Error Message: Setup Was Unable to Build the List of Files to Be Copied. The System Cannot Find the Path...

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This article was previously published under Q301933

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SYMPTOMS

When you install Windows XP and you are not using the /unattend switch, you may receive the following error message:

Setup was unable to build the list of files to be copied. The system cannot find the path specified.

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CAUSE

This issue can occur if the Windows source files are not contained in a folder that is named i386.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, rename the folder that contains the Windows source files to i386.

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All of the files that are needed for the installation of Windows XP are contained in the i386 folder. These files are called the source files. Some users may want to copy the Windows source files in the i386 to a local hard drive or network share. The Windows XP Setup program (Winnt32.exe) searches for the source files in the i386 folder, and if the files are not in this folder, Setup generates the error message that is listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article. NOTE: If you receive the error message that is listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article while you are running an unattended installation, view the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

281652 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281652/EN-US/ ) Setup Was Unable to Build the List of Files to Be Copied

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