sometimes it will boot off the cd, but it hangs at "setup is inspecting....configuration"
but i havent checked to see if the cd drive is on its own lead or not, but i will check on that.

We need to get it to boot off the CD with out the extra hardware in the PC it may go past where it was stoping without the extra hardware in the PC

Hello again
I checked the cd drive and it is running off its own cable and BIOS does recognize it at POST. I finally got it to boot off the CD but it hung at "starting win xp preinstallation environment" sounds like the computer revs up pretty high right before that screen, then slows down and vice versa for a couple of times. I tried it again and it hung at the same screen but it got a lil farther "if you need to install 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver..."
So I rebooted again. This time the screen was blank.
It also makes a whining noise like florescent lights do, dont know if that means anything.
Is my computer done for? or do I need another fan/and or pc?

HI when you say "computer revs up" is it the cd drive making the noise it sounds like it maybe having trouble reading the cd. Do you have anothere CD drive you could try?

I tried another cd rom drive and it did the same thing as before, booted off cd but hung at setup is inspecting....configuration. However, I did try the cd and the hard drive in another computer and it worked. It's installing right now, but its hanging at installing windows>>installing devices, not freezing tho cos the progress bar is still moving.
so its not either of the cd drives or the hard drive, correct?
could it be the heat sink and/or processor and/or cooling fan?
it just seems like my computer is overheating . would that make it freeze?
its got me baffled

It must be stoping due to heat or faulty RAM. Could you try the RAM out of the good PC and try the install again. The heat sink and fan are fitted correctly now right?