Last night around 10 PM I started reinstalling Windows XP on a laptop. I know it doesn't take this long for it to install. It is now sitting at 40% reformatting. Should it be taking this long?

Short answer is no, If you have a floopy drive in that computer you could use a 98 or ME rescue disk to delete the non dos partition then create a dos partition, format it then install XP on the dos and then convert it to NTFS or you could start the XP install over and format the Dos partition like normal. This usually works when I have your problem.

PS. I have an ISO of 98 startup disk that runs in the cd rom, I can Email it to you if you want.

Thanks for the info GRS, guess I spoke to soon. It finally went and all is well now. Maybe it was sleeping for the night...lol.

Usually, the above situation indicates Windows install problem with some hardware. More info: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828267/en-us

I need the drivers now. That was talked about in the post that Smokey made here: http://www.smartestcomputing.us.com/index.php?showtopic=6742 way down at the bottom. I have done what it says, but there doesn't seem to be any drivers. I then installed AvRack and that doesn't seem to work either. It keeps rebooting and then pops up a window after restarting that says the computer has recovered from a critcal whatever. What do I need for the sound. You know it's the ones in Device Manager under Other with all the yellow ? marks.

It looks like this laptop has some problems, some hardware problems, in my opinion.
What is the brand, and model?

It's an IBM ThinkPad. I don't see any model number. I do see Type 2887.
I was thinking of reinstalled XP from another disc that I have.

What's the story about this laptop? How old is it? Have you had it for a while?

Don't anything about it. It also belongs to Robyn's friend.
What do you think about reinstalling XP from another CD that I have? I'm pretty sure the drivers are on it, as I've used it before on one of Robyn's computers.

Peggy, All computers with newly installed operating systems need several drivers from the computers manufacturer. You won't find those drivers on a windows install disk. There is no way Microsoft could include every driver for every piece of hardware on the open market. You need to find out more about that computer or you will have to go to the IBM site and guess. If you do start installing drivers that you are not sure about just create a restore point and uninstall using system restore instead of trying to uninstall using add and remove.

Having said that, about one out of every 10 windows install that I do turns out to be a "bad install". It just happens. One of the ways to check if you have a bad install is to look on the start menu. If it says "administrator" or something other than the name that you inserted during the first boot to the desktop, it's a bad install. If not, you should be ok.

For some unknown reason some computers just pause during the installation of an operating system.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/TPAD-MATRIX.html

You may also...

Download, and install Everest: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
Open it, click Computer, then Summary.
In upper menu, go Report>Quick Report-Summary
Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Don't include anything under line Debug - PCI

I can only type what it says, as it isn't connected to the internet for me to copy and paste.

CPU Type......Mobile Intel Celeron M 320, 1300 MHz (13x100)
Motherboard Name.....IBM ThinkPad R51
Motherboard Chipset.......Intel Montara- GM+ i855GME
System Memory....118 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type.....Phoenix (12/20/04)


Video Adapter......Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Audio Adapter......Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M - AC'97 Audio Controller [A-1]........this might be the AvRack that I installed.

IDE Controller........Intel ® 82801DBM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CA
Disk Drive........FUJITSU MHT 2030AT ( 30 GB, 4200 RPM, Ultra0ATA/100)
Optical Drive....TEAC CD-224E (24x CD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status.....OK

C: (NTFS)......25913 MB (23784 MB free)

Here's your drivers Peggy.

Note: Your system memory size is very low. Check to see if you have a dis-lodged module.

Thank you guys (Broni, GRS & Smokey) very much. Everything is fine and all done with the Laptop soon as I make new restore point.....

Cool :)