I'm installing Vista and upon the post-install boot I get nothing but a blank screen.

I've had Vista installed before, so this cannot be a hardware problem.

My problem originally started when I had Vista installed on my main hd and wanted to install XP on a separate hd. On second boot (after XP text-based intallation) I would get 'error loading operating system' no matter which hd I prioritized in boot order through BIOS.

Now when I reinstall Vista I get a blank screen after BIOS. No errors - just blank. I've deleted all my original partitions on my 2. hd and formatted both drives through the Vista install cd, but the problem persists.

My ultimate goal is to have an XP/Vista dual boot setup, and I realize now that installing XP first would have been the way to go, but as things are now I can't get either OS working.

People who are more knowledgeable than me - what can I do?

nvm

problem went away. turns out I was experiencing an exceptionally long boot.