I need help from the pros

I just got this system. it is used. it is suppose to have a 2.8GHz processor with 1GB RAM, it has a Intel Pentium 4 chip, with a hard drive capacity of 80 GBs top of the line everything. It was a custom job and to look at it it is an outstanding machine. I had it shipped from Ohio to Arizona. I am beginning to think that something happened in transit. However: I am having a serious problem getting the OS to even boot up! I am beyond frustrated and I really need some help! Is there anybody out there who isn't doing anything on a Friday night? If you prefer you can email me @ KrisDenfip2002@yahoo.com

Thanks so much!
Kris

What's the OS?
Are you getting any errors?
Since it is new (to you anyway), have you tried reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling the OS (assuming you have it on cd)

I do have the disc but mine is XP Home, not a big difference. How do I go about installing it? How can I get a command prompt to come up on the screen?
Thank you so much for you r help!!
Kris

When the computer is booting up press "Delete" or "F2" and you should enter into the BIOS. Change the BIOS settings to boot from the CD-ROM drive. Insert the OS CD in the CD-ROM drive and reboot. It will then take you through reinstalling the OS, which will reformat the drive and install the OS.

I have changed it to boot from the CD ROM and am trying to get it to reboot. It is still coming up with the same message that says... We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this. It goes on to give me 5 choices. (Which one do I choose?)
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Last known Good Configuration
or Start Windows Normally

Kris

choose, Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
Once the command prompt loads, type format c: /s.
Once it is done reformatting, then reboot and it should reinstall the OS (assuming the OS disc is in the drive and it is set to boot from the drive.)

Okay I chose that one and it will do one of two things. It will either just completely recycle and go back to the screen that asks me to choose which way I want to boot the system again or it stops on this

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System 32\DRIVERS\agp440.sys



It will not give me a command prompt that I can type at.
What do I do now?

If the BIOS is set to boot from the CD and the OS disc is in the CD drive and it doesn't give you the options to reinstall, then I would either contact the company you bought it from to get support or take it to a local computer shop to have fixed.

Okay, that is what I needed to know. Thank you for your time and patience! It is much appreciated.
Kris