Expanding Windows File hangup

I'm trying to install 7 on my older laptop as an upgrade from XP on a clean installation (bought a new hard drive and put XP on it first that I intend to wipe out in the 7 installation) but when I boot from the 7 disk it takes about 10 minutes to get to the installation. The graphics are funky and when I get to the point of expanding Windows files it takes a very long time to get anywhere. I figured I'd leave it overnight, and when I woke up the computer was at the XP desktop, so it had obviously reset itself.
I read somewhere that I should remove all hardware except a stick of RAM, but...it's a laptop. Are there any other suggestions?

Install from USB Key.

Well, I have a gig, less 64 mb, in there.

How does one do the said snapshot? Which screen are you looking for?

I'm trying to boot from USB, but the option isn't coming up...is there a way to boot from a floppy or CD and then run the startup from the USB?

All motherboards are different. Play around with boot settings to find right one for USB key. Hopefully someone will come here and tell you which specifically to try. Sometimes, it's not so easy to even guess because it's different than what it says.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/usb-bios-boot-options/

It could be one of the "hard drives."

32 bit. Oh, i also got this error message:

"Windows cannot install required files. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart the installation. Error code 0x80070737"