above config.sys and autoexec.bat are different). Obv. the drivers worked well enough to load until the GUI-Install stage.

The recurrent problem has been:
With wiped new HD (or re-wiped after trial) the W2K Pro retail CD appears to do all the normal steps of an install, but at end - it bounces back to the box, "Starting Install... ".

On my e-Machine it completes the install. With CD removed, a reboot produces normal HD startup of W2K-Pro. Ditto for the other trials on two Toshiba laptops. Only the Dell NG.

To clarify the matter of NTFS (which I mistakenly titled 'HPFS'!) At end of last session, during what (always does) seemed like a normal install - the FAT-32 option disappeared from the early Setup screen. I elected to try for an install anyway - just one more tested option. That scheme failed to get out of the loop, either. M$ considers a switch to NTFS a one-way switch, at least as far as the CD install capabilities go.

The prestidigitations to nuke the NTFS: showed that a mere FDISK wipe was insufficient; that is - a next attempt via CD produced also a screen with no FAT-32 option. Sorry but.. I lacked the time and PFY? to record verbatim every stage of this now-familiar sequence of screens in a W2K install.

I aborted that install, and we used the gdisk util in Norton Ghost to wipe partition table and do a Quick-format of FAT-32. That succeeded in that, on next install attempt: the FAT-32 option returned to the screen; it was selected and install proceeded -- to same loop as before.

After reboot from HD w/o any CD (in either tray), an error message seeking the Install CD appears after what seems a W2K 'normal Install-type' screen in PATRIOT-Act colors. Cancel the request for CD [which will just restart another loop] elicits (finally) the sys complaint:

Setup failed to install the product catalog. This is a fatal error. The setup log files should contain more information. Press [OK] to view: <I did>

E:\\1386 or was that i386?\\ NT5INF.CAT catalog file could not be found. The error code is 1.

Incorrect function.

The Signature for WIndows 2000 Professional Setup is invalid. The error code is 1.

Setup failed to install the product catalogs. This is a fatal error

(Another) Scott found this [link|http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;228852| M$ note] which seems to address the same error message, and describes the Problem as being: "loss of CD-ROM access when GUI-Mode Setup starts".

Since the 'stages' of Install are not at all defined, I cannot be sure that that IS the problem of the enless loop - but I followed the Rx

WORKAROUND
Use a Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98 Startup disk with CD-ROM drive support to copy the I386 folder from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM to the hard disk. Then, run Winnt.exe from the copied folder to install Windows 2000.

.

Now I note in your above procedure (which does not state the Problem it is addressing?) that the location for the i386 directory should be a subdirectory, C:\\Windows\\Options\\I386. And perhaps that WILL make the difference in the W2K (not XP) install also. I'll incorporate what I can glean from above in another try.

In fact, the Install did start, following setup as this rather terse M$ hint suggested: via running WINNNT.EXE from the HD and with CD removed. This was done from DOS and from C-drive. It ended in same loop.

In brief, while the autoexec.bat and config.sys files were more complex and with different options available than above -- all along there has been no apparent problem in the CD being read from either the DVD reader or the CD/RW writer/reader: until this stage. Maybe M$'s description is spot-on and the GUI-Install point uses a different CD-reader driver.. which a Dell DVD OR CD/RW can't use.

I could post the lengthy contents of these, if that seems appropriate (?). Prolly better to just use yours. In fact there was no need of manual intervention in the original and subsequent partitioning, FAT-32 selection, etc. All occurred normally via W2K-Pro Instll CD.. UNTIL the one event which I described above. That alone required some DOS manipulations to restore the FAT-32 Option on the table of available disk format choices.

(A) Scott mentioned the BIOS version and I see that's the next logical upgrade before next try. I'll try your XP method - which in effect is what we did = via xcopy and all, but the directory path was just C:\\I386 = I see that, that alone might have rendered it unreachable. How silly of us to take M$ instructions literally..

Thanks for the help,

Ashton

Hmmm RVNVR! - added to list, both. Thanks. There isn't much to swap next, besides that and the CPU

Agree on naming convention - it's where it blong.. just wasn't *sure* that Doze was smart enough to find-later the I386 directory from an unexpected full address: even if one started winnt.exe from within that directory. After reboot, perhaps Doze comes back dumb? then punts.

My order next:

Get BIOS upgrade - once past the Dell sentry (ya gets no info w/o logging in with S/N, apparently, or I'd already have the file)
Use your recipe.
If no joy - pull one of the 128Mb chips, then other.
" " replace data cables. ("inspected" OK but not e- tested. No nicks.)

Then try A Scott's idea - reload the HD on my superior e-Machine, install on Dell. Boot to SAFE. Nuke hdwre list and redetect. Can't hoit.

Thanks for the sleuthing options,


Ashton

It would have come to buying new memory (or at least one of a necessary pair) - and since even the "Restore" disk could not even restore MErde on a blank disk.. my guess is that your guess is likely the case: ^*$&#@ memory. They were too cheap to send a populated mb, with vaguely-'tested' mem and CPU. L. (and we) had had about enough.

It's now in the limbo of just-about to file in Sm.Caims, though a local Tee Vee consumer show has twice brought up this charade with Dell-rep(o)s; wants us to hold off a bit more - each Dell PR promised to call L. and straighten out.. unimaginitive liars, those.

(She bought the G-4 and is getting work done)

If... they show her video/sound of my end of the conversation with various droids - I'll have to get an air check and pass on any juicy bits. ;-) Somehow the Simple Baldfaced lie irks me more than.. the massively orchestrated faith-based 'WMD'-sized one -- after all, at the moment, it's a Voice-Voice Personal Lie that has happened! Scum; Billy has sown the seeds well. It's most obnoxious of all - when an intentional dumbth is read off of cue cards, killing any chance for actual joint thought about The Problem. Y'know?

If in the end, this pile of debris doesn't go back.. I'll try to borrow a couple mem chips and give it another go -- thing is.. it booted Knoppix! thus somewhat vetting the cabling, CD and.. memory, less'n Lx is big about RAS-tafarian matters.

Thanks for your interest (I too hate to just drop a puzzle :(


Ashton

PS - apologies for ignoring the Q - I hadn't marked this forum read in a while, so just missed the new entries.