I've been running Windows XP Pro on my system for over a
year without problems. I've installed all the maintenance
releases. Last week I began to experience problems with
deleting files - trying to delete anything would freeze
the system. The only way out was to turn off the computer
and reboot. I ran all diagnostics in the system, and
checked it for viruses - all fine. Yesterday, as a
desperate last ditch attempt, I tried to perform a hot
install of XP.

First I get the message that I need to re-activate
Windows because the system "has changed since first
install". (Incorrect since this is exactly the same
system with the same peripherals.) A call to MS solved
that problem. The installation goes smoothly until step
3 - "Installing Windows" - about 60% of the way through
with "34 minutes to go" the install process stops.

I have now attempted the re-install six times. Tried
booting from the CD, tried everything I can think of. At
some point, I checked the error log. For all the frozen
installs the same error was listed --- "Setup encountered
an error while trying to setup system security. An
extended error has occurred."

The system was originally W2K. It's been a long time
since I've tried a hot install, or even a clean install
over and existing setup, so I need some guidance. As I
said, I have experienced no problems until now. One
thing - I can't afford to lose any files from the drive C.

Thank you in advance.