Dell won't accept WIN XP

I'm have a problem loading Win XP into a Dell PC that originally came with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. I can load it but when it restarts the computer it goes back and forth between the Dell start up page and a black screen with the cursor blinking in the upper left hand corner. Could it be a bad hard drive? Or could it be the CMOS battery?

 

CMOS batteries are so cheap and easy to replace, its usually worthwhile to eliminate them as a suspect for a problem. (believe me, dying CMOS batteries can manifest in SO many different problems - yours included) The lifespan of a CMOS battery is only 3-5 years.

When you say "you can load it", what exactly do you mean? Have you configured BIOS to boot from CD, and formatted? Do you get as far as the initial setup?

 

Yes, I've configured BIOS to boot from CD and I've formatted. It will setup until it gets to the restart, when it gets there it goes back and forth between the Dell start up page and a black screen with the cursor blinking in the upper left hand corner. I will buy a CMOIS battery so I can rule that out as a possibility.

 

Also there is no initial beep when I start the computer.

 

Usually a CMOS battery will start showing its age in ways before serious issues like a slow clock..

 

No beep? And there was before? I assume you have video regardless? Perhaps your system speaker has a bad connection. Make sure that it is firmly seated on the pins of your motherboard.

Not always. I've seen a computer that kept perfect time (not using an external sync, either!), and wouldn't complete setup, much in the way randhlmn is describing.

 

I'm not sure if there was a beep before. I'm working on a computer for a friend. Yes it has video. And the speaker wire is firmly seated on the pins of the motherboard. I thought that the beep had something to do with the CMOS or BIOS.

 

Yes, you're right. BIOS uses beep codes to communicate problems with the system. Usually, it is related to video, but since you have that, we can rule that out. I wouldn't sweat it for the time being.