a crank’s progress

How did you resolve this issue in the end. I am having the same problem.

Many Thanks
Symon

I never did resolve it. i had a bad ISO file and never was able to re-acquire it through the super-special Windows shortcut. I may try again now that you have reminded me, though other than the thrill of getting something for nothing, I’m not sure why.

see the problem is that your i386 folder is missing an installation file. That is why you get that error see I do troubleshooting and fixes in my company and I’ve read up on this topic. It appears that if you copy the entire I386 Folder to your hard drive, the copy process will tell you which files are missing, then you can search for them, download them, and replace the ones in the I386 Folder. This is a lot of work yes, but it seems that WinXP’s Pro CD data becomes currupted quite easily. Best of luck to you. God Speed.

- Jof.

Yeas Jof. is right, you will have to find the files, that you are missing, and “put in” the correct folder. And windoes(not) xp pro/home/office(any version) is hard to get on iso, I don’t feel that it is much a matter of it being hard to make an iso of it, or the file system being prone to corruption(which by the way is a fact), but I think the real reason of not being able to get a “good” copy of the os is simply the people making the iso do not check their work. The reason for bad file systems, in the most part, Newbies doing the work, and not knowing better than to check their work, or restarting the process of creating the iso, or using a poorly maintained system, or extrememly slow and undependable system(gateway, HP, compaq(personal joke). One other senario is the mishap that a cd has a scratch, and thus the process has a slight interruptionin the file, which has lost info. I am in the process of replacing a disk that my kids “had fun with” which has been quite the task. So if any of you have an image, and willing to waste the bandwidth for a download please email me for such arrangements.

Thx
St0ll3n_m1k3

Had the same problem with a customers HP xt963. Came up “Fatal Error” - missing some crap MS’s crappy warez needs from E:/I386/asms. Tried three more times - then proceeded to remove the 12x burner (HP quality-standard :) ) and replace it with a 56x A-Open from my bench (practically brand-new), never seen the error again, using the same disc the whole time. Guess my ISO checked out, since it has worked many times before!

I had this same problem but solved it in the following way:

Burnt a new copy of the ISO at 4x and used the disc-at-oncec method in Nero. I booted up the bad install again without any CD in the drive. Then when it came to the part of the installation where it usually failed it asked to place the CD in the drive to copy the necessary files (or from another drive). I placecd the new burn into the drive and it proceeded to install without a hitch.

Good luck.

I had a problem like this, but I got around it by either 1) hitting the one time out of 1000 the CD-ROM was actually going to read the XP Pro CD — or 2) I turned off the BIOS IDE Prefetch & disabled a UDMA settings for ALL IDE channels and devices. As soon as I did #2, the install flew like a champ.
jt

I had same problem with /I386/asms and disabled the udma setting for the dvd drive and it worked like a charm. I used the disc many x before and figured it was related to the drive. I guess I was right! The posting from John T gave me that tip, thanks! Don’t know what lead you to that idea but, it was a good one.

OK so I have the same problem, but I think it’s not the cd image. Look What I did:
I installed mandrake linux on P4 2G and it works fine and after that i installed a pirated version of vmware and I installed WindowsXp on Vmware and it work like a charm !!! This is at home. At work I tryed the same thing but on a PIII 1GHz and It gives me tha same error like you guys.
So I think is the CPU version or something alse on the motherboard. If I will found out I will tell you.

I burned all last weekend on the same problem. I changed drives and everything. Then I broke the box.
Once reformatted as NFTS file structure, I used a previously successful XP setup CD to load. When it asked for my authentication code, I used the code from the CD that was giving me all the trouble.
When it came time to activate and register, everything went smooth as butter!! Microsoft recognized the genuine authentication code, and it worked out. Try it and you can stop tearing your hair out. It’s good to be done!!

Had the ASMS missing issue after an XP install botched midway. After I rebooted, it kept demanding the path to the directory and no copy of the CD seemed to satisfy it. Finally I noticed that the system had “forgotten” to acknowledge the CDROM drive at all. Some cable jiggling, CDROM airdusting and a reboot fixed it. *shrug*

Had the same problem; Reburnt cd, selecting “Disk at Once” rather than “Track at Once” (in Nero) and installation went smoothly.

GOOD VERI GOOD

HELP! I also got the problem: “Installation Failed: D:\I386\asms. Error Message: The parameter is incorrect.” I wanted to try the solution #2 from John T, but I don’t know how to turn off BIOS IDE Prefetch & disable a UDMA setting for ALL IDE channels and devices. Can anyone tell how to do so OR any other solution to install XP on my brand new PC (containing no software).

I am having a major problem with XP error
d:\i386|ASMS PARAMMETER INCORRECT. The PC is a Compaq deskpro SFF..I Have tried several machines of the same type with the same problem..Any body help as it is frustrating..thanks

I had a problem with that ” asms ” file and i just kept rebooting and it some how worked?

