Error: the XML response that was returned from the server is invalid SOLUTION

If your page on localhost says:
Error: the XML response that was returned from the server is invalid.

The Solution Steps are :

1. Install without the sample data
2. Install sample data (...\yourjoomla\installation\sql\mysql\sample_data.sql) manually for example in phpmyadmin - navigate to your target database
3. Delete installation folder, then refresh frontend, now with the sample data installed

Additionally, turning off temporarily your php errors in php.ini might help to proceed with the installation.

1. Find your php.ini (root directory)
2. Search for this line in php.ini that says" error_reporting = E_ALL"
3. Uncomment then replace with this line "error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE"
4. Restore this setting as needed