Hi there, I've just built my computer with following (all new) components: ASUS a7nx-x mobo - most recent bios athlon xp 2400 mobile, WD IDE HD, NEC DVD rom, 512 MB kingston valueram X 2. DDR 400 sapphire 9800 pro 380 Watt antec truepower Windows XP home edition OEM (new) I went through the first portion of XP install - I formatted the HD and all of that. Then during restart it will make it as far as the Windows XP home edition title page (with the green bars running below)... and then it freezes. No error messages or anything. I have tried to reinstall / reformat repeatedly, messing with bios settings, etc. with the same result. I grabbed the floppy drive from other 'puter and ran RAM check and hard drive diagnostics - both of which passed. I have tried using a different CDrom and each stick of RAM separately to no avail. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

What size is the HD? Does the motherboard support it? Does it show up as the Primary Master at startup?

Thank you for the reply http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-122&depa=1 HD is 7200 rpm IDE 80GB western digital. It is set as primary and it does show up as such on startup. There haven't been any problems with the initial phases of windows install -- the part that looks like it's in dos. It is on the restart after that I have problems. It will occasionally (1/4 of the time) make it past the title screen to the windows screen where the setup continues, but it promptly freezes at that point. I've been fiddling with this for a week and I'm out of ideas. =\

XP OEM version - I thought that an OEM version was specific to the computer that it came with - like DELL has it's own OEM version of XP and IBM has it's own OEM version of XP. You can't install a DELL OEM on a IBM and visa versa. You said above that you built your computer yourself so you can't use an OEM version - you would have to use the XP upgrade CD which you can install on a blank hard drive if you already a CD with Windows 98 or NT on it to verify you qualify for the upgrade. Of course I am sure that someone has a way around the OEM version limitation.

I installed dell xp oem on some generic pc's without any problem.

cleo had me worried, so I looked up this: OEM software is a full version (non-upgrade) which includes the CD-ROM, the Certificate of Authenticity(COA), and the product key codes. These elements are all you will need to load and run the software. The software runs exactly the same way as the full retail version. The differences between OEM and Retail are: 1.)Microsoft does not supply technical support on their OEM products, 2.)you receive an installation manual instead of a full manual with OEM and 3.)OEM does not come in a box. OEM cannot be used to upgrade from a previous version (i.e. Windows 98 or Windows 2000). However, you will be able to upgrade OEM to a future release. These essential components are the software in the form of a CD-ROM, the coa, the product key code, the license, and a registration card. The OEM software is identical to the software found in a full version retail box product. I was hoping I hadn't bought a $70 frizbee.

Did you change any hardware after the installation?