XP Keeps Resuming Failing Install

[Guest robertinder@googlemail.com]

I have an IBM/Lenovo X31 (XP Pro) and a LaCie external CD/DVD drive.

 

Recently, I bought a mobile phone/PDA (an XDA from O2) which runs

Windows Mobile 5. But when I attempted to install the software from

the "Getting Started" disk, things went wrong.

 

The installer told me I needed to install "Active Sync", and asked me

whether I first wanted to install Outlook so that it would synchronise

addresses and so forth. I said Yes, and away it went.

 

But then Outlook installation failed: it went slower and slower, with

longer and longer pauses between accesses to the CD, until it stopped

altogether. But the moment I re-booted, it resumed the installation,

with no more success. I took the CD out adn re-booted again, but hwen

I put the CD back in, it again tried to resume the installation and

locked up the entire machine --- not even the mouse pointer would

move. And after re-booting from that, the machine could not see the

CD at all.

 

After struggling for several hours, managed to get the CD drive

working again by uninstalling the USB controllers and allowing Windows

to re-detect them. But again, the moment I put the CD into the drive,

it immediately (i.e. without asking) launched into the doomed

installation, and locked up the machine yet again.

 

As things stand, I don't care about Outlook but I still need to

install Active Sync. So I need to find out how to get the CD to ask

me what I want to do.

 

So how can I stop this zombie installation? What did the CD do to the

machine so that it now tries to resume installing Outlook without

prompting for what to do? And how can I undo it?

 

Robert.