I had a problem with that ” asms ” file and i just kept rebooting and it some how worked?

Had parameter missing error same as u all - using MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR Ultra 400 Mobo and new Barton 3000+ running at 2166Mhz - when trying to install XP Pro - tried swapping to a normal DVD drive - instead of DVD RW - no joy :( - tried installing from HD - missing eula ? - wtf - now i try ide prefetch and udma etc - ill let u know.

no joy - got same error - but then i restarted but used a different cd (dvd rw drive) - it got further! - but gave me invalid windows xp pro id etc and failed.

P.S. If i dont install using 100FSB Safe Mode it turns my pc off when it tries to start windows - pfft

Reformatted c: and started install fresh using new cd - its on installing devices now! - fingers crossed!

bah - the only way i can install xp pro is to do it in fsb safe mode…

and the system now likes to shut down or reboot at random intervals!

Guys, Can someone tell me what is the actual name or title of the XP pro cd? Ive burnt one but forgot to title it so its titled new and the NT installer dosn’t like it….many thanks.

Try this:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;311755&

I too had this dreaded error. After much searching on the internet, finding a support article that helped me not at all, several people on message boards with the same problem (none of which helped me), I decided to take the CD out & look at it in my other computer. The folder was there & everything seemed to be kosher. I put it back into the other computer & still no luck. More searching on internet to no avail. I took the CD out again and turned it over. There was one fingerprint smudge on the back. I cleaned it off & WAH LAH it worked. Go figure. :-)

I just installed windows xp pro that gave me the same grief. I replaced the old HP burner with a new samsung and it purrs like a kitten now. Why do they put such garbage on some pcs? HRMPH.

Why do they put such garbage on some pcs?

Because they can. When you shop solely on price, you get the cheapest stuff available.

Same f*cking error D:\I386\asms
But after 3 days i have fixed it.
CD is bad.
You must first on another pc put all the files from the XP cd on your harddisk.
Then burn the files from the harddisk on a new cd.
Voila, it was fixed.

Same error. changed disc from sony dru 500ax to liteon 165h and voila works like a dream

i have found that bad memory addresses can cause this as well, if you can change the module and use only one module at a time while installing.

Had the same problems, tried to install and got the same errors! I changed hardware, settings, etc. Finally I cleaned the cd and it installed. Upon closer inspection I found a minor scratch and finger print! Go Figure!

7 days into the upgrade mess of XP from ME. Two days trying to clean GOBACK 2.22 off the wrapped computer from Gateway, since XP saw this as a blocking violation.

Well now I get the dredded D:\I386\ASMS error on setup. I reloaded ME over a 1/2 dozen time now and I would like to try and format the c: drive, but the system disk that you create does not allow you to get to the the c: drive to format. I have searched numerous sites on what needs to be done, but nothing.

I might try burning a copy of XP and see if that works, since the somewhere the file might be corrupt on the CD. Any suggestion.

Signed,
Tired.

I had this problem with a HP machine.. and it ended up being their quality cd burner that wasn’t reading the disc correctly

Reinstalling XP Pro on my PC and got the same message as everyone else. Took the CD-R out and wiped it with a cloth, put it back in the CD-ROM and rebooted. Everything works fine now.

I have this problem with a dell Notebook, I burn another copy of WIN XP, but before that i saw the comment from another person on this site, and he mention somenthing importan to clean the disc and try again, i though this was funny because my cd was new, but it was a tinny part of the cd with some kind of dist, and i clean the disc and everything works perfect……you are not going to believed this one but you better try to clean you disc…

I386 error, over and over, no matter what bios settings or repeated formats of HD. Put XP pro disk in DVD player above older CD player and - Presto!- installation completed.

Thanks to passerby’s post above!!!

Well, having the same problem with XP Pro as the rest. I have tried cleaning and formating but to no avail.

Any other possible solutions out there?

-JON

Loading up a known-good CD of another Windows OS, as noted upthread, seems to work for some folks, if you have another optical drive. And I guess there’s plenty of *koff*other ways*koff* to get another copy of the actual media. If you’ve paid for it, I don’t know what case MSFT would have if you found a home-made warez copy worked when theirs didn’t.

Well, I tried for about 2 hours, using every possible solution out there on the web. Eventually, it just worked for some strange reason. O.o

Oh well at least it works after a while. Better late than never, right? (actually that logic doesn’t work if you actually PAYED for a “quality OS”)

I noticed that the one time it did work was when I got the message that the file was missing and I ejected/ re loaded the disc rather than clicking the ok message and then ejecting. Maybe that’s the trick? Who knows….

Had the same shit on a Packard-Bell, bad cd/dvd player in it.
Used 4 different XP cd’s at no avail….
Then started to swap cd players, and yes, after the 3rd player no more I386/asms error.

