Can I just check in the DOS box are you doing at add 3 mins to your Windows clocks time /interactive cmd.exe

I already used a pw hack and got admin access. The issue is I can't reinstall windows. I have tried different hardware for everything, ram, vid card, hd, everything...

What in the world could this be. This sucks, I really need to reinstall windows but nothing is working.

hi you could try reformatting the drive, get bootdisk from here Bootdisk.Com - Free Windows Bootdisks, Free DOS boot disk

it would then be blank to install to

Reformatted the drive using a Western Digital drive utility, still had same problem on install.

Took the same hard drive and ran XP install on a different system. Worked fine. Took the hard drive and put it in the problem pc, boot hang every time.

Tried replacing all hardware with known working units, including ram, hard drive, sound and vid card. Unplugged all hardware and booted with only ram, hd, and vid card. Tried reinstalling. Still nothing.

I know I can't be the only person this has ever happened to. Bummer. If any additional pc info could assist in understanding the issue, please let me know. I am desperate and only have a couple of days to figure this out.

Thank you all.

Are the HDD and DVD both IDE and plugged into the same cable? Double-check your jumper settings - try Master/Slave and Cable Select.

The HDD and CD/DVD are both showing up in the BIOS menu, correct?

I know how frustrating a unique phantom issue can be - I had exactly the same problem. Random restarts about the same point in the XP install. Sadly, the ACPI install worked for me, but it doesn't seem to for you. Don't forget to try some of the other options - ACPI PC may not be the best one for your system.

Have you used something like Hiren's Boot CD to run diagnostics on the HDD and RAM? It sounds like the HDD is fine if it installed on another PC, but you never know.

Last thought - you've replaced all parts you said. RAM, HDD, Vid Card ... did you try a different CPU? Or different Motherboard? At this point, I would say it sounds like it's most likely a mobo problem - especially since that HDD installed fine on another system.

Good luck, hope it works itself out.

I know all about how jumpers and ide cables work, def not that. I think I have it down to motherboard or BIOS. Tried working ram from 3 working pcs, shouldnt be ram. Same thing with HD.

Windows ran before this reinstall madness, that's why I am so confused as to why it wont reinstall. How can the mobo or BIOS prevent an install? I am just totally lost, I have fixed dozens of pc before and never ran across this. Had a bad mobo once but it was pretty easy to tell due to blown capicitors.

Frustrated, lost, three days spent and nothing...

have you tried setting the bios back to default settings ?