Greetings --

   Have you made sure that your PC's hardware components are capable
of supporting WinXP?  This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility
List:  (http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp)   Additionally, run
Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any incompatible
hardware components or applications.

   You should, before proceeding, take a few minutes to ensure that
there are WinXP device drivers available for all of the machine's
components.  There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98.  Also bear in mind that PCs designed for and sold with Win9x/Me
very often do not meet WinXP's much more stringent hardware quality
requirements.  This is particularly true of many models in Compaq's
consumer-class Presario product line or HP's consumer-class Pavilion
product line.  WinXP, like WinNT and Win2K before it, is quite
sensitive to borderline defective hardware (particularly motherboards,
RAM and hard drives) that will still support Win9x.

HOW TO Prepare to Upgrade Win98 or WinMe
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316639

HOW TO Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation When You
Upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Me
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q310064

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace.  Or you can have freedom.  Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

Also:

I had lots of HW incompats.  Recommend you pull all non-
essential cards before booting, so have only the NIC and
the VGA card to bootup.

After you boot, View Resources By Type in Device Manager,
and look for resource conflicts.  Disable unnecessary
components (not sure if you can do this from Safe Mode).

Add back cards one at a time to see where it hangs.  Buy
new card as needed.

Reg