Same here.
Switched form a brand new Lite-On DVD-RW
to an old Samsung CD drive and no more asms error.

Sept 6, 2007. I followed a couple of the poster’s advice on changing the IDE prefetch/UDMA settings (about 4 year old post). Worked like a champ. I assume I should change the BIOS settings back to default after I’m done doing the install.

FYI - I’m doing a fresh install (booting from CD - XP Pro w/SP2) on a dinosaur - Compaq Deskpro EN-D Pentium 3 600mhz

Going to try to use this machine as a ‘project’ PVR, just an fyi. Wish me luck.

AND THANKS FOR THE FIX - INSTALLED XP - no problem. Now to install a day’s worth of updates from Microsoft - YAY!

Wow, quite a history for “Installation Failed D:\I386\asms: ErrorMessage : The paramter is incorrect”!

I had this problem with a brand new Systemax box (no OS).

Tore my hair for a few hours (to the point where I resembled Albert Enstein) trying to fix this…

Then I read this blog, decided to swap out the cheap Chinese s**t DVD burner with a slightly more expensive brand name Japanese burner and viola! Problem solved.

Note to self: You get what you pay for.

Dave

PS …Buy my movie! : )

I had this same problem but solved it in the following way:

Burnt a new copy of the ISO at 4x and used the disc-at-once method in Nero.

Fixed the problem!

(it’s recomended by other forums to use disc-at-once, when burning a iso file)

Hi, I also had the same asms problem using an HP light scribe DVD burner. After 2 hours or so of trying different discs did a google search, found this page and then replaced the unit with an older oem dvd drive and the install went through with out a hitch. Is there a problem with new HP burners???

This problem bugged me for days, XP Cd I was using worked for me countless times before. Disk was burned from an ISO image - so I just extracted the files from the ISO file to a folder on another PC and just burned the files normally and gave it the proper disk name (XPVOL_En). Worked like a charm, only thing is it won’t boot but once the installation is started from the original CD that won’t be a problem.

i ave a problem..im reinstalling win xp…i ave a windows home ed laptop n a windows pro cd. installin lyk dis wont allow me 2 validate d laptop. so i downloaded win home from d internet n stuk it on ma ext. hard drive.

wat im plannin on doin is installin once wiv d pro CD den install again wiv d home from ma harddrive. howeva wen i install wiv pro cd it asks 4 win pro service pak 2 cd which i dont ave. i dont kno y its askin dis, its neva done so b4. but its askin for d an ‘asms’ file. if ne1 knows how 2 solve dis prob plz email me fanx

muddin1990@gmail.com

[I suggest you read through the other replies: I think this has been addressed.]

Took out cd… looked for dust or prints… none found. Wiped CD anyway and ran it again… works. Go figure… another MS POS. Time for a Mac.

I had the same problem, and it seems like the CD was bad, because when I wanted to copy all the files to a folder on the hard drive (on 2 other computers), there were 3 files that refused to get copied: those under \I386\ASMS\6000\MSFT\WINDOWS\COMMON\CONTROLS (COMCTL32.DLL, CONTROLS.CAT & CONTROLS.MAN).
I used MagicISO to create an ISO-image for the Windows XP Pro installation CD, and replaced the above mentionned files by working ones from another CD (which was Home Edition btw, didn’t make a difference), and burned to a new CD-R, which worked flawlessly! ;-)

I read a bunch on this and it all seems to be a problem with track-at-once disc’s versus disc-at-once modes for burning iso images. Some cd/dvd drives will work with the track-at-once disc’s and that is why some people fixed it with changing the ultradma settings or using an older drive. For me I just burned an image of the original track-at-once disc to a new disc-at-once and it worked fine. Also check for smudges etc as this will produce the same effect…

I had the same problem. I went into the BIOS and first, allowed booting from external connections (USB/Firewire) and second, made a USB DVD-RW drive my first boot option. Then I started up the drive, put the XP CD in. Then I saved the BIOS settings, exited and it restarted the computer. This time, the install process went perfectly.

I have a Pentium III 866 MHz, 20 GB hard disk, 256 RAM. When I load windows xp sp2 boot up cd in my computer, set-up file is load but Windows logon screen does not appear. Instead, my computer reboots continually . What should I do to prevent this?
Please help me and replay-tuscan29@gmail.com

I had the same problem with the Installation Failed D:\I386\asms: ErrorMessage : The paramter is incorrect” error. I fixed it by creating a new disc in Alcohol with the RAW DAO method.

“Installation Failed D:\I386\asms.”

