I would like to know...

[RoseBlue]

Ok, lets do an attempt to isolate were your errors are comming from.

Do you have the ability to burn a CD?
No

Just curious is this a Packard Bell machine?
Yes & I hate it !

The issue you describe can be, once again a hard disk error or a hard disk error being caused by a bad bios setting OR it can be being caused by some faulty component in your computer.

What I am going to ask you to do is to download and burn a specific linux iso live cd. I will want you to boot from that cd and just more or less play with it and let it stay on for 12+ hours. The point would be to establish as a unit the computer system is functional.

If the system is functional, I am going to ask you to download and burn an iso file called SystemRescueCD. The point will be to verify that the disk is functional.

Often times, the best form of reseting the bios is a very simple process but it does require you to be able to get at its mother / main board. There is a battery, normal a slim 3/4 inch diameter, that is normally very obvious and noticable. Normaly it is extremely easy to remove. Remove it for 30+ seconds and then replace it. This normally will resolve any inability to get into the bios.

See your PM pls.

 

[EnigmaMaitreya]

Ok, well, while I think on this one, lets look at an alternative for a moment.

The Win9X/Me machine, is that an old computer system, perhaps what you had intended to obsolete with the purchase of the XP machine?