Okay, I just flashed my bios and im up to date with that.
NOW windows xp is acting funny!
its still doing the same thing as before (like starting up and shutting down before it gets to the main desktop) but now it wont go past the welcome screen

I was talking to a guy with esupport and he said that it might be because windows is having a hard time coping with the new flash, or that its not insync with the new configured bios...

so i did what he said and tried to repair winxp but every now and then, a file or two couldnt be copied!
i dont wanna keep pressing esc everytime a file isnt coppied so i was wondering if it would be safe to just do a clean install of win xp with the new flashed bios?
this would be okay right?

Yes, a fresh install would be perfectly safe, in fact i recommend it.

okay,ill try that

also, would clearing the cmos be standard as well?
or should i just go ahead and do a clean install?

okay, im trying to reinstall windows and im having the same problems as if I were to repair windows.
after the bios update, windows will not repair or do a clean install properly. it has a hard time copying files.
what do i do?

Sounds like the BIOS flash didn't complete correctly.. Did you try clearing your CMOS or resetting to factory settings? Double check to make sure everything is securely plugged in also, I once had a problem that turned out that my IDE cable wasn't completely plugged in.. Felt quite stupid after nudging it in and everything worked fine >.>

yeah, well i took out the cmos battery for a long time then placed it back in...then on start up, it gave me the "checksum" error that it was set back to "default settings". immediately after that, i went straight into bios and chose the "optimize defaults" setting...not sure if this was the appropriate choice?
but i still get good signs that everything is okay,..i still get a beep on start up and it shows that my bios was updated....everything was perfect as far upgrading the bios...its just windows wont' install properly now...im at a loss!?
and im about to pull my hair out
(also, my memory is quite old, do you think that this would be causing the problem?) i just ordered two new modules..and those should be in by tomorrow or wed afternoon...
any help would be HIGHLY appreciated

Er.. you want factory defaults, not optimized