Reformat error? plz help :(

I have vista 32 bit as of now. I got windows XP pro SP3 and when I put in the desk and reboot it says "press a key to boot from CD..." then I press it and it does its stuff.

When it gets to "Setup is starting windows" it goes to a blue screen error and says "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer."

Does anyone know what the problem is and how to fix it?

This guy has the same computer and error as me but I don't understand what he's saying cause I'm terrid.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/237460-45-installation-erroring-finished

Could someone please let me know what it's saying to do?

Greatly appreciated.

We do need more then that to even try to help you.

You can start by telling us your computer configuration. Motherboard info (make, model, interfaces), HDD info (IDE/SATA), Optical info (IDE/SATA)... master/slave, what you tried already... stuff like that.

There are many things that can be wrong, like:

- bad hardware (hdd is dying, mb ide/sata controller going nuts, ide/sata cable problem)

- bad bios settings (MBR read only option?, ide/sata hdd has strange config, like bad lba setup, 16/32bit access etc.)

- bad os support (xp doesn't have the right drivers for your hardware)

- bad os disk (unlikely but it happened before)

- bad user ( )

Help us to help you.

Do really need more info.

Last time I came across this error was some1 had connected the hdd on the same ide cable as the optical, using a 40p ribbon. Have a vague memory of it coming about when a hdd is connected to the center of the ribbon, with nothing attached to the end.

It's something from the old k7/virgin xp days.