Vista 64 Ultimate installation error?? Files missing? - HELP!

I've been trying to reinstall my OS due to a power outage and my OS
became extremely unstable after that.

So now here I am attemting to install Vista for the third time today
and I keep getting the same error message (a number string) saying that
files are missing and it can't install??

The error occurs in the somewhat beginning of the installation,
during the *Exanding Files *section; it always seems to fail at the 78%
mark.

How can there be files missing from an installation DVD?? I used this
dvd before when I installed for the first time, so I know that it works.
The HD I'm using has been formatted twice and any information deleted,
so what windows should see is a 'new' drive.

How can I install missing files from the dvd, if I don't know what's
missing? And if anyone asks, it's a genuine copy I purchased from
newegg. . . The only thing that's missing is SP1, but that shouldn't
matter, right?

Need help please!

There are no files missing from the DVD. The error message means that the
installation is failing. Failure to install an operating system is because
of (in order of probability):

1. Faulty installation media (probably not your case).
2. Bad optical drive.
3. Bad RAM.
4. Bad hard drive.
5. Bad motherboard and/or processor and/or other components.

Your power outage damaged hardware components. There is no way for me to
know which ones. You can try troubleshooting this yourself or take the
machine to a competent local computer tech. If you go this route, don't use
a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place.

Consider purchasing an Uninterruptible Power Supply. A good one for a single
computer costs around $60 and will help prevent damage like this in the
future.

is this possible even if the computer was turned off? We knew that
they would be shutting off the electricity for a couple of hours, so
turned off everything in the house - but I didn't unplug the computer
nor turn off the PSU (mainly because I figured it was off already). Can
the components have been damaged even if the computer was off?

If there was a power surge when it was turned back on, yes. Your description
certainly sounds like a component was damaged.

In some cases, yes. Power surges and spikes can travel past the power
switch or surge suppressors.

This is a more common occurrence with lightning strikes, but it is possible
with lower power levels.

This is hindsight, but it's much safer to actually physically unplug more
delicate equipment when you know that there's a chance there will be power
anomalies.

Ok, if so I understand, which really is depressing since it is(was)
relatively new components all being less than a year old.

But does it answer this, or what's the next step (read below)?

A power surge will usually kill a motherboard's circuits, and will cause any
number of random failures.

It means you put in the wrong RAM for your system. RAM must match the
requirements of each particular motherboard. So put back the original RAM.

You need to test components systematically, not willy-nilly. If you don't
have the skills or inclination to test the machine yourself (and there is
no shame in this as we all have our areas of expertise), take the machine
to a competent local tech (not a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place).

A good stress tester for your processor is Mersenne Prime95 also.

I appreciate your help, but I'm not incompetent when it comes to
parts. This is the 5th system that I've built for myself and the first
time I've had problems of this nature.
The RAM modules are compatible with the board, especially since
they're both listed on the vendor's website as compatible. I have the
Abit IP-35 Pro and had a pair of 2gb G-skill 8500's in there(4gb's
total) before i replaced them with 4gb's of Crucial 8500's. The RAM is
exactly the same except for the vendor, and the board can easily handle
8500's, especially since I run them at default speeds as ddr2-800.
But you can check here :
'Computer memory upgrades for ABIT IP35 Pro Motherboard from
Crucial.com'
(http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...el=IP35%20Pro#)

Otherwise, the RAM is exactly the same as stated and I ran 12hrs of
memtest on another machine so the RAM (at least the Crucial's) aren't
the issue. The Gskills were in the computer at the time of the power
out.

I will now test the HD, but by your post you make it sound like the
RAM is the culprit (which is why I don't understand why'd you recommend
prime95 for the CPU when that has never been discussed).
If you think the HD isn't the issue, then you'll save me test time,
but I would appreciate other suggestions.

It is also possible that the additional power required for the 8GB is
drawing down the voltage level going to the memory and you may need to
increase the memory level in the BIOS.
Regretfully I have seen this problem and solution many times but have never
gotten involved with the details of the solution.

@curious - sorry you misread that - Both times the total amount of
RAM is 4gbs. The Gskills are 2gb sticks ( I have 2 total) for 4gb
The Crucials are 1gb sticks for a total of 4gbs.
I don't have 8gbs at one time in the system.

@malke HD passed both Short generic and Short DTS tests. According to
Seagates info there is no need to run the longer tests if you don't
suspect bad sectors. Considering that I have already run chkdsk for bad
sectors and found none, I did'nt feel it was necessary to run the long
tests. That leaves me with PSU and mobo. . .unless the long shot is
these RAM sticks are bad too even though they did pass 12hrs of
memtest??

Then it appears that the 4 1 gb sticks are drawing more power than the 2 2gb
sticks were or that the 4 1gb sticks are not actually a matched set by part
number.

Then it would have been good if you'd said so in the first place. I had no
way of knowing your level of computer skills or what you'd already done.
The symptoms you described indicate some sort of hardware damage from the
power outage. Other than that, I have no idea what they could be without
testing the machine myself. I would do you a disservice if I guessed.

I'm sorry I was unable to help you.

ok thanks anyways!

I'm kind of stumped so I'm going to pick up some new RAM today and try
that - I haven't been able to find any kind of diagnostic test for the
mobo alone, everything points to testing the RAM or HD.
If the new RAM works, I'll let you know. . .

Well, after some more aggressive testing of my system it actually
came back to the HD was the culprit. Which I found surprising as it
passed the short tests of both Seagate and WD's diagnostic tests.
However, it failed the WD long test (which ran for slightly over an
hour).
So I purchased a new HD and installed Vista again, and everything is
now running fine. Started the RMA process as well for the Old HD. As
far as I'm concerned, this thread can be closed.

I think it's problem with the hard drive. Try deleting and recreating
partition and format the drive properly to check for any bad sectors.

Yeah, hi! That was it, and I posted earlier that I had solved the
issue with long diagnostic tests and ended up changing out the the HD. .