I uninstalled/reinstalled still no luck. But .... I rebooted into Safe mode (with networking) And ... It seems to have worked. We'll see when I try to actually install XP onto my HP Laptop if: a - the slipstreamed disc is okay and works as intended; and, b - there are no proprietary roadblocks thrown up by HP to dissuade one from overwriting their bloated version of Windows XP with a retail version.