Xp repair install freezing

[AndyD]

I am trying to do a repair install but the install is freezing with 35mins
left. It is curently trying to install devices.

I have tried the following

Changed the Ram
Ghosted to new HDD
Rebooted using Debug - but no message

Please could somebody point me in the right direction.

Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop with 512mb ram (using 1gb at the moment)

Regards
Andy

 

[Andrew E.]

Why would one "ghost" a OS to another hd if its in need of repair.....
Set youre BIOS boot priority correctly (cd 1st,hd 2nd),boot to xp
cd,install xp,
repair or new install.

 

[AndyD]

I have ghosted to a new drive just in case it is the HDD at fault and that it
does not matter what I do to the data. Also I have booted from the CD and
tried a repair and it is then when it freezes. I don't want to do a new
install because I don't want to lose the data I have.