Nah, if your system always halts at that one point of loading XP, regardless of if it's the 10th reboot or turning on a cold computer, then it's certainly not a grounding issue. I suppose it could theoretically be windows loading the drivers of a broken peripheral but I very much doubt that. Sounds more like corrupted HD data.
The grounding issue could create consistency only by thermal expansion, I reckon.
I would try to get a new sata cable, the one with the secure clip that clicks.
It applies a little more pressure on the contacts and can save a drive...
My current drive, an old seagate, has the plastic supporting the contacts that is partly broken.
It caused the same troubles you are experiencing.
By using one of the cables I mentionned, the contacts are well placed and don't move at all, and this box has been stable like that for more than a year now, until I can purchase a reliable and affordable SSD.
Also, when plugging and unplugging drives, be ultra gentle with connections.
Be ultra gentle with SATA cables too, as you can pull on the connectors.
For some reason, those connectors have been designed with a very low manpulation number in mind (something like 50 connect/disconnect)... eventhough you have now hotswappable options which is in contradiction with low connect/disconnect.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
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