Problems installing Windows via BootCamp

So I used Boot Camp Utility (followed ALL of the instructions the right way) to partition my mac hard drive 40gb for windows, and the rest for mac. I put in the vista cd, told bootcamp to start the installation, and it REBOOTED!!! I was happy that I was going to dual boot vista and os x leopard. So, i told it to start the installation on my bootcamp partition. It told me I had to reformat, so I figured that it was like an HFS Partition or something (i'm new to mac) I formatted it for NTFS, and hit the install button. It copied the windows files, then started to extract normal files, was stuck at 0% until it gave me Error 8007045D. It told me I needed other files, however the whole one and only DVD was there! I entered the activation code correctly, What's wrong? Is it a mac or a windows problem? I also had an issue with not being able to boot to os x but i fixed that so no problem there.

What kind of Vista DVD are you trying to install with? You can only install a MS boxed copy of Vista (full not upgrade) or an OEM system builders full install of Vista. No recovery or restore disks, or OEM branded install disks will work - such as a Sony, HP, Toshiba, etc. branded OEM install Vista DVD.

Regards.

It's OEM.

The DVD is OEM. I bought it for my machine that I built however that computer I am converting to fully-Ubuntu. Since I have a license to use, I figured I'd try. And yes, it is OEM.

I looked up that error code and got mixed results. Sometimes it means "a device I/O error", other times it means "target machine refused connection", and so on. Not sure exactly what it's telling you....

However, it sure does sound like that disk you're using is not being accepted by the Boot Camp installer. If you say it's an OEM system builders version, it should by all accounts work.

I would go back to OS X, remove the partition by using the BC assistant, and start over. If it fails again at the same point, you might try using another Vista DVD if possible.

Regards.

I was told from the people at the genius bar that OEM disks won't work whether they are xp or vista. It has to be a retail version of XP SP2 or Vista.
They tried my version of XP Pro SP2, which was an OEM on their computer, and it gave them the same problem. Then they tried their own XP disk on mine(which was right from a retail box) and it worked. sadly, they removed the xp from my drive...they were just proving a point

That's not accurate. OEM System Builder editions work fine. But that is something specific. OEM versions are also delivered to each windows PC manufacturer. if your disc came from a manufacturer (as opposed to a separately purchased "OEM System Builder" disk), it wont work. What the geniuses at the genius bar are likely telling you is that the OEM disks that ship with computers purchased from a manufacturer wont work, and that is correct.

But the system builder disks work just fine. Numerous people have installed them on this forum (me included) without difficulty. You kept saying "it's OEM," but what the forum folks keep saying is "it has to be an 'OEM System Builder Disk," which is a subset of OEM disks. And you never confirmed that actually, so it sounds like that's not what you had. But I don't want others who read the forum to think that the system builder disks don't work - they do.

Glad you finally got XP installed regardless. You can buy the system builder's versions online for less than the retail version cost at places like newegg.com.

cheers

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3 for System Builders - Operating Systems

So, I guess this is one of those that will work?

Yes, that's what we are talking about.

thank you! sorry for being such a noob at this stuff...my learning potential was very limited with vista