Installing Windows XP Professional is a much improved process over previous versions of Windowsalthough not necessarily a faster one. In most cases, a clean installation using the NTFS file system is the preferred path for installation, but Windows XP Professional is flexible and allows for easy upgrades of existing installations.
The User State Migration Tool and Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, discussed previously in Chapter 2, aid you in migrating your settings and files from an old computer to a new computer. Should you decide later that you want to take advantage of the NTFS file system on an upgrade installation, you can easily convert the file systemwithout losing a single file. Chapter 25 discusses advanced disk management issues, including conversion and reversion of file systems.
Although about 99% of all installations should go smoothly, problems can and will happen. Some of the more common issues that you may see during an installation of Windows XP Professional include
You see "Stop 0x0000000A irql_not_less_or_equal" appear on the screen. This error is usually due to hardware or hardware drivers that are not compatible with Windows XP Professional. Ensure that all of your hardware is listed on the Hardware Compatibility List and that you have the most up-to-date drivers for your installed hardware. MSKB# Q311564, located at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q311564 has more information on this error.
You get an error such as "Setup cannot copy the file file_name. Press X to retry, Y to abort" when attempting to perform the installation. This error can be caused by many problems such as a dirty CD-ROM, a damaged CD-ROM, viruses, or damaged RAM installed on your computer. If possible, attempt to perform the installation using a different CD-ROM, verify that all installed hardware in your computer is working properly, and that you do not have any viruses. Also, certain third-party applications that may be installed (if performing an upgrade installation) can cause this error to appear. MSKB# Q310064, located at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?id=kb;en-us;Q310064 has more information on this type of error.
You receive this error: "NTLDR is missing. Press any key to restart." This error is usually caused by upgrading over a Windows 9x installation that resides on a FAT32 hard drive with an incorrect geometry configuration. To fix this error, you will need to correct the hard drive geometry configuration. MSKB# Q314057, located at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314057 has more information on this error.
Should you encounter problems during your installation of Windows XP Professional, a quick search on the Microsoft Web site will usually turn up the required information. To perform advanced searches, visit the Microsoft Advanced Search page at http://search.microsoft.com/advanced_search.asp.