Error when installing XP

[Guest]

I just purchased a Western Digital 320MB hard drive and tried to install XP
home edition. It runs through the Formatting portion and then starts copying
files. During copying files the computer restarts to a black screen, I get
the "To boot from disk press any key..." message and then, immediately below
that I get this message:
"A disk read error has occurred
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart."

Can anyone help???

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I just purchased a Western Digital 320MB hard drive and tried to
install XP home edition. It runs through the Formatting portion and
then starts copying files. During copying files the computer
restarts to a black screen, I get the "To boot from disk press any
key..." message and then, immediately below that I get this message:
"A disk read error has occurred
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart."

Can anyone help???

First - 320GB is what I think you mean (Gigabyte, not Megabyte.)
Second - what service pack level is the installation CD you are attempting
to utilize? None? SP1? SP2?
Third - what does your BIOS see (for the hard disk drive)?
Fourth - is your CD drive and CD clean?
Fifth - Are all the cables securely fastened and all the jumpers set
correctly?

 

[Guest]

I've also had bad power supplies give me fits on repairs and fresh installs
of XP.

Generally speaking, if it fails during the text portion of the setup, you
should start looking at various hardware.