It will get to Installing Devices and stop. One thing I did was hold the power button down until it shut off, and once it turned back on the setup resumed and the install completed. Is this copy of XP corrupt now that I had to power it off like that?

I think it may be the hard drive going bad, is there any utilities someone knows of that I can test on here to tell? Or maybe you know why its stalling only at Installing Devices?

Edited February 14, 200917 yr by tal ormanda

What media (CD/DVD) are you using for that install? ... is it an original from MS or from Dell ?

Removed unused modem card, disabled floppy, NIC, audio in BIOS. Problem fixed.

you can use this tool test it

http://www.nbhacker.com/2009/02/13/hard-dr...-311-build-207/

If you suspect the hard disk, first check the S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive (I would recommend using SpeedFan).

Then, if S.M.A.R.T. appears fine, use the manufacturer's hard disk diagnostic program to check the disk.

Report the version of "newdev.dll" located at "%SystemRoot%\system32".

I recently experienced an issue when installing a copy of windows XP on the HP I was setting up. When I was installing windows the install got hung up at the "Installing Hardware Devices." The install remained hung with 34 minutes remaining. After doing some research on some of the forums. I learned that if you remove all unnesscary cards (i.e. wireless card, modem card, and extra RAM) and rebooted the machine the installation process continued without any hangups. I was able to install the software and then go back and install the cards I took out with no problems. I hope this helps someone as frustrated as I was. Good Luck!

Edited March 15, 200917 yr by comprepairnow

With more than 4 GB RAM installed XP often crashes or stops at installation.

Remove RAM for installation and add it again after XP-Install.