WinXP Pro Partially Installs, but Will Not Finish Installation

This computer has an ASUS P3V4X motherboard, Pentium III 600MHz processor, 512mb SDRAM, 1 80gb hard disk, 4 CD-ROMS and all the other usual equipment.  Both the motherboard and processor are upgrades to my previous ASUS P3B-F motherboards & 540 MHz processor.
 
I have been through this installation 3 times today and I'm now on my fourth attempt.  Here's what's happening:
 
This morning I installed a new motherboard and processor on one of my existing computers.  After a few false starts, I finally got the computer to boot up, but that's where the trouble began.  I don't know exactly what happened, however, a message appeared during Windows startup reporting some disk inconsistency on my C: drive.  So, it ran CHKDSK or something similar.  I didn't catch all of it because a distraction drew my attention away for a few moments.  I did see, out of the corner of one eye, a whole slew of messages in white text whiz past the screen downward so fast that no one could hope to read them.  I don't know what that did, but Windows would not boot up after that.  Any attempt to do so ended with a BSOD.
 
I thought maybe I could get WinXP Pro Setup to Repair my existing Windows installation.  However, nothing doing.  Evidently whatever happened when all those messages flew down my screen, had messed my hard drive up so badly that Setup could not detect my existing Windows installation.  Consequently, Setup did not give me the option to repair an existing Windows installation.
 
So, I decided to reinstall WinXP Pro from scratch.  That is, I let Setup delete the primary (only) partition on my C: drive, then run a slow format before installing WindowsXP Pro.
 
Setup ran without a hitch until it completed the Finalizing Installation step and then rebooted the computer.  When the initial motherboard boot process finished, the Boot from CD option appeared.  I did not press any key to make it boot from the CD.  Then the following messages appeared in white text on the black screen:
 
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this by starting Windows Setup using the original CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.
 
I have no idea how to run the Repair Console, so I didn't even try the only option suggested.
 
Actually, I THOUGHT something odd must have happened during my first reinstallation attempt, so I ran Setup again.  However, the same thing happened during the second attempt.
 
So, I disconnected that hard disk and installed a brand new hard drive and ran Setup on the new drive only to wind up encountering the very same error on my third attempt to install WINXP Pro.
 
I then began to wonder if the problem was being caused by some defect in the WinXP Pro Installation CD.  It appeared to be ok, but I polished it a bit anyway, then ran Setup for the fourth time today; this time with the installation CD mounted in a different CD-ROM drive.
 
The fourth time, Setup ran the first 4 steps without a hitch.  It started the Finalizing Installation step and progressed to the point where it displayed a message stating that it was Removing any temporary files used, and another message reporting "Setup will completer in approximately 1 minute."  That was a full 10 minutes ago.  The 5 tic mark array of progress bars keep flickering in the lower right corner of the screen as if WinXP Pro Setup is still doing something and the informational text display touting all the new features in WinXP Pro keep changing on the right side of the screen, but it is still hung up with the 1 minute completion message displayed.  It has now been at least 15 minutes since that message first appeared.  As it now stands, WinXP Pro Setup is interminably hung near the end of my 4th attempt to install WinXP Pro today.
 
How can I get WinXP Pro to install on this system properly?
 
Rest assured that I shall greatly appreciate your help.
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With kindest regards,
 
*** Smith
SmithRMS@xxxxxxxxxxx