Bill asked :-

BTW...this is a long thread; should I start a new one?

No! - continue with this one. But you may wish to snip some of it - see
below.

In the meantime :-

USB Camera, Printer, etc., etc., Ah! - there's your likely conflicts!
especially if they are still connected. You MUST disconnect them at this
stage and re-install them later according to the device manufacturers
instructions.

Again, are the USB ports associated the "PCI Multimedia Device" ?
If so, you'll have to pull that card (assuming its a card) and install it
later according to the manufacturers instructions. As with all USB devices,
not all 'simply plug'n'play' first time. Some often need to be 'conditioned'
as per the user handbook before they can start to be 'hot swapped'. And if
its a PCI to USB adapter card, you certainly will need to read the
installation instructions and install the accompanying drivers.

BTW - there's no specific need at this stage to remove programs, but
removing printers etc. will need to be done in due course. But you must try
to start with minimal hardware connected and connect one item at a time to
see if you hit any obstacles.

Thanks for giving me good advice...and courage.

I'm sure that on behalf of others who have also contributed, you're most
welcome. You'll get there!!

Mart



"William B. Lurie" wrote in message
...
Well, Mart, I got bold and (laboriously) opened all of
the condensed categories and removed all that it would allow
me to. There were four under Primary and Secondary IDE Disk
Controllers that it wouldn't let me remove, no matter what
I tried, so I just proceeded from there.

I'm a little confused as to what exactly I did next, but I
believe it allowed me to Restart, F8 to Normal Mode, at least
once. I then used Add/Remove to get rid of old programs, and
obsolete printers, and I finally got myself to a cleaner
system.........only now I hang at the dash prompt again.

But now I'm not scared any more, and I'm going to unplug the USB
(new) printer and web camera, and go back and remove all devices
again. Maybe I'll get to where it will boot Normal again.
Incidentally, at one point it asked for the CD for installing
something I don't need (I forget what) and I didn't bother with it.

Thanks for giving me good advice...and courage.
BTW...this is a long thread; should I start a new one?

snipped