Hey Chris,
Thanks for the reply. I found these references as well. The problem was being encountered before the log file got created, so I never actually saw one. Bummer. Anyway, ended up scratching the machine, loading 2003 server and Putting it on there. Thanks anyway, have a good one,

jfh

>I went to Microsoft Knowledge Base and did a search on SQLSTP.EXE. There are some entries there, but what I noticed is a reference to SQLSTP.LOG. I am assuming then that the setup program is creating a log. Have you been able to examine it?
>
>>Hello everyone,
>>I finally have a reason and some time to learn a little more about SQL Server. So anyway, I can't install it. I'm trying to install MS SQL Server 2000 Developer Edition. I'm using a Windows XP pro machine that exceeds all the hardware requirements. Pop the disk in, the install window opens. I navigate through it to the "Install Database Server" option and click that. The window closes. A tiny window pops up that says something like "Installing with DemoShield". That's it. Nothing else happens. The CD drive stops winding and all is silent. If I pop open task manager, the processes tab shows that SQLSTP.EXE and SETUPSQL.EXE are both running. I've looked around and can't really find anything about this. I've shut down almost every service on this machine, killed almost every running process, tried everything I could think of with the same results. Kinda ticking me off. Anybody have any idea what's going on here? Thanks a ton,
>>
>>
>>jfh