Vista - Installation hangs

I can't install Windows Vista. Setup hangs right after validating the CD code.

I have a Dell Dimension 8300 (3GHz, 1GB RAM) with the Promise RAID card
attached to two mirrored SATA drives. XP SP2 is installed on these drives.
Since I don't want to mess up my XP installation, I'm trying to install to an
external Maxtor USB drive (about 300 GB, with about 200 free).

If I go to the place where you can load drivers for RAID cards, I can see
that Setup recognizes the Maxtor drive. If I load the XP driver for the
Promise card, it can see the mirrored SATA drive as well.

However, after I correctly type in the CD code and tell it to continue, it
hangs. This happens whether I load the Promise drivers or not. (If I type
the CD code incorrectly, it tells me it's wrong.)

Vista cannot boot from a USB drive.

--
Jane, not plain 64bit enabled
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation
"Scott English" <Scott English@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:38952659-383E-40F1-A765-C7780B252FC9@microsoft.com...
>I can't install Windows Vista. Setup hangs right after validating the CD
>code.
>
> I have a Dell Dimension 8300 (3GHz, 1GB RAM) with the Promise RAID card
> attached to two mirrored SATA drives. XP SP2 is installed on these
> drives.
> Since I don't want to mess up my XP installation, I'm trying to install to
> an
> external Maxtor USB drive (about 300 GB, with about 200 free).
>
> If I go to the place where you can load drivers for RAID cards, I can see
> that Setup recognizes the Maxtor drive. If I load the XP driver for the
> Promise card, it can see the mirrored SATA drive as well.
>
> However, after I correctly type in the CD code and tell it to continue, it
> hangs. This happens whether I load the Promise drivers or not. (If I
> type
> the CD code incorrectly, it tells me it's wrong.)