I can explore the ISO in vista and it all seems ok, but during setup the I386 folder was empty, so ill try burning it again

Edit... the total size of the disc is 536mb, is that correct?

is it service pack2 mines 584mb mmmm. not sure my SP1 version is 488mb

yeah its SP2, maybe the ISO got corrupted somehow and its missing some files, im burning it again with a different program, i used nero last time and i never used it before, if that doesnt work ill just format that partition, i only use the Xp partition for gaming and im building a new pc soon so its not really worth worrying about, i just panicked a bit for a minute there lol

W00T!!! Im in XP YAY!!!!! I just clicked cancel on the files that wouldnt copy and skipped through them... i figured it dont matter if they dont copy cos its a repair install so they would only be overwriting files that are already there! Im a genius.... well.... a genius that panics lke a little girl lol

Update: I went down the local PC shop and explained what had happened and they gave me a new xp disc... result!!!