HELP! Cannot reinstall OS X - error on volume one drive

Question

I'm having a problem:
My laptop froze in the middle of using Illustrator 8 and the error msg I received stated that "program cannot restart because it cannot find the AGM file". (I think this is a side issue though).
I restarted my system.
I opened Illustrator 8 again and the computer froze up again and I received the same msg as above.
I restarted my laptop and I got the flashing question mark.
I did a Hardware Test and it showed that my drives were fine.
I did a Utility Disk check. I tried to verify permissions and repair my disk and I got a msg saying "volume 1 cannot be verified. Volume 1 cannot be repaired. (-9997)" (My hard drive is not partitioned and I only have 1 drive and it's the original drive that came with the computer)
So, I erased my disk and tried to reinstall my Operating System. The installation quits when it gets to the Itunes portion of the install. The error msg says "there were errors installing the software" and it tells me to quit and try again. Each time I try, it's the same scenario.
Can ANYONE, please help me! Is this a bad hard drive or a permissions issue or software or what?
I've used Illustrator 8 on my laptop for 2 years with no problems. But there is one thing, I was using Kai's Power Tools at the time of this problem and I've never used that on this laptop before. Could that be it?
slduser
After reinstalling all my personal files, I used Illustrator 8 again and the computer froze up again and I received the same msg as above.
install software process stops in the middle of installing. My installation stopped at the iTunes part---- it just said "there were errors installing the software" and instructed me to quit.
We need to know what to do if this occurs and what could be the potential "error that it speaks of.
Could anyone respond to this at my email?
Thanx,
[email protected]

Answer 1

Siduster, welcome, try booting from the install CD again, but after you get to the install window the go up to the main menu and start Disk Utility. Select your HD and then choose Erase/Options/Erase all Data (this will take a while). Now do the Verify and Repair Disk, then Permissions. Now continue with the installation. I hope this helps, post back.
Joe