Quote Originally Posted by blueutopia
checked md5sum on my xp sys before buring the iso, no problems
so it cannot be a defect with the disc right?
The md5 indicates that the ISO was good, but it could still be a problem burn, a high speed burn or a media defect.

But it is much more likely that it is a hardware issue that may need a "cheat code" to help you boot. Follow the documentation link near the top of this page and read the Cheat code section of the wiki. I would suggest first trying failsafe and seeing if that boots. If it works you will not have networking and likely will not care for Knoppix in failsafe mode much, but it would be a good indication that with the right cheat codes you will be able to get a good boot. You might also want to try expert and take notes on how you respond to each question. Beyond that I don't have a good feel for what codes will be right for you, it may just take some experimenting to find what gets you a good boot.