Another problem

Essendon

Problems, problems

I put a new HD, decided to do a fresh install after my last HD was declared toast. I had the setup create 3 partitions (2 x 20gig, 110gig). Installed the server on C:. Everything went smoothly except for 1 file missing during setup :oem.dll. Anyways, after the install it says :'A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer - Error code: 0x80070002' ". Looked up for solutions on MS' website. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310794.
I tried to start in safe mode, the puter starts up, does nothing for a few seconds, then gives the same error.
Please advise.

Sie

The KB Article states to remove two registry keys, if you cannot get into Safe Mode try booting from the CD and going into Recovery Console.

From there you could try the:

reg delete RegKey

Command to remove the Registry Keys.

Or you could try a Repair / Fresh Install if you havent done anything with the box yet.

To reassign the drive letter you can use diskpart:

at the command line:

diskpart
list volume (note the volume you want to change)
select volumex (x is the same as noted in previous step)
assign letter=x (x is the drive letter you want to assign)

Have you tried the usual chkdsk and sfc commands??

KGhaleon

Did it tell you that oem.dll could not be found DURING the actual setup(and not just in logs)? If so there may have been something wrong with that disc. I'd suggest doing an in-place upgrade(as mentioned above). Try cleaning the disc first or checking for scratches.

You say your last hard drive was toast, so I'll take your word that the hard drive was really an issue. I don't know the current state of your machine. Have you considered a RAM test? I'd suggest running Windows diagnostic or Memtest to ensure that your RAM is fine.

Essendon

Yeah, it said that the oem.dll file could not be found during the actual installation, not from the logs. I cannot even get to the logs.

As for the RAM, it's new 1GB and I'll do a memtest after I have tried a repair and/or fresh install. Also by the way, even if everything went well after a fresh install but for the oem.dll file, would that be a problem when I start using the server (dont think so, thought I should ask).

Sie

I would first do the Repair/Fresh install to be honest. Preferably with a known working copy of XP. If this still fails you could try copying over the needed dll's maunally from the recovery console.

Have you used this copy of XP before? Make sure you are using the correct License Key for the install you are doing. IE not using a VLK for an OEM install etc. (dont think it lets you do this anyway but would cause the same types of problems if it did)

Essendon

I have used this CD before, btw it is server 2003 not XP. It wont allow you to enter an invalid license key. So looks like a fresh install is the way to go.

Sie

Hows it gone? :

Essendon

Sorry gents, for the delay in replying. I have done a fresh install, same error, the full name of the missing file is oembios.bin. I have done a fair bit of research on this and comes up that people get the same error message after setup as I do: A problem is preventing Windows from accurately checking the license for this computer - Error code: 0x80070002'. I cannot get in to the safe mode as before. I cannot even change directories on the recovery console.
Now a memtest shows the RAM's ok, it's new anyways and so is the HD (brand new Western Digital). And this was a known working copy of server 2003. Maybe a BIOS update is the way to go, as this is not a new PC (Acer 5600G).

Also Sie, I cannot use the reg delete RegKey command as it says command is not valid. diskpart dont work either. I wonder where the problem lies ???? Last night, I almost threw the box outa the window....

SWM

Try another CDROM/DVD Drive. I have had similar problems where corrupt files have been copied onto the HDD.

Essendon

The only problem with this possible solution, SWM, is that I dont have too many copies of the server setup disk , though now I wish I did.

undomiel

You could also try manually extracting the oem.dll to c:\windows\system32 and see if that will fix things. Or you could start a reinstall, wait until it reboots to do the graphical portion and then boot into the recovery console and copy the entire i386 directory to a temp folder if I remember correctly on the hard drive and then remove the cd, restart the graphical portion of setup, and make sure it picks up the files from that folder instead of off the cd.

Essendon

make sure it picks up the files from that folder instead of off the cd

How would I do that??

dynamik

You just need to copy the i386 directory to the HD and run the setup program off a boot disk. You can find boot disks with CD-ROM support or you could just put the HD in another machine and copy the directory over that way.

This looks like it has some CD support:
http://www.bootdisk.com/

I'm not too familiar with the Ultimate Boot CD. It may or may not allow you to do that as well:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Essendon

Thanks for the info once again dynamik, but I feel that my plan to write the exam by the end of May might get derailed considering the problems I have been having. I might just ask someone for a fresh setup disk and install the server off that. I will still try what all of you have suggested.

Sie

You can copy the files over once you have booted off the cd into the recovery console just as you would copy anything else over from the command line.

Does just sound like the media is at fault which is unfortunate, do you have a spare PC to copy the CD and add an extra folder with the extracted BIN files?

I also advise trying dynamik suggestion, thats if you have a PC to slave the HDD to?

Essendon

Thank you for your advice gents, I was able to make the drive a slave and was able to recover some data, but not all. I could have tried Spinrite but this wasnt a production server and I was able to get most of what I wanted. Well, the drive now must be in the waste company's incinerator or something.