Vista - Installation Error Loop. Stumped.

Clean installation/non-upgrade.

1) Vista-64 Home Premium setup CD successfully runs to "Complete
Installation" step. Reboots.

2) Microsoft bar with running green lines appears.

3) Window appears, stating that Vista encountered an unexpected error or
shutdown, and installation will need to be restarted.

4) Each successive attempt at installation has same result. Occasionally
blue-screen appears, not stating error, but pointing to 0x0000007E.

System specs: athlon x2 5200+. 2 g.skill 2GB sticks. 8800GTX video card.
Western Digital SATA Caviar HD. Asus crosshair motherboard. Functioning
internet connection.

I have tried swapping out to different, still vista-certified, video cards
(though all nvidia), installing with one stick of RAM, going into DOS and
formatting hard disk before attempting another install, and attempting
installation with different BIOS versions.

I previously successfully installed Vista on this same computer. However, I
repeatedly encountered "thread_stuck_in_device" errors, with Windows pointing
me towards the video card. After experimenting with different drivers and
BIOS versions, and watching Vista become increasingly unstable (often failing
to start at all), I decided to try a re-installation, with the results
described above.

Installation of all hardware was very carefully done using an anti-static
wristband.

Will attempt installing Windows XP-Pro and/or XP-Pro/64 next week. If that
fails, I'll proceed to trying different types of RAM, and eventually a
different HD. And if that fails, I'll beat my head against a wall for
several hours.

Any help, advice, or reports of similar problems would be appreciated.
Thanks!