Yeah I just bought a new computer and it came with XP Home on it but I wanted to start out with a clean install of XP pro so I reformatted the computer (done this a million times) with the XP cd and installed XP pro but now after the BIOS loads it just sits there and nothing happens. Any Ideas? I even deleted the partitions and recreated within the XP setup but still no go. I am confused.

I would one of two things. 1) Remove the battery for a few seconds, then restart the unit and enter the BIOS Setup. Select the setup options. Set the "1st boot" to CD-Rom. Save and Restart. Make sure the XP CD is in the CD-Rom before the unit boots. This should allow you to get to the Repair Console. If the unit fails to reach the Repair Console. hit the reset button and try again. Once I had to hit the reset 40 times before it finally reached the Repair Console; where I successfully installed XP Pro. 2) Install Win2K or Win98 and then install the XP Pro disk. When asked to install say yes and then when asked to choose between Clean install or Upgrade choose CLEAN. If this is the first time doing this you may think you screwed up because it looks like it’s doing something you didn’t ask. But it will, in the end, install a fresh a copy.

Did you put the bios on "load fail safe settings" before you tried to install xp? There may be settings in the bios that are preventing it from installing properly. And I am assuming you have two partitions when you formatted and you made C active. Do you get a 1 beep during post....

1) did the install complete without errors ? 2) was it during the final restart that it just sits there ? 3) is the bios set to boot the HD as the second device (after floppy) ? 4) can u see files/directories on the C drive under dos (using win98 startup disk and assuming Fat32) ? 5) are u getting any abnormal POST bleeps ? If the answer is 'yes' to the above, try plugging in a different mouse and keyboard. Hope this helps !!

Sigh it was my USB keyboard. all that time wasted. Thanks a lot though the info was greatly appreciated.