I had similar problem today. Tried to install xp over an old install. Then deleted a Linux partition and the NTFS partition, created new partition formated and attempted install again. Tried the last method a second time. Nothing worked.

I finally went to Western Digital site and downloaded their utility to write 1's and 0's. Ran it. Created new partition and formated. No problems with the install.

Every hard drive manufacturer has a utility to accomplish the 1's/0's operation.