'Depress F1: Atapi Incompactible'. when you press F1 you return back to the same place you start from , continuing in a loop process. It could have happened when you were about to do Window XP installation on another HDD(new or old) on the same system or just replacing the old bad signal cable with a new one. Whatever the causes the problem is followed by two beeps simultaneously. It has something to do with the signal cable possibly not placed in the right position properly. It can also come from inapropriate switched cables between PCI slots. One thing is for sure that the hard disk hates to be treated as SLAVE all rather moving the Jumper pins to the wrong place can be a consequential culprit also. Beside these palpable factors, there can be more beyond the surfaces.At this point, you have to try to use the Safe mode for you to achieve a positive result.
Step 1: Put off your computer before you unscrew it (if that is the case with your system) or pull the necessary tabs to open it(if not the type of system that come with screws).
Step 2: Check the Signal cable or SATA if they are placed in the proper slots. If the master cable which is usually slimmer that the slave is used by other devices other than the hard disk. If that is the case you can change them by returning the master to the HDD and the one which is wider for other device drivers, like the CD ROM, floppy driver, etc.
Step 3: Look very closely at the end of the device drivers(somewhat at the end of the devices) and there are spots with open pins bearing inscriptions beneath them. Among these pins is one bearing a tiny clip, check the inscription close to it. For HDD put the clip on master and for the other devices the slave.
Step 4: After that move on and make sure that the cables are well sitted to avoid other error messages. Still opened, switch the power on and wait to see if the beeps or error message come up this time. If yes, you probably have it fixed but if not, you can continue to the next step.
Step 5: If the problem still remains after utilizing the above steps. "This procedure is usually reserved for advanced users". It advisable not to go about this if you don't have much knowledge of system maintenance. First thing to do is to know if your HDD is communicating properly with the MOBO(motherboard), if not , check the cable properly.
Step 6: The signal cables are okay yet there are no sign of HDD to be found . "Before you do this make sure you put the power off from the main". Then next process requires you to do one simple thing to clear of the processor (please don't do this if you are not good with computer repair) that's, open the processor compactment and bring out the micro-processor chip, clean any trace of dust in the area and replace it back without wasting much time. Please, don't repeat this process more than twice or thereabout.
Step 7: Make sure the RAM(s) are working properly and their slot(s) are okoy. Check properly for any wrong connection before covering the system casing. Power the system on and go on with what you where doing before this problem emanated.