Hi guys, I am new to this site and have spent the better part of 2 weeks trying to sort this problem.

Firstly, I started having problems with a slow PC, no viruses and no malicious programs found at all.. So I decided to reinstall windows, herein lies the problem.

After trying to use 2 disks, I finally got one to register as a boot disk and formatted the hard drive to reinstall XP. It did this, then installed the files, rebooted as normal.

But then, it came up saying a system32 file called hal.dll was missing... Now, after about 4 days of trying, this to say the least was bad enough, but then, I tried getting 2 more disks to try off a friend, at which point, one skips the boot process altogether (doesn't ask me to press any key to boot from disk). The other one, well, it installed all the files, set to installing the program and got to 34mins left to install and froze every time. Then it reboots the system, starts again at 39 minutes to install, then the process starts over...

So then, to test things, I borrow a Vista disk off him to see if that will install... I start the install, partition/format the HD again, it begins to install, then comes up with an error message saying it couldn't install all the files on the HD.

Now, that's 4 disks and 2 OS that I'm having problems with, but none found BEFORE uninstalling windows... So I have no idea what the problem is, I've reinstalled windows loads of times and NEVER had this problem. Nor have any of my friends who work with them on a daily basis...

I have 2 HD, a SATA and an IDE drive, both are Western Digital in make. I tried installing it on both drives to no avail, then attempting each disk again with each drive, completely unhooking the other one on at the same time. Still nothing...

This is driving me crazy as to buy new hardware to see if that's the problem could start to get pricey!

Almost 2 weeks with nothing bar an old laptop is really grating me now :(. Does anyone know how to sort this problem out?

Thanks in advance.

What PC are you trying to install XP on?

Did you lose the recovery disc(s) that came with the PC?

I'd start by verifying all the hardware components are good by running the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic (available on their web site) and perhaps an overnight exerciser (Hitachi Drive Fitness Test) concluding with a complete erase (Active Killdisk). Follow that with a thorough memory exerciser (MemTest) for several hours or overnight. Then swap power supply and CD drive if possible. Only thing left is then motherboard.

How large are the drives?