BleepingComputer.com: Troubled Vista computer won't reformat

Hello,

My Vista laptop has been crashing lots recently. I'm quite sure its a trojan, and that it has messed up some core systems.
I am unable to figure out what exactly is wrong with the laptop, so I tried re-installing Vista with the disc provided.
After punching in my Vista key, I get an error 'unable to open Install.wim from E drive', the error code is 0x8007000D
I tried un-installing virus software and any non-essential programs, (I kept Spybot installed). And I tried removing all devices that were hooked up.

Any Ideas?

Thanks,
Tylor

What type of disk is it?
Some recovery DVD?

It may be simply bad DVD.

Its a Gateway OS Disc...
I have an old XP disc, But I was told this laptop is not compatible with XP, as my original intentions were to remove Vista and install XP.

Install.wim is a huge file (over 2GB), so if any tiny error happens, you'll get a message like that.
I can see only two possibilities:
- your recovery DVD is corrupted
- your CD/DVD drive is malfunctioning

Try to clean your DVD. Make sure, you clean it in radial direction, not in circular direction.
If that fails, I'd order new DVD.

There is also a chance, you may have hard drive, or RAM problem, but I'd start with the above first.

Ah man... I'm ticked, the disc was fresh... first time I ever tried it.
What you said about my physical memory kinda got me thinking though...
So I tried to run a scan, my HD is a Hitachi HTS54bla bla... But the disc I had to boot from the ISO wouldn't do anything...
The drive would buzz at startup but then just boot normally.

Also, I'm getting regular BSOD's and somtimes on startup it will just go to an un-responisve black screen and mouse.

Can you walk me though a physical memory check?

Thanks.

Quote

Are you sure, you made that disk bootable? Try it on another computer and see, if it'll boot.
Check BIOS "boot order" to see, if CD drive is listed 1st.

As for RAM check...

A. If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting/running computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-....iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-....iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-....iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run.

The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.