I have an 80GB hard drive. So what I do is delete all partitions, and then proceed to put the OS on unallocated space. The computer then formats and promptly installs after. Is there another process I should be using?
Not necessarily "should" but yes there is another you could use. Boot to DOS w/CDROM support (a la Win98 boot disk or similar), make a couple partitions- 1 for OS and 1 for diagnostic, utility, etc. Format the 2nd one FAT32, at least 650MB or so and copy your XP CD's files to it.
Note whether all the files copied. It will take eons, or it could go a lot faster if your DOS boot device loads Smartdrive (Google for a howto if unfamiliar with these old DOS programs).
So you see if the CD will copy all to the HDD, AND then you have them all on HDD which would makek subsequent attempts at installation much faster.
Another alternative is to put the files on a thumbdrive, if your system will boot to it. Again it should load smartdrive.
These aren't really cures though, you probably have a memory problem, rarely it could be other instability from motherboard, overheating CPU, flaky PSU, etc. We could start an urban myth that Vista breaks hardware! :twisted: