xp pro will no longer install??? help

hi heres my story i run windows xp pro with 640 meg ddr 2100 ram. two 80 gigabyte hard drives.(ntfs formated) duel layer dvd writer/ cd rewriter/ radeon 9200 256 ddr memory graphics card.and asrock k78sx with updated bios version 2.60
Heres my problem. everything was working fine the other day when all of a sudden my desktop froze. I switched off all power reloaded but XP refused to boot? after much trial and error. i decided the only way of getting back would be to perform a complete re install. i did the usual boot from cd first thing. then xp began loading in the drivers preparing for install. NOW HERE IS MY PROBLEM. Just before the f8 screen where you agree to microsoft policy.it freezes and will not go any further. I am left with a blue screen in the bottom left corner it says windows is ready to start. only it doesnt.???
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT MY SETUP HAS WORKED FINE FOR THE PAST YEAR OR SO WITH NO PROBLEMS WHOTSOEVER. I HAVE HAD TO DO A CLEAN INSTALL ONCE BEFORE BECAUSE I GOT ANNOYING POPUPS. THATS IT!
ive been told it could be down to dodgy memory or processor. though i CAN install windows ME. but even doing this when i try to install anything to my hard drive the next time i boot it takes about 20 mins to load.The drive seems to be having to work very hard to find the operating system.PLEASE HELP IM TEARING MY HAIR OUT. THIS IS A REAL PUZZLE???
THANKS
:confused:

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asrock k78sx with updated bios version 2.60

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Did you update the bios ? did this start happening after the update ?

I would check out the memory, HD, power supply and CPU cooling.

yes i updated bios around 2 months ago as i bought a duel layer dvd and my motherboard wouldnt recognise it.i updated to version 2.40. but now have updated to version 2.60. Having said that i did go out and buy a new motherboard but still got the same. froze before the F8 screen???. tried my hard drives on another pc and it installed straight away. changed my radeon to a gforce still the same.I have 3 sticks of ram which i also tried individuly.
tried new ide cables. Tried low level format with maxtors own program.i also tried different power supply. The only thing left i wud say now is the cpu. which by the way i have overclocked to 2 gig from 1.6 for the past year or so.the cpu is a amd duron 1600.
hope i have covered everything here for you.
hope this can be sorted one way or the other.
thanks for you help
jon

Seems a though you did a nice job so far in process of elimination :)

Have you tried with the CPU under clocked ? If your sure everything else is ok looks like the CPU, or combination CPU and the heat it produces. The OC & heat might of killed the CPU.

I burned up a couple of AMD 1.4 T-Birds in my life time :(