SEVERE: Abnormal program termination. An internal error has occurred.

While trying to install Oracle 10g Client Release 2 (10.2.0.1.0) on Windows XP SP2, I get the following error:

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SEVERE: Abnormal program termination. An internal error has occurred. Please provide the following files to Oracle Support :

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\installActions2008-03-03_04-10-44PM.log"
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\oraInstall2008-03-03_04-10-44PM.err"
"C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\oraInstall2008-03-03_04-10-44PM.out"
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Unfortunately, I do not konw how to contact Oracle Support.

The only error the log file appears to indicate is the same as the above message. The error file suggests a JAVA NULL pointer exception (problem with the installation program?):

Exception java.lang.NullPointerException occurred..
java.lang.NullPointerException
at java.io.File.<init>(Unknown Source)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1117)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1121)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1121)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1121)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1121)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1121)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiip.oiipg.OiipgFileSystem.mkdirs(OiipgFileSystem.java:1121)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiix.OiixFileOps.mkdirs(OiixFileOps.java:234)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiOracleHomeInfoXMLWriter.writeHomeProperties(OiiiOracleHomeInfoXMLWriter.java:138)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiOracleHomeInfoXMLWriter.updateHomeProperties(OiiiOracleHomeInfoXMLWriter.java:120)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiInstallInventory.saveOHPropXML(OiiiInstallInventory.java:1323)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiInstallInventory.saveInventory(OiiiInstallInventory.java:811)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiInstallInventory.saveInventory(OiiiInstallInventory.java:849)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiInstallAreaControl.writeInstallInv(OiiiInstallAreaControl.java:1284)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiInstallAreaControl.saveInstallInventory(OiiiInstallAreaControl.java:1210)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiii.OiiiInstallAreaControl.saveInstallInventory(OiiiInstallAreaControl.java:1113)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicInstallSession.saveInventoryWithUpdate(OiicInstallSession.java:2537)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicInstSaveInvWCCE.initialize(OiicInstSaveInvWCCE.java:156)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiif.oiifb.OiifbCondIterator.iterate(OiifbCondIterator.java:152)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiif.oiifw.OiifwActionsPhaseWCDE.doOperation(OiifwActionsPhaseWCDE.java:606)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiif.oiifb.OiifbLinearIterator.iterate(OiifbLinearIterator.java:147)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicInstallSession$OiicSelCompsInstall.doOperation(OiicInstallSession.java:3772)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiif.oiifb.OiifbCondIterator.iterate(OiifbCondIterator.java:171)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicPullSession.doOperation(OiicPullSession.java:1273)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicSessionWrapper.doOperation(OiicSessionWrapper.java:289)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicInstaller.run(OiicInstaller.java:547)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicInstaller.runInstaller(OiicInstaller.java:935)
at oracle.sysman.oii.oiic.OiicInstaller.main(OiicInstaller.java:872)

I have re-downloaded the image 3 times and have tried installation several times. But I keep getting this SEVERE internal error. I am guessing that my laptop probably has some sort of configuration that the Oracle installation is not expecting and thus causes the internal error. Any ideas?