I can boot the live system, but when I try to install to the hard disk it appears to format the hard drive. but then seems to hang with the message 'cleaning up'.

Weird how many rams you have on that machine?

4gb

Did you try to reinstall?

Yes, I just get back to the same point. The disk appears to be formatted, but then it hangs.

When I say hangs, I mean that the Installer hangs. The live system is still fully operational.

on the step of partition, try to select the root partition you choosed to install ghostbsd, i guess you might choose the swap partition, then click the install. That will cause the problem, and the log file will show more information.

Dear All,
I am sorry that I have left it so long, but I have had problems. I am trying to install Ghost again.
The live disk boots fine, the apps work, and I can connect to the web, but it won't install to the hard disk.
The install formats the hard drive, but then hangs. There is this message:-

EXITERROR:Error 1: zpool import -f -N tank

Can anyone help?

Best wishes,
Ted

The old pool was not removed from the disk before deleting the partition, so it fails.

If you do a full disk installation, change the name of the pool. If you did a custom partition, you would need to recreate a zfs partition, set the pool and remove the label and delete the partition.

Dear ericbsd,
I have used Linux for 23 years, and although they are similar, FreeBSD is different, and I didn't understand all the terms you used.
So, using guesswork, I restarted the installer. I chose to do a custom partitioning. I deleted the large ZFS partion, and created a new one. The installer completed successfully, and after restarting and connecting the wifi, the computer upgraded.
Many thanks for your input. I am already familiar with Mate. Can you recommend a book for beginners that introduces FreeBSD?