Ok, I agree, so that eliminates any worries there then.

So it now points back to hardware/driver issues and from your earlier
description, your video card/driver is top of my list of suspects. Oh, and
BTW - did you try making fresh copies of your Recovery CD's?

However, I'm still worried as to why you seem unable to boot into Safe Mode.

... When I reboot it goes right into the start up menu
with Command Prompt highlighted.

Not quite sure how you've got there, but getting back to trying to start in
Safe Mode (and I guess you've tried all combinations - either the F8, Ctrl
or the Shift keys - during the boot sequence),

At what point does it fail?
Don't you even get the DOS WinMe Startup Menu with the four choices?

BTW - You might find the following site useful :-
IBM - Software and device drivers - NetVista 2251, 2271, 6830, 6831, 6840,
6841
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...id=MIGR-4S237K

Mart


"helpMe" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart, yes I did do a clean install, FDISK (erased partition, created
new
single partition, then a FORMAT (FAT32). Also, when the recovery CDs start
they also do a FORMAT and then install Win Me and all the drivers. So, I
believe I'm cleaning out the hard drive. Thanks.

"Mart" wrote:

Hi hM, I noticed your reference to SURegCreateKey failed. See :-

"SURegCreateKey Failed" Error Message Appears When Installing a Program
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305668/en-us

Just wonder if you are really performing a 'Clean Installation' rather
than
a Clean Boot, or are you perhaps actually attempting to 'Over-Install' on
a
your hard drive which may still contain data. i.e. - are you using the
correct option with your Recovery CD?

Did you, (or did the Recovery CD) re-format your C: drive (or at least
delete its contents) before you started to re-install?

Mart



"helpMe" wrote in message
...
Hi Mike M. No I never used the IBM recovery CDs until now. I have taken
all
the external devices off the system. Only have keyboard, mouse and
monitor. I
still have the original ethernet card and telephone jack card
installed. I
did remove them during one iteration of my many different boots and
still
had
the problem. The freeze now occurs much earlier in setup. I now never
get
to
the desktop window as before. It now freezes during setup when loading
hardware drivers. When I reboot it goes back into setup and says
"Windows
has
found the following new hardwa" but no hardware is listed, just a
blank
line. When I hit finish to get out of it (also tried pointing to every
imaginable location for drivers) I get SURegCreateKey failed and it
locks
again. When I reboot it goes right into the start up menu with Command
Prompt
highlighted. I can do a Scandisk successfully but Scanreg /fix gets
errors
and can't repair the registry. Safe mode also locks up. I have also
tried
to
install Win 2K Pro today and it freezes on the Win 2K Pro splash screen
with
the starting up progress bar about half way through. I have added a
flat
panel screen but have removed that and attached the original video
monitor
before I tried the Me setup/clean install. Thanks for your help!

"Mike M" wrote:

Freezes such as you mention are usually due to hardware or driver
problems. Have you ever previously managed to restore your system
using
the IBM recovery CDs? If not then I suspect they are the cause of the
problem and contain an incorrect driver for your system.
Alternatively
what hardware changes have been made to your PC since it was first
delivered? When installing from the recovery CDs make sure that you
have
no external devices connected to the system such as printers, scanners
or
any usb devices, just the keyboard, mouse and monitor.
--
Mike Maltby



helpMe wrote:

Hi Mike M. I did post my Me clean install problems and tried
everything with no luck. See post below "Me freezes at destop window
after clean install". Thanks for your quick response and help.