Hi Joseph,
Thanks!!! You got it. There was a /safeboot switch in the
boot.ini.
As I could not edit files using the recovery console which
was all I had beyond the endless setup/safemode loop. My
problem then was how to edit the boot.ini file...
Using another computer I made a text file:
_____________________________________
[boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows="Windows XP"
_____________________________________
Calling it boot.ini
I just copied the file onto a floppy and then was able to
do a copy command from recovery console into c:
A:\ copy boot.ini C:
The system asked if I wanted to overwrite the boot.ini
file (in drive C

, I said go ahead and it did.
Now when I boot it goes straight into normal operations...
whatever that is...
Thanks again,
Mickey