I was thinking in terms of a useful Windows XP "home computer," not a server. Sorry about the confusion. You're right, it would make an excellent Linux server.
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Bruceb's suggestions should fix your problem.

However, if they don't, I suggest DO NOT do a system restore. The problem you're encountering has a 99% chance of being "simple fix," albeit I can't...

I thought this might be useful for others encountering a similar problem that I encountered yesterday.

A friend called and said their computer wouldn't start (Windows XP & SP2). I went over and...

A PII isn't worth much, even if it had a lot of RAM. I have a PII with Win 98SE and 512MB RAM, and have already "retired" it. Put the old PII on eBay "as is" and take whatever you can get, or just...