i just built a new pc. the specs are: P4 2.26 GHz 533 MHz SB 120 GB Western Digital Hard Drive 430 Watt Power Supply 2 Cooling Fans 1 CPU Fan TDK CDRW Sony DVDROM Soyo P4YS645DX Dragon Ultra Motherboard 512MB DDR PC2700 RAM GeForce4 ti4600 WinTV PVR PCI Sound blaster Audigy Gamer Anything else just ask... My problem is when I try to install Windows XP Professional, booting from my CD ROM, it always freezes when installing devices at about halfway through. I've tried a few things. I have tried loading the default settings in my BIOS, I've tried installing Windows 98B (went in fine) and then installing XP, I've tried only having the video card, RAM, and CPU, hard drive in there while installing, I've tried using both CDRW and DVD to install with the CD. All these haven't worked. What else can I do?

I've noticed this freeze during installation. Reset my machine a few times and started from scratch. I've learned that if let alone it has finished the install without errors. Give it some time, grab a beer and watch some football or NASCAR. It takes on average 50 minutes for me to install XP Pro on my machine.

you saying i should just leave it? its a brand new machine hard drive empty. why should it take so long? is it only pro or home also? and hey i would sit back and watch some baseball im in new york but damn those mets suck lately

Morris- I don't drink beer and I cannot stand baseball but this problem sounds extremely familiar. I have the same situation with XP home. It stops at what sounds like the exact spot yours does. The progress bar for loading devices is in the middle. The only thing I see that we have in common is a 645 chipset. I don't know if this can cause the hang-up. I have loaded Windows 2000 Pro on the computer and it loads perfectly. Maybe more than one problem will get a usable response. If you have any further info please share.

I tried getting a new disk, this times Windows XP Home, and same effect, even left it on for 7 hours, still froze the exact same spot. Tried it with the CDRW, then DVD. I've just about had it. I don't want to install 98 because it is unstable and Windows 2000 isnt great for gaming (Which I need) and Windows ME I guess I could live with but for spending this kind of money on parts I dont want to use ME.

found out the motherboard isnt on the HCL for win xp, i dont get that being the manufacturer, soyo listed it as windows xp compatabile..