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dithrin:
I just got the computer i am going to be using but i ran into a problem loading XP on it.  It went through the install, but after restarting it gave me a black screen with "Error loading operating system".

The people on this site seem helpful so i thought i would ask here as i could use any suggestions.  I dont know a lot about setting up computers but I will try anything with good directions. 

below is the specs of what i got,  if more info is needed i can supply what i know.

Features/Specifications:
HP Compaq dc5100 MT Pentium 4 640 3.2 GHz Desktop Pc

No Operating System
Microtower form factor
Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2 GHz processor
800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache, Hyper-Threading technology
Intel 915GV Express chipset
2 GB DDR2 RAM (4 GB maximum)
40 GB SATA hard drive
DVD-ROM drive
No floppy drive
ATI Radeon 9250 256 MB PCI video card
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Integrated AC'97 audio with internal speaker
Integrated Broadcom BCM5751 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
Power button
Power and hard drive LEDs
newmanfamilyvlogs:
Sometimes XP can be a little funny on SATA drives. You might look in the BIOS to see if "ACHI" is turned on for the sata controller, and if it is try setting it to "Legacy IDE" or "Native IDE", something along those lines.

What version of XP are you trying to load? Is it a retail disk? What service pack level?

You may also have more luck trying to find a third-party updated version of XP that has more complete drivers loaded into it. Unfortunately the only way to get such a disk is through the less scrupulous methods that we generally don't explicitly link to here.
spoot:
Also make sure the HD is in the boot list in the motherboard's bios.
dithrin:
how do i look at the bios? 

do i go into settings (F10 i think) when it is loading?
smalltownguy:
Is it a legitimate copy of Windows XP?
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