Help with HP HDX18 1277EZ

I have a HHP laptop, HDX18.
Had a few problems with trojans and viruses so i tried to reinstall the system.
It came with Vista but as i didn't like Vista i wanted to install with XP.
When i run the XP CD, i get an error message come up:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.
Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D2524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I've done a CHKDSK, no change
I've removed the primary HDD and tried to install on secondary HDD, same result
I've moved the secondary HDD to the primary HDD slot whilst keeping the original primary HDD out of the system, no change
I've put the primary HDD into another laptop as a secondary HDD and done a CHKDSK, virus scan and format, no change

I know that on some Lenovo laptops you need to change the setting of the SATA to compatibility mode before you can try reinstalling, but i don't see any options in the BIOS to do that.

Can anyone please advise? Thanks.

 

Install windows 7?

You'd have to add the SATA drivers to an XP disc if you want to get any further than that. 7 runs faster than XP does anyway, why would you want a 10 year old OS on a computer that can run 7 perfectly fine?