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XP Upgrade Install problem - sxs.dll syntax error in manifest...

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by apple_eggby

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My father wanted to move from 2000 to XP, but insisted on using an upgrade instead of a clean install. Apparently, during setup he received the following msg:
SXS.DLL: syntax error in manifest or policy file "c:\I386\asms\1000\msft\windows\gdiplus\gdiplus.man" on line 4
Then "Installation Failed d:\i386asms Cannot Find File Specified"

He tried again, after moving disk to another optical drive & did not receive errors, but installation just hangs. He's rebooted numerous times & installation attempts to complete, but it hangs every time & does not display an estimated time to complete.

Booting from cd, and trying to upgrade rather than do a new installation, he's told that the installation he wishes to upgrade can't be found. Rebooting brings it back into setup, where it hangs.

He's in another state, so I can't physically help him & he desperately doesn't want to have to reinstall apps, etc. (Plus, I don't think he has very good data back-ups.) Is there anyway to save this upgrade installation?

If not, and he's forced to do a clean install, is he just going to have this same error? Has anyone found a fix for this?

5 replies

by davemarriage

I kept getting multiple missing .dll errors when replacing the hard drive in my laptop. I tried over and over and got different dll errors. Tried a different XP cd and it flew right through the installation. Activated with the other KEY and worked like a charm. CD looked in perfect condition with not 1 scratch, but still didn't work. Might help, I dunno....

by apple_eggby

Well, it seems that this occurs with various hardware issues. In this case, the trouble was with a wireless keyboard. Unplugged that & it installed just fine. Then we ran into other issues with the wireless mouse & stalling at mup.sys. All in all, this has been a nightmare installation.

by rob miners

to see you up and running. Sometimes it's the simple things that make life difficult.

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