Gateway m series recovery problems

it's a vista 32 bit m 7348 note book belonging to m/law. have replaced hdd and when i try to re-install vista it hangs up, saying "cannot install- please restart to retry" which does not work...
the old flawed hdd would let factory recovery disks install, then hang up when installing norton etc ( built in stuff ). ( ran sea tools then replaced, but still have)
suspect bios or motherboard problems and am burning stuff now.
any other ideas/ help ?
system is not mine! trying to help mother in law on ssi...
:cry
thanx!

 

You might want to try creating the partition and format to NTFS first to see if the disk installs. Download the bootable version of Partition Wizard. It's a iso file that can be burned with Imgburn. When installing make sure you uncheck the Ask tookbar install. Boot the CD. Create and format a partition on the hard drive. Then boot with the Vista CD and see if it continues.

How to write an image file to a disc using ImgBurn

Create Partition

There may also be some defect in the install disk. With Imageburn you can copy the disk and then burn it at 4X speed.

How to copy a disc using ImgBurn