assembling my computer

Ok, well i have this old computer and its not a big deal to lose it, i never used it anyway.. so I decided to use it as sort of a learning tool.
So, I was looking around in the case to see how everything works, and I realized that it's a pretty simple setup.. but the case was very small and cramped so I couldn't see alot of stuff, so pretty soon I got pissed off and took everything out and placed it in a box, and reconnected everything.. but now, when i turn it on it counts the ram (i'm thinking) and then says "162 - System Options Not Set" and just stays there.
Can anyone tell me what I did wrong? I was thinking maybe it was that some connections aren't secure.. or the drives are hooked up with the wrong wires.. I really don't know.

Sounds like a bios message. Go into the bios and look for a "reset to fail safe defaults" option and use it. Then reboot and hope the message doesn't come up again.

If all else fails, take the battery out of the motherboard, wait a few seconds and put it back in, see if that helps.

ok now im confused even worse.. once it says 162 - system options not set, it restarts the computer.. so i let it reset a few times, and everytime it gets a little farther.. and now im logged in the administrator account and everything.. whats up with that?

LMFAO ok sorry.. i figured out what it was.. i put my computer back together inside its case once it was working.. and then i realized i had forgotten the ethernet card.. so i slipped it in, and WAMMO the error popped up.. and THATS when i realized that the computer was still on. So, now i'm hoping for the best.

OOouch! Try taking the card out and see if the error reproduces itself. You may have blown a component.

hehe.... there was a guy in the IST department (MCSD) that blew a whole box of network cards doing that... He thought they were hotswappable (not on that mb :D). He Blew 12 network cards and was cursing that the idiot ...... who made it could ......

Man did i get a few good laughs outta him, too bad he didnt last longer.

Leave the network card out. Somethings bound to be fried.

ROTFLMAO:D I wish I could see that happen, though I recon I will, there are these kids at school who consider themselves "experts", am waiting for them to do it...