try creating a new admin account on the current xp to see if you fix it.
open a cmd window(start/run type cmd) then type in the box

at 16:30 /interactive cmd.exe

change 16:30 to the current time plus 3 mins as soon as you have done that and it confirms close the window and wait 3 mins for the box to open again

then type
net localgroup Administrator fred /ADD

this will give you an new admin account fred with no password

then type
nusrmgr.cpl

and check its created the user and change the password for the old admin account

No no, no the ACPI settings in the BIOS - it's in Windows XP Setup. As soon as it loads, when you get the screen to load SCSI/RAID drivers(screencap below), hit F5 instead of F6 and select ACPI in the following menu. You'll have to hit up and down on the arrows to get to all the available options. It won't show them all at once.



Also - why are you hitting escape? Generally that's to cancel. Are you at the screen that shows all the partitions and you choose which one you want?

Hey thanks guys!

I tried to reset the password in the cmd prompt, but it kept telling me access denied.

I got to the F5 screen and there is a whole list of pc types to choose from. Do I choose the one you have highlighted in the screen cap? What is this choice doing exactly?

Thanks again for the continued advice

In the screen that pops up after 3 mins did you type

then type
nusrmgr.cpl

as you should be able to change the password there. Make sure you close the old cmd prompt and wait for the new one to open

When I typed in "at 16:30 /interactive cmd.exe" and changed the time, it told me access denied. Did I type it in correctly?

When it's time to choose the PC type, choose "ACPI PC" or something along those lines (Assuming it's a one-core, one-processor system)

Did it, nothing changed.

I tested the ram and unplugged a couple of cards, still nothing...