Okay, let me back up and think a minute...
Within Windows, you disabled the onboard video, right? Where did you do that, Kev? I went looking in my system (FX 5200, 256MB), and I couldn't find a spot. I also wasn't looking too hard, either... [img]smile.gif[/img]
In any case, if it's in Windows, you're not really in bad shape, I don't think. Here are the steps I'd try:
1. Boot in safe mode (which you've already done; apparently, that's hosed
so skip to step 2)
2. From the XP boot menu (where you were able to choose safe mode) boot to the last good configuration. Depending on how far back "last" goes, you may be able to get to a good setup.
3. If that doesn't work, try going into the CMOS settings at the beginning of the boot cycle. It's usually a delete key for me, but it varies from BIOS to BIOS. In there, you should have an option to restore factory defaults. Take that, save, and restart. IF you've monkeyed around in the BIOS at all (which I tend to do), you might want to take note of what settings you had or tweaked...
4. If that still doesn't work, pop in your XP install disk and reinstall it. You will be given the option to overwrite the current version; say yes to that.
5. If that *still* doesn't work, boot from a rescue disk, start at the command line with CD-ROM support, and install XP again from there.
6. If that *still* doesn't work, I'd buy another hard drive, stick it in the box as the master boot drive, pop in the XP CD, and boot from there. That will start you with a clean boot and fresh install, and you can use the other two hard drives as your D: and E: drives.
7. If that *STILL* doesn't work, take it into the back yard and shoot it... [img]graemlins/kidding.gif[/img] Actually, give a shout back and we'll work on some other ideas.
For reference, I *think* what I was talking about with disabling the on-board video was in the BIOS settings, and not in Windows itself. But it's been a while...
If you're in a habit of setting restore points (which I now am), you might have a restore point prior to the installation of the vid card and everything else you did. Restoring to that point would *probably* offset whatever you did, and let you try again. If you're not in that habit, like I wasn't before building my last XP machine, this may help you to get there (like it did me [img]smile.gif[/img] ).
Let me know what happens... I'm back to work tomorrow, so I should be more available than I was today.