Cannot install vista ultimate X32 or X64

[Maximilian]

Hi, ive been having problems with my comp, ive given it away to the parents and one of the hard drives started clicking a few days ago but then it stopped, as of today it wouldnt boot up at all, it would pause after saying "boot from CD" at the point where its meant to boot from the hard drive so i figure the drives died. Fair enough its 5+ years old and had a good run its the only part of that computer thats more than 2 years old.

So ive tried to install windows vista again on a different 80GB hdd from another computer where the PSU exploded (antec with fuhyu or w/e caps, also 5 years old) but i was able to access the hard drive i pulled out so it was not harmed by the PSU dying. But when it is plugged into the newer computer my parents now use it is recognized but windows will not install at all, i get an error with a code of "0X80070057", i cant remember the error ill update this later with it. All 3 hard drives (even the clicky one that i think is broken, it dosent click anymore btw) are recognized in the BIOS and in windows setup.

Hard drives involved:

80GB seagate IDE - From other computer where PSU blew, was accessible after PSU blew without any problems so this drive is working fine from what i can tell. This drive is 1 year old.

160GB WD IDE - This is likely the broken drive that was clicking and was already in my parents comp to begin with.

160GB Samsung SP IDE - This is also 5+ years old and was already in my parents comp, should work fine as it wasent used much.

Specs:
Opteron 170@ 2.0ghz
Abit AN8 SLI 32x (updated, it just said AN8 SLI before when its actually the 32x version)
7900 GTO
4GB DDR 3200
soundblaster audigy 2 ZS
1x ATA cd/dvd drive and 1x ATA cd/dvd RW drive

Errors i get during vista install:

"windows setup could not reinitialize the deployment engine" - Used to get this error, it dosent pop up anymore

"windows could not format a partition on diak 0 the error occurred while preparing the partition selected for installation error code:0X80070057"- Now get this error instead. However all the drives are formatted, totally empty and are NTFS.

These errors always pop up during the first phase of the installation, copying files to the drive, and it never moves past 0%. This is the same with all 3 hard drives, even the one that im pretty sure is broken or dying. Its unlikely all 3 drives are faulty. Ive updated the errors, these are exactly what windows says.

*However*! The first time i tried this it did actually move past 0% and got to around 40% then had an error. This was with the 80GB seagate drive.

 

[corkyg]

Have you downloaded and run Vista Upgrade Advisor? I have newer machines than yours which will not accept Vista.

UGA

You may be forced to use XP.

 

[Maximilian]

It had vista x64 on it before though, installed and ran flawlessly.

 

[Maximilian]

I just tried installing windows XP on the 80GB drive and a 4th 80GB drive i found lying around, and it was a no go, both times with the different drives gave the same error that the drives were damaged and could not be partitioned. It formatted the drives though.

So either these 4 drives are all buggered (i dont think they are) or the core of the problem lies elsewhere.

 

[Chiropteran]

i'd try an alternate hard drive controller

 

[tboo]

Doesnt Vista have a bug when installing with 4gb or more of RAM? Try installing with 2gb, get the 4gb patch after everything is installed, & then install your other 2gb or RAM.

 

[Maximilian]

Tried the other controller, no joy, tried with just 2GB of ram, same thing, tried both at the same time and it didnt work.

Odd thing is that i have 2 vista x64 discs, one has SP1 and the other is vanilla vista, the vanilla one gives the "setup engine cannot be reinitilised" error and the SP1 disc stops someway through the installation with an error.

Im out of ideas