have built 2 before with no problems but this time monitor only stays on for a couple of minutes then goes black. Also trying to run maxblast (to format HD) and it gets to a point where you have to click ok and there is no curser

Does the monitor go into standby mode?

One possibility is shutdown due to overheating--that is, an improperly-fitted CPU heat sink or an improperly-plugged-in CPU fan. That function can be monitored in the BIOS. After a surprise shutdown, reboot and take a look at the power supply voltages and CPU temperature to see if anything looks out-of-line. CPU temperatures of more than about 50°C are suspect.

Another possibility is that the computer is going into power-saver mode for some reason. A new motherboard shouldn't do this out-of-the-box, but it's possible that the BIOS is set (incorrectly) for this. Although the exact menu title varies depending upon which brand of BIOS is being used, look for a title like Power Management and turn off all the power-saving options. Those can be handled in Windows, anyway.

Those are just the most likely causes. Check those first and let us know what's up.

1st- no operating system. was trying to format hd in order to install os.

2nd-computer stated normally several times with a boot disk although after a minute or two screen went black. monitor light went from green to orange. now screen will not come on at all (black) and monitor light is always orange. computer will start and all fans are running.

Is the mouse that you are using on the machine a USB mouse? Often times with 3rd party format/partition/image tools such as Norton Ghost don't have support for certain types of mice. In this event, either attach a PS/2 mouse temporarily or use the keyboard to navigate around. Use keys like "Tab" to switch fields or buttons, up and down, "Space bar" to select items, and "Enter/Return" to click a button. Hope this helps.

using a ps2 mouse. tried tab, space, enter, all the usual suspects. All that there is is an "OK" button on one screen. Used the keyboard to nav around thye previous screen.

Anyone know any other software to partition hard drive? Is the a way to use fdick from a boot disk. I tried and it said no fixed disk found.

thanks

unplug all other drives in the system except the FDD and the HDD that you want to format. then make sure that the HDD is eather jumpered to 'master' or un-jumpered this usual fixes the "no fixed disk found" with fdisk. not allways but it usualy works for me if i have problems with fdisk

spikes

Thanks, worked like a charm to run fdisk. Still trying to install windows. Using boot disk and trying to run with CDRom support could not find CD drive. Unplugged HDD and ran again...got CDRom support. Plugged in HDD and ran again...no CDRom support. Could it be a master/slave setting issue on each drive. I know HDD should be master. what should CD be? Slave?

Yes, it could be a conflict--and if on the same IDE channel, slave is best. Also possible (though unusual) is that the cable is set up for cable select, in which case it can confuse the system. A cable-select cable assembly has a gap in one lead betweeen the first and second device connectors (just covering all bases).

Even better is having the CD drive on the secondary IDE channel, separate from the hard drive. While it's true that you can now have two different-speed devices on the same IDE channel without direct conflict, it's still a good idea to separate the two for best results.