Windows 7 – Cannot copy files required for installation error

Posted by Greg Jacobs on 23rd December 2009

I recently received the “Cannot copy files required for installation” error (with error code 0×80070017) when trying to install Windows 7 on my PC.  After some investigation I found that the top 3 reasons this happens are:

1. The DVD you are using is corrupt.  If you are burning the ISO image to a DVD, you need to choose the lowest speed and be sure to verify it after burn (I used 4x)

2. Your memory may be playing up.  Run a memory test using the free tool from http://www.memtest.org.  Any errors reported need to be ironed out.  I simply took out 2gb of the 4gb my system had installed and this cleared the error.  I then re-inserted the memory when Windows 7 had installed.

3. Reset your BIOS settings to default and make sure you are not aggressively over clocking your system.

Good luck!