Windows XP Setup - "Setup is (apparently) starting wind

[hendrix]

Good Afternoon! This is my first post, and I'm sure its a problem many of you have seen before (because I've read a lot of posts about it) but none of the solutions I've found help me.

I am installing Windows XP on a new machine with the following specs:
ASUS KN7X-X Motherboard
Athlon XP 2500
Kingston Value ram pc3200 512 MB
LG CD-RW/DVD
Maxtor 7200 RPM, ATA133
GeForce2 Video card (swapped with a no-name PCI video card for the install)

Error: In the last step of the text only intallation step my computer "hangs" at the line "Setup is starting windows". The keyboard lights flash on and then turn off, the power On/Off ceases to function, and only the reset button or unplugging the computer has any effect.

Things I've tried:

NTFS partition and format before each install

Memtest86 - first three tests passed

Hard drive utilities - All passed

Loading the i386 folder to the hard drive using another computer - failed because I was unable to boot to a state where I could access the files on
the NTFS Formatted hard drive.

Using another video card for the install

Using lower frequencies for the memory as suggested by ASUS

Bios is the latest version

I welcome any suggestions from you!

Best Regards,
Scott

[brad]

Have you verified all of these: ?

brad

[Restek]

One other option - is this before the reboot at the end of the text install, or after it? If it's before it, is it possible that your CD is damaged?

[hendrix]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, I really appreciate your help!

Brad, unfortunately I have tried all of the suggestions from MS.

I attempted to load the 3rd party driver for the UDMA 100 port manually, with the same effect.

I've also tried to run setup with the different ACPI HALs - no effect.

This problem occurs before the first reboot in the setup sequence. I do not believe it is my disk because I have tried two others and gotten the same "Hang."

I'm trying to get my hands on a different CD player to swap out, but other than that I'm out of options. This could count as the "mass storage device" in the microsoft troubleshooting also in retrospect, so I will try to do this soon.

[hendrix]

Has anyone ever had similar conflicts when installing Windows XP using an LG CD-Combo drive?