i just finished building a new PC.
AMD 4200+
A8N-SLI Deluxe
1GB RAM (512x2)
ATI x850XT
160GB SATA HD
400GB IDE HD

ive seen issues like this on this forum, but i think it may be a hardware issue with mine. everytime i go to load XP it restarts on the loading screen. I CAN get into safe mode tho....so i am unsure what the problem is, ive been lookin all over the net for help. thanks.

Start in safe mode ..

Right click my computer .. go to properties -- advanced -- select startup and recovery settings -- uncheck automatically restart.

Restart in normal mode ... if there is a blue screen of death then let us know the error code its displaying ...

i did that, and when i go to load xp it till restarts....I have no idea what teh problem could be. hardware maybe?

I've had that problem before, just re-install OVERTOP of your current WinXP installation. Somewhere, a file wasn't written to, or something wasn't copied over right....so just stick the install CD in, and re-install.

like delete the partition and install? or just install over the same partition that xp is already on? cuz ive already tried deleting the partition and reinstalling and that didnt work...so idk.

Just install over the same partition that XP is already on. If that doesn't work, *shrug* I dunno...

I just had this problem over the last two days. I fixed it, but my computer is still a little shakey and I may post a thread requesting help in stabilizing it.

Anyway, did you have a HDD with XP on it before you upgraded? Did you transfer it from your old build to your new one? That's probably the problem. XP seems to only install the drivers it needs for running on the current setup when it was installed.
You will either have to repair XP, or do a fresh install. What I ended up doing was doing a fresh install and then trasferring over all of my personal documents into the new installation. Then I deleted the malfunctioning installation.
For me, it was a real b**** to set up.

From what I read, you may be able to repair it. If you insert the installer disk, and proceed as if you are installing a new XP installation, it may ask you if you want to repair the old one. Do that if you can.

ill give the install over the partition a try. the HD i tried installing it to is brand new, so there was nothing being transferred or anything. i wasnt trying to transfer an install either.

Oh, so you installed it AFTER you built your computer?

yeah after i built it. it was a fresh HDD. btw i tried installing over the already existing partition that didnt work...so i got no clue what to do here.