I think it could be a hardware fault. Moreover I think something inside your computer is overheating. I would check for that by opening up the case and switching the computer on.
Check for the following.

1. That all the fans are spinning normally
2. without touching the components directly & after its been running for a while check your hard drive for obvious signs of overheating.(I suggest wearing a surgical or rubber glove & check to make sure the drive isn't as warm as a freshly poured coffee cup.)
3. Can you smell anything overheating.(more difficult to describe I'm afraid)
4. Build up of dust on the components? Sometimes it helps clearing these by gently blasting them with the air from a bycycle pump.
5. Bugs....I have found old computers that have spiders & other insects.

I hope some of this helps. but anything that is overheating will most likely need replaced.

Thank you for your advice,but none of these things are the problems. I feel it is a little more than just dust and bugs (lol) I have checked these and I have been inside the computer several times trying different things... I removed the CMOS battery and even waited an hr b4 putting it back in, I tried booting from just the HD itself with nothing else connected, I have tried "de-charging" completely as hp calls it by holding the button in for 30secs. while battery is out and also everything unplugged internally, I have taken the RAM out and slid it in the 2nd port available or whatever, I have even used a can of air to blow the entire system out, etc... As I said, they have given me several options that I have tried and all have failed. It will not come out of the "power save mode" for almost a month of sitting without any use at all... and when it does... it freezes at boot-up,right when it shows on the screen to press F1 to enter set-up, so I cannot even get into set-up. Any other ideas please??

At what point does it freeze? I you tried creating a bootlog... unless it freezes before it gets to that point? does it? Windows XP also has a recovery console on the original XP disk that might be able to restore the boot record.

sorry I just read about the f1 part. So it goes into power save mode on Post. Have you got another ATX PSU you could try on it?
When resetting your CMOS have you try the jumper switch on the motherboard to clear the CMOS? what model of mboard,CPU have you got?

Well... I have hooked it up inside another computer to see if it would boot, but it says an error has occured to press F1 to retry, but only the same thing kept occuring. Other than this, I have not hooked it to anything else or even replaced anything yet. I tried to make a start-up disk from my puter and inserted it at start up on the hp, but it still would not come out of power save mode. I even tried re-installing windows from an origional disk, not just a restore, still nothing. I was reading about a compaq presario 700 which had "somewhat" similar probs, and ppl said that maybe it was the heat sink and the processor chip needing more or less re-bonded. Could this maybe be the same prob since considering the fact that all the internals of hp are made by compaq presario??

If the heatsink has an air gap of even the smallest amount then the CPU will overheat. I don't know if you have had a look already but it might be too late to recover the CPU if this is the case. If you can get into the BIOS or appropriate jumper settings then you could try and downclock your processor starting with the lowest clock speeds.
What you have said so far makes me think that u can rule out everything but.
either
1. the cpu.
2. Motherboard.
3. CMOS corruption.
4. ATX problems.
& possibly but unlikely the system memory. At this point I would also usually give up and get a new M/board+CPU.

If you keep at it then your a more patient man than me.
Good Luck m8.

First of all.. I have no idea even what the heatsink and cpu look like :o I've never been inside a puter b4 this one and I'm just learning as I go I at one time would've been able to get into the BIOS but as I stated.. it freezes up now when starting. Let me explain a bit more thoroughly from the beginnning:
My teen brother was always the one using the puter mostly,and after about a yr and a 1/2 it started freezing after being used for a cpl hrs. so he had to shut it down manually all the time. After doing this for a cpl months it would freeze within the hr of being used. Then all of the sudden the next time he went to use it, it was in the power save mode. My mom tried a cpl different times to turn it on and one day it booted right up after it sat around for a week to 2 weeks. So I told her to go into control panel to see what all my brother had installed for programs,and as she got there.. it froze again. So naturally she had to shut it down manually once again. So that is when I took it into my hands.I turned the computer on when she gave it to me,worked fine 1st time and booted to the main screen. I disabled several messenger services along with other programs my brother had downloaded that were starting up right at the startup screen. Things were going fine for about an 1/2 an hr,but then as I was trying to download an anti-virus software to run,well it hung up and froze. I waited and waited for about 20 mins-1/2 hr,but nothing could be done at all.. not with the mouse,not even the keyboard would work. So at this point I had to manually shut it down.. and of course.. it went into the power save mode. So now it stays in power save mode for almost about a month of sitting around without trying to be used at all... then when turned back on it will boot to the BIOS screen where it has the system info and states to press F1 to enter set-up... but it freezes right there on that screen.
So this is when I checked all the internals and pulled eevrything out of their slots and used the can of air to blow out all the dust,but I did not see where anything was corroded or even fried looking and nothing smells burned either. So here I am stuck trying to figure out what internal part went bad because I feel something must have :cry: although I did not feel it would be the motherboard since it will boot-up fine after sitting around for a cpl months,it just has the problem with freezing up too quickly to beable to do anything now.
(I have two computers of my own that I never have any problems with and keep very well maintained with virus and spyware software that I run all the time... I do not download any windows updates,for they seems to cause me more problems with the way my computer operates. So I did a clean install of windows XP and I just leave it at that) :cheesy:
I do not know much about all these internals nor what is a sign of what going bad... so what does anyone think it could be?? Possiblely the motherboard?? As for the ATX problem mentioned.. I have no idea what you're referring to here :o and btw... YES... I am very patient(but not a man,lol)along with being determined to fix this dang thing if possible... b4 she goes and spends all that money she does not have to buy a new one... unless I cannot fix it for her cheaper than that!! Thanks again!!

The CPU is somewhere in the middle of you motherboard with a big fan & metalic heatsink clipped on top of it. If there is a gap of air between the metal heatsink & the tiny processor chip below then the processor(CPU) will not be getting cooled properly. With any device once it reaches a critical temperature it will most likey fry some part of the CPU, by the CPU's very nature it may work but be very tempremental. This could be causing some of what your suggesting.
(as I said I would have given up already and went a bought a shiny new kit but since I understand how determined a woman can be..I'll try and keep up
At this point I would have to say that Its most certainly not related to windows or any programs installed on your harddrive.
1. I would also try using another memory chip from another computer...if it still doesn't work then
2. Put your old memory back and look on the motherboard for any jumper switches that look like you can select clock speeds(for example 100mhz & 3.2v) and set them to the lowest combination of voltage and clock speeds & try that.
Try that and let me know. I recon a new motherboard & CPU would set you back around $50 depending on what you needed. see the images for what the jumper switches look like on other motherboards
<img src="http://www.asus.co.jp/mb/socket370/tusl2-c/jumper.gif">
<img src="http://members.aol.com/sentinel84/uas/cpu/bus2.gif">

and what the CPU looks like.
<img src="http://members.aol.com/don5408/cpu2.gif">

This sure sounds like a heating problem...
You need to check the cpu to heatsink contact...

Your computer has a huge duct from the cpu to a fan mounted on the back of the case...
Is that fan spinning up...

You need to go to HP and get the PDF on your system...
Remove the duct check your fan
Push down on the two tabs on top of the duct
Rotate it down until it disengages then remove it completely
Remove the heatsink from the CPU
You dont need to remove the CPU
Clean off the cpu and apply a new coating of heat transfer grease.. (Special stuff)
Replace the heatsink and fan shroud/duct BEFORE you turn it back on....

This is a very common problem