Help re-installing XP Pro

[Ozzie]

I've been running Windows XP Pro on my system for over a
year without problems. I've installed all the maintenance
releases. Last week I began to experience problems with
deleting files - trying to delete anything would freeze
the system. The only way out was to turn off the computer
and reboot. I ran all diagnostics in the system, and
checked it for viruses - all fine. Yesterday, as a
desperate last ditch attempt, I tried to perform a hot
install of XP.

First I get the message that I need to re-activate
Windows because the system "has changed since first
install".(Not true since it was installed in exactly the
same system with same peripherals.) A call to MS solved
that problem. The installation goes smoothly until step
3 - "Installing Windows" - about 60% of the way through
with "34 minutes to go" the install process stops.

I have now attempted the re-install six times. Tried
booting from the CD, tried everything I can think of. At
some point, I checked the error log. For all the frozen
installs the same error was listed --- "Setup encountered
an error while trying to setup system security. An
extended error has occurred." -- I have not seen this
error in the Knowledge base.

The system was originally W2K and I upgraded it for the
newer version of XDV. It's been a long tme since I've
tried a hot install, or even a clean install over and
existing setup, so I need some guidance. As I said, I
have experienced no problems until now.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Ryan]

Hopefully there is a specific error number with that
security installation problem. What you are describing
sounds like it could be a hardware problem. I remember
having a problem with files because the wrong hard disk
driver was being used. It was OK on the C:, but when I
installed a second drive, things got really weird.

 

[Ozzie]

There is no error number since I'm getting it from the
installation log - a text document that records what has
happened during installation. I never get an error
message pop up on the screen.

What's baffling is that this is a very stable system.
Since I use it for video editing, I never add anything to
it and keep it clean. So for this problem to pop up out
of nowhere is puzzling. I'll keep trying.

oz