Hdd light blinks amber 5 times

Are you getting any beeps form the Computer itself?

This should help HP says replace the drive.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Docume...

thanks for the help guys it was a faulty memory card i replaced it but the system seems to still be unsteady and for some reason it keeps rebooting and says the clock is not set, the chassis fan is not connected and the memory is lacking by a few gigs(508 out of 512). it goes to the splash screen with the hp logo and just stays like that until i press f10, f8 or f2 after i boot please help. here is some more info about the computer


MOTHERBOARD-HP P450 p4
MEMORY- 5I2
VIDEO- UNKNOWN
BIOS-hp d330
HD-MAXTER 40GB

and the computer has no sound card so no beeps

Strange. Usually, a BIOS 'code' beeps.

any ideas

why do u think the computer reboots after the boot screen (its not the hd because i just bought a new one and installed windows xp and windows 98 on it and the hdd led seems to be reading it fine too[and it isn't the power source either because it has a test light and switch and the light is green])

If the clocks keep getting reset your motherboasrd battery is dead that could cause some minor issues but should not affect the performance.