[MOVED] Install Crashed

Total newbie to anything other than Windows. Dell Laptop Inspiron E1505. Windows XP professional. dont remember how much RAM or the graphics card info. purchased the OS8 DVD. booted from DVD drive and it seemed to look OK. clicked the Install icon and chose to leave XP in place... the partitioning between Zorin/Windows failed, so i tried again using the Replace the Windows XP system. that also failed and then it said i have no operating system detected and do i want to install Zorin OS8. it said it would erase the entire disc but that was OK with me. the installation began over 30 minutes ago and i got to the "Who Are You?" Screen and input all my data with the checkmarks beside them and clicked CONTINUE. the screen image has never changed but it won't minimize or go BACK. The CONTINUE button is still bright blue and the drive keeps making little random noises. It seems hung up and i don't know if i should kill it or just leave it be for awhile. Also on the first partition failure, the error reporting also failed because it said it wasnt even a Zorin product! i have a registration number, but i haven't registered it yet. not sure how i even do that/ on the website or inside the software?
any advice would be great.

quick update. i did register so i can maybe get help, but the installer finally gave up and said it crashed, it said it would sent an error report, that didnt happen, the next thing is that the disc popped out and a blue screen said to remove the installation media from the drawer and shut the drawer and press "Enter". i did exactly that and now its frozen again. the disc drive will not reopen, the laptop will not power off, no cursor, nothing but the same blue screen and instructions.....looks like death to me....

Hi loseyateefa, and welcome to Zorin! Sorry to hear you are having issues. First off, did you check to see that everything worked as it should in 'live' mode before attempting the installation? Did you use any capitals in your username and/or attempted to 'encrypt my home folder' on personal details screen? If either of the latter applied then you will get stuck at that screen. You would be better following my video tutorial - it was for 8 RC but the same would apply to the final release. Lastly you did pay for the disc through the Zorin site right? If not then I would suspect a dubious copy! You should not need to register to install but you may need to register to get 90 days support - you could PM AZorin or zorink on this forum or contact them via the website:

http://zorin-os.com/contacts.html

The video link is: https://vimeo.com/85040836

One more thing, have you ever used one of these on your optical drive?

http://www.allsop.com/cleaning-/dvd-carbon-edge-pro-/

Also at boot time, press the TAB key to edit the bootloader and enter: nomodeset, ACPI=OFF

i killed it and completely started over. i ran the live version and it seemed to work OK both on the first attempt and now on the second try. . then i began the install from the screen logon. it is now installing and copying files just fine. the Zorin logo came up and its jingle began playing... now the screen in dark but the disc drive is still furiously spinning so i think it may turn out OK. thanks for your encouragement!

No problem! Hope it turns out ok. I know it can be difficult for people being on download limits with ISP's but if possible download the core version first (the free one) to see if any issues.