Thanks - I thought as much
Have already checked the RAM it is OK
The rest will have to wait till I get another power supply to try
will take it from there.
The only thing puzzles me is that the IDE drive will boot with a CD in the drive
regards
Uncle Viv

My System
Windows XP Pro with Service pack 2
ASUS M2N32 - SLI Deluxe S-AM2 Motherboard
AMD Dua lCore X2 4600+ AM2 Processor
Alberton G Force 7600 GT PCI 250 meg Video Card
2gig Corsair 667Mhz DDR2 Ram
ANTEC 550W NEO HE550 Power Supply
BenQ 22" Monitor.
Western Digital SATA 200gig Hard Drive

Been using it for about 12 months

Turned on computer and it failed to boot - flash blue screen - could not read problem
Tested RAM OK
CHKDSK  OK
Repaired XP BOOT.ini and FIXBOOT
Still could not boot - same problem - instant flash of blue screen and continual reboot
Reinstalled Windows
Still same problem

To see if I could retrieve some data I connected a IDE  Western Digital HHD 
Still would not boot from the IDE drive either.
reinstalled windows on the IDE drive
Still did not boot

Now this is where the fun starts

Changed BIOS to boot from CD first
insert the Windows XP System disk in CD  drive
Ignore the boot from CD command
then the IDE drive goes directly to thel startup screen and loads windows and the computer works fine.
If I try to boot without the system disk  in the CD drive - it does not boot.

Now if I remove the IDE Drive and try the same sequence with the SATA drive then the process goes directly to the F8 screen and says it failed to boot from a previous session and asks which option to load
Tried them all - all areas failed to boot - flashed blue screen and continues to reboot.

Has anyone out there experienced a similar problem.
HELP
in anticipation
frustrated
UNCLE VIV

I am a mature guy looking for help with my XP especially when it produces very unusual problems.
After searching the Web for about a week I found your site and appears to be the One.
Looking foreward to participate in your expertise.
regards
Uncle Viv