How do I Install Win 8.0 Pro

[warp4dennis]

I'm trying to install Win 8.0 Pro on my ThinkPad T60 it hangs saying that My PC has a problem and needs to restart. And it says further that it's collecting some error data but doesn't tell me where to find this file.
Has anybody had this problem and know how get out of this hole?

[rkawakami]

I don't have any experience with Win8 but can offer a few suggestions which might help answer your questions...

- Was the T60 running a previous version of Windows okay? If you were getting hangs or errors, then there might be some hardware issue. At the very least I'd run memory and hard drive diagnostics before attempting to load a new OS.
- Did you completely wipe the hard drive before trying to install Windows? Most of the install problems I've seen with previous versions of Windows occurred because there was already a bootable Windows OS on the drive. Wiping the disk before running the install is the best thing to do.
- From what source are you loading Windows 8 from? A full retail disk, an upgrade, from a download, etc.?
- Is there any error code(s) displayed? I'm assuming you are getting a "blue screen" and if so, there's usually some sort of hex code (e.g., 0x00000001).
- Where exactly in the install process does the system "hang" or display the error message? In the middle? At the end?
- After you get the error message and the system restarts, does it get stuck in a loop and do the same thing again?
- Can you boot the system in Safe Mode? Assuming that most or all of the install completed, pressing F8 during the boot sequence will do this under previous versions of Windows so I'm assuming the Win8 is the same.

[warp4dennis]

1.) This ThinkPad T60 did have WinXP up and running on it. I then found a much bigger HDD and installed it in the T60. I then installed Win 7 and have gotten the bugs out of it so everything that I use at least function without any error messages.
2.) I did wipe the newer HDD before I installed Win 7. The newer HDD is a Seagate Momentus ST9750420as that has 4Gbits/s(?).
3.) Windows 8.0 Pro is from an MS CD/DVD.
4.) MS has been kind to the user by not using any error codes. They spell out the error in plain english. "Driver IRQL not less or equal (ataport.sys). Windows couldn't load correctly."
5.) The error comes at the very end, which is about an hour and 20 minutes later.
6.) I does not get stuck in a loop. Instead you are offered three choices. A. Windows 8.0; B. (Safe Mode); C. Windows 7.
7.) I think choice B. is Safe Mode but I'm not sure. Since choice B. was not on my wish list I didn't go there. And if I did go there, I wouldn't know what I should do. I'm a PC user, not a Computer guru!

Thomas