Bootcamp Installation Repeatedly Crashes

Question

Hi:
I am unable to install Windows XP using Boot Camp Assistant. On multiple attempts, the install process crashes in the middle with an error message that reads:
Press any key to boot from CD …..
Disk Error
Press any key to restart
I would be very, very grateful if someone had suggestions as to how to fix this.
Thank you!
Specifics follow:
Platform = Macbook Pro 17” 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo OS with 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 running OS 10.6.1
Run “Boot Camp Assistant”
Window = Introduction.
Press “Continue”
Window = Create a Partition for Windows.
Press “Use 32 GB” and then “Partition”
What happens: message saying “Status: Partitioning disk…” then on to next window
Window = Start Windows Installation
Press “Start Installation”
What happens: Mac OS logs out, and it spends some time dealing with File Vault.
Window = blue Windows XP Professional Setup
Press “Enter” in response to “To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER”
Window = “Windows XP Licensing Agreement”
Press “F8” for “I agree”
Window = “Windows XP Professional Setup”
Arrow down to “C”, named “Partition3 <BOOTCAMP> [FAT32]” and press “Enter” for install. It lists 32660 MB (32642 MB free)
Window = “Windows XP Professional Setup”
It says: “Setup will install Windows XP on partition C: Partition3 (BOOTCAMP) [FAT32] 32660 MB (32642 MB free)”
I arrow down to “Leave the current file system intact (no changes)” and press “Enter” for Continue
Window = “Windows XP Professional Setup”
It says “Please wait while Setup copies files …” then got to “Setup is copying files” with a percentage after this. The last I looked it was at 55%, but I think it ran for a few minutes after this number before crashing with the following error screen:
Window = Black
Press any key to boot from CD …..
Disk Error
Press any key to restart
Random keys do not work to restart as suggested in the error message; I must hard reboot (power off) and use Option key to select Mac OS to restart

Answer 1

You were correct. Thank you so much!
For others who may be having this problem, here’s what I did:
Go through usual install process and choose “Bootcamp C” using arrows.
However, on the next screen, don’t use the arrows to choose “Leave current intact (no change)”. Instead, choose “format this partition using the FAT File System …”
Then answer the next several questions which are pretty much self-explanatory.
This install worked perfectly.
Thank you again!
PS I arbitrarily chose ~20 GB for the installation, and it seems to be working well. Have no idea if this is too much or too little, but I don’t plan on installing many programs.