1) Remove XP disk from drive. Throw it away.
2) Pray for forgiveness that you ever even touched a Max or Linux.
3) Apologize for installing WindowsXP, and not Vista x64.
4) Be thankful for WindowsXP, and that it will still install (it will).
5) Burn new XP disk with “Disk At Once” at 4x (Nero, Alcohol, PowerISO, whatever).
6) While waiting, make an effigy that looks like a square flag, cut into four equal parts: top left box is solid red; top right box is solid green; bottom left box is solid blue; botton right box is solid yellow. Now make it a little-bit wavy.
7) Insert your new XP disk and continue the setup.

It might work now. It did for me. I think what did it was either step 4 or 6, but I can’t be sure.

I tried installing XP home on a Compaq laptop, and it gave me the asms error. I used a copy i burnt. Tried cleaning it, but no luck. Tried it with an original xp cd, Same error!

So for me the problem was NOT with the way i burnt my cd.

well i was about to try copying the :\I386 folder to the harddisk, when it was rebooting once again and trying to install, and for some magical reason now it worked.. :O Weird stuff..

I’d say, summarizing:
_______________________________________________
-Clean the disc properly, huff n puff and wipe it clean
-Try making a new copy as suggested above, with the settings “Disk At Once” at 4x speed(low speed)
-Try copying the \I386 folder to your hddisk and find out which files are missing, add them manually
-Perhaps this is useful too http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;311755&
-Or have it work magically when you’re at your wits end.. Take out your cd, Turn off your pc, dance around the room with your disc chanting mysterious songs, and who knows what might happen… :O
GOOD LUCK
_______________________________________________

Another suggestion is to burn the disk to a DVD instead. I used Nero to burn an .iso of xp. Opened the image and selected DVD and burned. Hey Voila!

After going through LOTS of site(s) comments on the I386/ASMS problem, this is what worked for me. With a superfast PHILLIPS DVD drive, I had lotsa file errors when loading. I would remove the disc, clean, the disc would pick up where it left off, BUT still had the I386/ASMS “can’t find file” problem. I then switched to a WIN 98 era DVD drive, and noticed immediate improvement in file loading, but STILL could not find I386/ASMS folder about 39 minutes into loading Windows.

Man, am I glad I held onto my cheesy, circa WIN 95 Creative DVD drive in my old Win2K computer. It’s slow READ speed proved to be just the ticket!
All files read, NO I386/ASMS problem…everything went in! Just like Heinz ketchup…real slooooooooow (about an hour and a half total). Sometimes you want to be the tortoise, not the hare. Look for the oldest drive you can find.

Hope this helps someone.

My brother-in-law is currently having this exact same problem; d:\i386\asms failure. In his case he is attempting to bring up Windows Media Center. So far from the posts above it appears to be pointing towards some fine line problem with the media. Speed of reading and cleaning have some common ground as far as cause for failure. So now it appears my BIL has a couple of options.
Clean the CD/DVD
Find a slower drive to read the data from.
Move all the files to a folder and burn new CD/DVD at a slower speed.

As for changing the BIOS not really sure what that is contributing to the failure and hoping someone can tie that all in as to why the ideas posted here are pointing to a common cause.

Will keep you posted as I am about to suggest my B-I-L read this posting and attempt every item. Have to admit the “magically worked” posting scared me a bit after reading them. Is Windows actually voodoo connected?

I don’t know that sacrifices or arcane rites are necessary, but they can’t hurt.

In all seriousness, this seems to be coming down to a driver issue, indicated by older hardware being more likely to work. Is there some feature in the newer hardware (read speed, caching) that the driver can’t actually do? The older drives would have less advanced capabilities and perhaps that’s why they work — the driver never attempts those capabilities.

I have been down this road!
2 possible solutions, 1 definitely worked for me, no magic!

1. Follow the MS article, you need a working Barts CD of Windows instead of installing al over to another partition;; when you open the hive in regedit in Bart’s Windows from CD, , make sure you go up the directory list to find C drive windows intallation “windows\system32\config\system.sav” when you open the hive in regedit.

Then if that class “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Test\ControlSet1\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}” is not there (mine was missing), make a new class key with that name; but -don’t- get rid of mouse, keyboard, as I did, by deleting those other class key “upperfilters”; exit regedit, and let setup run again; CD rom should now be found; I guess sometimes the registry class gets missed in the installation, probably a CD drive problem…

2. The fat32 solution might work once you are in Bart’s Windows; if you can copy the i386 folder to the Cdrive somehow; haven’t tried cos the other worked.

Best, Arjayu

PS - not sure if that answer is the reason mine is fixed or not; maybe there was some magic, as the first time I did it, I did -not- make that class key, just deleted all the “upperfilters” in the other keys, and the CD ROM started reading, then found mouse and keyboard not working, so put them all back in; maybe it would have worked without making the new class key, but I doubt it, and I’m not going there again to find out in a hurry!
Arjayu

PPS - this did not work by only making that key the next time!

Randall