Laptop wont Full format?

I'm trying to install Xp Pro sp3 on my nephews laptop (Dell latitude d600) and it won't start a full format. Stays at 0%? Anyone know what's up? Do I have to install the EOM copy (the one that came with the dell)? It will let me quick format, butwhen instalation gets down to 3% the hard drive starts clicking and beeps.

 

Have you tried deleting the existing Windows partition and then creating a new one and formatting? Might be worth a try.

Or find the brand of HD and get the manufacturer's HD diagnostic utility for DOS and burn it to CD as an image file. Boot from the CD and run the extended test to see if the HD has problems. I think Dell uses Maxtor/Seagate drives.

***I'm not sure if that model has a recovery partition on the HD so you want to make sure you don't delete that partition if it exists. (Probably around 5gb in size if you have one)