I think I need some input.
Upon booting with a virgin HD from the XP Setup CD, I see the usual
20-40 "Loading Driver..." messages at the bottom of the screen. Then,
after the message "Starting Windows", the BSOD with, at the bottom:

*** STOP .....
*** pci.sys...

Asus P5KPL-VM with Intel E6750 Dual Core
2 * 1G Corsair Ballistic DDR2-800
Seagate 250G SATA (also tried known good Maxtor IDE with same
results)
LG DVD RW SATA (also tried known good SONY DVD IDE with same results)

Windows 2000 installs fine on the exact same hardware, which rules out
pretty much everything except incompatibilities.

This is with the BIOS Defaults

Any other input you need, please ask.

Thanks in advance

I found an XP SP2 setup CD, that one installs fine.
Thanks to all.

This thread RIP.