"Could not reinitialize the deployment engine." Installation error help.

Hey everyone,



Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, feel free to move it if it is.



The problem Im having is with installing Vista Home Premium. I just bought a new harddrive (320GB Western Digital Caviar SE "Works with Windows Vista") and Home Premium. I am able to boot from the cd, then it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to bring up the first installation dialog, which i found to be far longer than i anticipated. Little did I know that stall was only the beginning.



I selected my languages and install type (Custom, since it was a fresh install), then went on to the formatting screen. I left it unformatted since I figured Vista would format the brand new harddrive to its own liking when installing. I clicked next and was greeted with a checklist beginning on "0% Copying Windows Files". It never got to 1%; instead, it switched to the error screen: "Could not reinitialize the deployment engine." and something about reinstalling to get it to work.



I tried reinstalling to no avail. I thought that my new harddrive or dvd-rom drive might be at fault so i burned a copy of Ubuntu using a friend's computer. I was able to boot from the Ubuntu cd, create my own Ubuntu partitions, and run it quickly without a flaw, so I came to the conclusion that my hardware was fine.



I formatted the rest of my 300GB new harddrive (50GB partitioned for Ubuntu, the rest formatted NTFS for windows), and attempted to install vista again, to the same results: "Could not reinitialize the deployment engine."



I have been scouring the internet for a way past this. I disconnected all of my USB devices (my mouse and keyboard are using ps2 adapters), disconnected the internet, and dont have a network or sound card in place. Nothing seems to help. I would be in debt to anyone who can give me a hand here, since thats $240 basically wasted if I cant get it running.



And does anyone know if you can return an opened Vista box for a refund at say, Best Buy (where i bought vista from)? Because right now getting my money back and buying XP Professional would help much more than getting vista to actually work.



Heres my system specs, everything has been checked for Vista compatibility except for my RAM:

Mobo: MSI K9NU Neo MS-7270

Processor: Athlon64 X2 Dual Core 4200+

Video: BFG GeForce 7800GTX PCI Express

RAM: 2GB of Corsair XMS DDR2 800



Again, any help would be more than appreciated. Thanks in advance!