"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware of software change migt have caused this. If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files anre folders, choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked. If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset bytton was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows Normally. Safe Mode Safe Mode with Networking Safe Mode with Command Prompt Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked) Start Windows Normally Use the up and down arrow keys to move the hightlight to your choice" Whenever I select any of these options, windows tries to start, a blue screen flashes so fast I can't read it, and it goes back to the above mentioned options. I've tried to re-install XP, the cd runs thru loading all the drivers, but when it tries to start windows, the cdrom stops working, and everything is at a dead standstill. I tried to repair XP and was able to read what I thought may have been the blue screen flash, it told me to disable any virus protection, defrag programs, or backup tools. I can't do any of that if I can't get windows to load. HELP!!

I have 4 words for you..."Mama I'm coming home" I hope you have a backup of your critical data.Goodluck

can you boot using a boot disk? what you might want to try is removing all non-essential devices (printer, scanner, mouse, etc), and install XP again with ONLY those devices. theres a chance the problem is with old hardware, or unsupported hardware .. have you changed any hardware recently? what actually happened before these errors? did you install new software, new hardware, or did you just do something silly and delete important files?

Russell, thanks for your imput. I tried loading xp again,,,,it looked like it was loading drivers for lots of things, then when it goes to start windows, the cdrom stops responding, and nothing else happens. I didn't make any changes to anything, or delete any files. My computer is always on, and I reboot it when it slows down. Well, I rebooted, and the rest is history.

how many watts is your power supply? how old is it? theres a very slim chance your power supply cant handle it, but it sounds like another problem ... basically, if you didnt change hardware or software, then something else happened. either some of your hardware is now stuffed (power supply or cd-rom) or some other software made changes in the background (ie virus etc) ok try this ... if you can boot using a boot disk, make sure you use one with cd-rom support. try booting using that boot disk, and then go to the cd-rom drive and type dir make sure u have a disc in the drive!). does that work? if it doesnt, then either the boot disk doesnt have the right drivers, or some hardware is causing your cd-rom to go wonky. if it does work, then its definitely the way XP handles your cd-rom ... when you orginally install XP, or got the computer, was that cd-rom drive installed? if it was installe after you got your computer, theres a chance that the default drivers in XP dont work with your cd-rom. is there any chance that you can borrow a cd-rom drive to test it out? or test your drive in another computer?

Russel, again let me say, thanks for replying to my questions. I don't have a boot disc for xp. I've been told so many different things about xp, my head is spinning. What you're thinking is one of my cd drives may have problems? They were both installed when I got my computer. When I talked to the techs where I purchased it, they thought it may be my motherboard. Of course, the computer is 1 month out of warranty. I've had it 13 months. I do have a friend that is going to take out my hard drive and put one he has lying around in my computer to see if it possibly could be my motherboard. I run an up to date virus program, but I've been told that viruses can still sneak through. I'm hoping that's not the case, but I can't figure out why we can't even re-load windows. I'll keep you posted on the progress, thanks again!

go to www.bootdisk.com or your favourite boot disk website. a lot of sites have win98 boot disks that will work perfectly for you, and they even have support for NTFS partitions so get the boot disk, follow the instructions to put it on a blank floppy disk, and reboot with the boot disk. depending on what boot disk you get, the cd-rom drive will either have the normal drive letter (d:, e:, whatever windows uses), or you will get a message when DOS is booting saying your cd-rom drive is R: or something similar. once its finished booting up completely, try change to your cd-rom drive. if it does work, and if you can type dir and get a good response, then the sphyical parts of your computer are working, its definitely the your software handles your cd-rom. if you can boot, but cant get to your cd-rom, then it could be the actual cd-rom, or your motherboard, power supply, BIOS, CMOS battery, etc etc let me know what happens! any details you can provide would be very helpful. mainly, does the boot disk let you boot up? can you access your cd-rom drive? if not, what error does it give? good luck! Russell