"As before, it seem to hang while loading acpitabl.dat." Not that it is any help to you whatsoever, but I have exactly the same problem, but worse. I just installed XP64 pro on a Dell Precision 490. I get to acpitabl.dat, and then the computer just hangs indefinitely. I left it for about an hour once, just to make sure, still nothing. Just stuck on acpitabl.dat Let me know if you ever find a solution.......