Ubuntu install on laptop failed repeatedly

[Ben Kuang]

Dear Developer:

I have really like the Ubuntu system you have put togehter; I like the 
way Ubuntu looks on my desktop.  Thank you very much. 

However, I have had three failed attempts installing Ubuntu to my 
laptop(DELL 700m).  The base install went fine on three of the failed 
attempts.  But when installing previously deselected packages, the 
process stopped when setting up gstreamer 0.8-dvd.  The screen stayed 
unchange for a long while.  I thought there was something wrong , 
therefore, I powered down the system, and reinstalling Ubuntu from 
scratch.  The same thing happened again--stuck at gstreamer 0.8-dvd.  On 
the third attempt, I installed Ubuntu from scratch again.  The base 
install again went fine.  Thinking that the DVD rom prolly caused the 
problem when installing gstreamer 0.8-dvd, i removed the dvd rom,  this 
time, the installed halted at libgsm1 (1.0-10-12)...  for like 8 mins, 
then I powered down the machine.  Do you guys have any ideas as to what 
may be happening? And any remedies?

Since the install on the desktop went fine, and my desktop is slower 
than my laptop, i dont see why installing a pkg on my laptop could take 
longer than 8mins.  thank you very much:)