Problem reinstalling Windows XP

I attempted to reinstall Windows XP on my computer and it seemed to be going through the process fine until one point when its "Installing Devices" and it said there were 33minutes left and it just froze. So I turned off the surge protectoer in order to turn off my computer and when it went to start up it continued where it left off and froze again. So I tried to restart in Safe Mode but it said that could not be done and restarted back to the frozen screen. Any idea what I could possibly do about this problem?

Could be a faulty piece of hardware or the BIOS settings are off. Is anything overclocked?

What do you mean by overclocked?

Is this a legit CD of XP or a copy ? ?
If legit check the CD for scratches and or smudges or borrow a known working one.

patio.

There are no scratches and I also tried another CD. Is there anything else it could be? It keeps freezing at 33 minutes.

I had the same thing happen when helping a friend install XP one time. turned out the CD rom was faulty, soon as I replaced it the instal went fine.

It is almost definitely a faulty piece of hardware, such as the CD-ROM. But anything goes....

If you can, strip you system down to a bare minimum. System board, cpu & fan, one module of memory, video card (use integrated if you have it), hard drive, cd-rom.

If this works for you, great. Then you can narrow down the problem to what you had taken out. If it doesn't work, then you have a problem. Perhaps with the optical drive or hard drive may be to blame.

Windows isn't perfect either... You may some sort of bizzarre compatibility issue with a certain cominbation of hardware, but I've only seen this happen a total of maybe 2 times after thousands of Windows installs on a variety of old and new PCs. So I doubt this is the case.

Thank you for the advice, and that, in a way, makes me happy because I've just been looking for a reason to upgrade to a DVD burner. Maybe even upgrade my memory. Any suggestions?

I've got a Dell Dimension 4600C, any suggestions on those upgrades?

as Rick pointed out it is definitely a hardware issue. whether or not it is your optical drive or not is another matter. however if you are looking for a DVD burner I would suggest the BenQ 1640. it is an excellent burner, good enough that Plextor has rebadged it as the Plextor 740.

your best bet though to see if your optical drive is the problm is to borrow one from a friend if you dont have another one and try it to see ifit solves the problem.

had you upgraded any parts before trying this reinstall? or s the machine still the same as when you bought it?

No, I have not added any hardware since I first bought it. So I'll see if i can borrow an optical drive and try that.

I've also had the computer for almost 2 and a half years now and it is on most of the time, would that burn anything out in anyway?