if i skip the disk check it loads some and then hangs and eventiually gives me the dirty dick error anyway.

well i do have my girlfriend's computer but i'm not sure how thrilled she would be if i asked her if i could install stuff on it. i might be able to try though, thanks for the tip.

also, i have heard of people using the method where they put the OS X installation on an iPod or similar device with about 8GB of room and installing from there. as of right now i have no idea if my machine supports that but i will try it out as soon as i can.

i tihnk iPC is small enough to fit on my 4GB flash drive. is there any specific way i should go about putting the image on there?