Bad install of WinXP, it it the windows CD or an Nlite problem

I have a Win XP pro 32Bit SP2 CD installed on a computer that I’ve had for many yrs. I’ve had no problems with it what’s so ever, no blue screens errors, no lockups, no special drivers needed, everything just ran as it was suppose to.
For security and speed reasons I decided to have a new computer built. Since I hate Win7, I’m doing a dual boot of Win7 and Win XP. Win7 will only be used for bill payments, banking and purchases. XP will be used for everything else, surfing the web and playing videos/DVDs.
The new XP CD barcode sticker says (Windows XP Professional 1-2CPU Midern) and at the bottom it also says (NP-Series). BTW this is a SP1a version. What the hell is (Midern & NP-Series)?
Instead of doing the F6 floppy method of inserting the AHCI driver I used Nlite.
I integrated the AHCI driver and SP3 into a copy this new XP CD. During the actual install onto the computer I got error messages saying that certain files were missing. I took out the Nlite version and put the original XP CD in and it continued to load. I then installed win7 using a USB flash to insert the AHCI driver this time. The dual boot part worked out great, I just turn on the computer and the boot screen appears asking which version I’d like to run.
However, this version of XP seems to be slightly different (maybe missing some features) from my other version. Nothing major, just little differences that I’ve noticed. For instance, when changing the DPI setting from 96 to the larger 120 it makes me insert the XP CD. On my other computer running XP it asks to use files already stored on the hard disc.
There are some serious issues though. The little yellow folder thumbnail picture for (My Documents) and (My Computer) disappeared. And, none of my video software (PowerDVD 5, Nero Showtime, not even WMP) is working. I figured these things were happening because Nlite must have dropped some files. I created another copy using nlite, this time only integrating the necessary AHCI driver, installing SP3 after the install.
This time I’m not loosing any thumbnail pictures, but my video software is still not working, getting error messages about (ntdll.dll file).
Bottom line, everything worked fine on other computer with XP, but none of my software works with the new computer running the new XP CD. I think it’s either some weird unstable version of XP ( XP low cost starter Edition for other countries) or Nlite just can’t integrate everything properly without dropping files and or corrupting some XP files, most likely the ladder of the two.
It would be nice if I could use my old copy of XP with this new activation key, but then I would no longer be able to reinstall XP in my old computer……right?

Any help would be appreciated.


Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 Rev. 3.0……….….MB
AMD FX-8350………………………….….CPU
2 Mushkin Silverline 992074 8GB…… ….Memory
Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB… ..HDD - Storage
Western Digital WD2003FZEX 2TB….…..HDD – Win XP Pro 32Bit
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB………………....SDD – Win 7 Pro 64Bit
Seasonic M12II-650 ATX 650 Watt………..Power Supply
MSI Nvidia Geforce 660 TF 2GBD5/OC…..Video Card

The problem may be the ( XP low cost starter Edition for other countries) part since you show New Jersey as your residence. Windows doesn't always work properly unless setting up the country/language early in the setup and as far as I have found the version you mentioned really is more for through-away [one install] computers, quite cheap.

Berton said:

The problem may be the ( XP low cost starter Edition for other countries) part since you show New Jersey as your residence. Windows doesn't always work properly unless setting up the country/language early in the setup and as far as I have found the version you mentioned really is more for through-away [one install] computers, quite cheap.

Might have figure it out on my own, just a shot anyway. First of all, I don't have one of the low cost starter editions, I have 0601 Part No. X08-33951 which is Win XP SP1, and not SP1a as I thought. I was jumping right to SP3 which you can not do unless you have at least SP1a. So I will try to reinstall and this time install SP2 before SP3.

Thanx for the advice, I'll let you know how it turns out.

carwiz said:

I suspect the disc is an OEM version specifically for Sager Notebooks (Midern and NP series). It may not work on any other machine. A quick search revels a very specific type of memory is required for the notebooks so there may be other unique drivers also.

I also suspect what you are trying to do is out of the realm of the Microsoft license agreement.

Well, if you can find actual data on (Midern and NP-Series) please let me know. I googled both and came up with nothing. I also googled my XP disc (0601 Part No. X08-33951 ) and there was no mention of being specifically for Sager Notebooks. What exactly is out of the Microsoft license agreement, doing a dual boot?

Problem solved. I was able to use my old XP CD with the product key from the new XP CD I just bought. I had to call for activation, but it's all straightened out now, won't have to call next time I do a reinstall.
Thanx guys