Computer freezes during startup

If you hve any additional PCI/AGP card installed, remove it first. Compaq BIOS is proprietary, DID you use the Compaq restore disk or ensure the BIOS and hardware will support Win2K on Compaq's site?

If you are trying a clean format from a previous Windows install you MAY be okay if you remoce everything but what originally came with the computer, including any added RAM etc.

Try running setup again and it SHOULD boot okay IF the BIOS and onboard hardware supports win2K.

Then just reinstall your added hardware, sound card, graphics card etc. pieve by piece, using the latest drivers from the Compaq site. If drivers for Win2K are not available on Compaq's site, it means COmpaq doesn't support Win2K, you MAY get away with installing drivers from the card manufacturer's website but will probably have sporadic system issues.

A little more history: When I bought the computer I had windows 98 on it. The hard drive went bad and I got the computer rebuilt with the max everything plus win 2000 professional. The computer was working nicely when I decided to get dsl. With dsl I needed SP 2 and when I went to install it the computer gave me an error message and wouldn't load up. I had to use my win2000 startup disk which I didn't have so I bought another one from ebay. I couldn't startup with it so I decided to reinstall win2000. And after trying to reinstall windows I'm stuck on the compaq startup screen. I was asked a question when trying to re install I wasn't sure if I should say yes or no and I said yes and now it doesn't work.

Try a complete reformat.

If you have access to anyone elses computer, find a BIOS update for your motherboard and save it to a floppy disk, then you can FLASH the board before the reinstall.

Again, remove additional RAM, all PCI, AGP cards and if possible just use the onboard video connection until you get a clean install in.

It's not uncommon for an install to take more than one try, especially if not from a restore disk or proprietary install.

One a clena install is in, you can start installing your other cards oneby one, ensuring you download the latest drivers for them first. Update DirectX etc.

Most importantly, do NOT have you network card installed during reinstall unless it is an onboard nic. Make sure you have all the drivers from Compaq for the basic install by saving them all to disk or even running in Safe Mode with network support until you have downloaded and updated ALL drivers.

I am a beginner with pc's I have more questions. I guess my first question is when you say remove added ram I have to go into the computer to do that? And if so where is it located in the computer? Also how do I find a updated BIOS for my motherboard? And what is FLASH and how do I do it? Right now when I log on I stay at the COMPAQ screen and can only press F10 to go to the BIOS screen. If I put the disk in with the updated BIOS infomation at startup will it read the correct values in? I guess that is all of my questions for now. THANK YOU for all of your help!

Firstly, if you aren't sure about your RAM, I will assume you haven't added at other than the orinial provided with it.

For a BIOS update, you will need to visit the maufacturer's website and enter your machine type and model number to get a list of the latest drivers.

At this point just look for the BIOS update. It is a small program that you can save to a floppy (A:)disk, when you boot the computer it will read tyhe floppy first and then automatically start the BIOS FLASH (update for the BIOS). Just follow the instructions on screen, VERY simple and it should update to the latest version.

Formet the hard drive (if just one drive labeled C:) then you only need to reformat the C: drive.

Once it is completely reformatted, you can reinstall Windows2K.

BEFORE reinstalling Windows, make sure you haven't got any EXTRA Video, or Sound cards installed that didn't come with the PC (upgrade cards if you have added any).

Once a clean install of Win2K is in you should be able ot reinstall/update the sound and video drivers (ifnot aftermarket that you've added) stright from the Compaq Support and Drivers website.

Find your drivers and BIOS upddate by entering your machine info here:
http://welcome.hp.com/country/ca/en/support.html