glad you fixedd the error. Unfortunately the complexities of computers may cause ANY part (hardware OR software) to cause conflicts. I recently bought 16GB of Corsair XMS DDR3 ram and it arrived (brand new) as faulty. The initial image on the screen is just of your bios. Your HDD will not do anything until all of the checks of the system have completed, then it wil boot from your device (usually your HDD). If you can, buy all of your parts via newegg.com. My first cual core was faulty (overheated) so I shipped it back to them overnight and newegg paid for my return shipping cost (along with replacement shipping costs).