Hello, a few problems thought resolved are back

Hi Abydos, Thank you very much, I will do that right away. I really appreciate knowing where to find these files, since when it wouldn't look on my dvd's I was lost. I am going to do it right now. I'll post back when it's done. Kind regards, Cindy

Hello again Abydos, I cannot seem to locate that file. I found I386, but all the files that were in there were DLL files. I am now stumped. Kind regards, Cindy

Hi Cindy,

The instructions you received from Abydos will work quite a bit of the time, but unhappily, in the course of creating efficient protocols for installing the operating system on mass produced computers, manufacturers have experimented with a wide array of "partial" back-up files that were hoped to be sufficient for the average user. More unhappily, the manufacturers have a bias for maintaining a dependency of their customers upon the original manufacturer and manufacturer's help resources, whether paid or free. As a result, many pre-loaded systems contain i386 folders that are only partially populated with the supposedly necessary reinstall and backup replacement original files.

Happily, there is a "workaround". SFC will operate with "any" XP installation CD of the same flavor.
Any XP Home install CD will allow SFC to run a complete scan and replacement of required files for a machine with pre-installed XP Home.
Any XP Pro install CD will allow SFC to run a complete scan and replacement of required files for a machine with pre-installed XP Pro.
If I recall correctly your machine is Media Center 2005 (?)… An XP Home install CD would be the one to use if that is correct.

You can "borrow" the appropriate XP installation CD, and then run SFC.
Or you can follow the instructions in the article linked below to create a fully populated i386 folder onto your hard drive.

To put your SFC into action Read and follow the instructions here:
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

Since you have demonstrated a remarkable tenacity and ability to work independently, I'll leave you with the above instructions and trust that you will post back in case of additional need.

Best Regards

p.s. It may also be the case, that you will be able to obtain an Installation CD from your computer manufacturer directly.
Compaq/HP typically charges $30 US for such a disk.
I'd be inclined to call your computer manufacturer and "talk real tough" with them.

Hmmm, no i386 in pre-installed OEM's?, well that kinda sux. Sorry my "french".

Sorry Cindy, i'm not very familiar with OEM's, always bought full CD's regarding OS.
But anyways, the method works for those with installation from original's CD's. So anyone reading this, can try if need be.
If the folder aint on the machine, put it there, by finding the folder on the CD.

Cindy, hope you solve your problem anytime soon. Have followed this topic, and its been going on pretty long now, so best of lucks

Kind regards Abydos

Hi Doug and Abydos, I just ran the file scanner again and I'm at the part where it asks for the XP CD. I don't understand why it won't pick up the files from the recovery DVD's I made when I first plugged the thing in, and the file checker doesn't give me the option to direct it to another place to find the files, like C:\I386\SYSTEM32. My options are 'retry', 'more information', and 'cancel', and whenever I put a CD or DVD in it says the information is not there. This is really frustrating. I think I will try creating my own CD, and see if that will work. The edition of XP on here is XP Pro Media Edition. Arrrrrgggg. Okay, I'll go to the links the 2 of you provided and try to create my own. Cindy

XP Pro would be the flavor you need, if you "borrow" an XP Pro installation CD. Sorry about any confusion and thanks for clarifying. Doug

Hi Doug,

I took my DVD's and copied again all I386 files from the DVD to c:\I386, it asked if I wanted to over write and I said yes to all. Then I followed the instructions to direct the source path in the registry from http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html and restarted the computer and ran sfc /scannow again and it completed without asking for a CD. I tried to burn a CD from the I386 files, but it would only take a DVD, so I did that but it failed verification with the message "Too much mistakes"! SO I will give it a try again now that I have written over the I386 files with the back up DVD files. I'm ready for the next step whenever you or Abydos has the time.
Cindy

Please give us an update. 1. Still getting the "white" square ambiguous panel when you boot up? 2. Still have the "unknown" in Device manager? 3. Any other warnings in device manager? Please send us a new Pit Test TechExpress and a new Attached file for CodeStuff Starters StartUps

Hi, I am still getting the white square ambiguous panel when I start up, I still have the "Unknown" in device manager, but no other warnings or exclamation points by anything. I will run a new Pit Test TechExpress test and code starters startup and post. Cindy

Here is the URL for Pit Stop http://www.pcpitstop.com/techexpress.asp?id=7TQCSWTNMSGS1JFG
Here is the start up report📎2CindyM_StartUps.html

Hi CindyM, It looks like your Video Performance has taken a big hit, as indicated by your recent Pit Test. Reinstall or Update your Video Driver from the same website you got the other Chipset Drivers. If that doesn't fix it up, we may need to track down that driver at the nVidia site. NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE ______________- There are still several unnecessary applications and processes running active in StartUp, that we will need to go back and disable. But let's get the Video Performance corrected first. Best Regards

Okay, I'll do it right now.

Hi Cindy

A option we can use, which won't harm in any way, is letting device manager try give us some more info.

Take a look at this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304514/

It describes how to make advanced info about devices visible. See if this will tell anything about those unknown devices.

Kind regards Abydos

Hi Abydos, I will try that link right now. And I went to the Nvidia website and downloaded and installed the update it recommended, and it messed my display completely up. I had to do a system restore-everything got really big, looked like starting in safe mode only worse, and I couldn't change anything from display in the control panel.

Okay, I followed the instructions to open cmd.exe, then the rest of it, and device manager came up, but under properties on the unknowns, there is nothing new. What am I looking for?