heres my issue. im taking a course on pc repair, i had to take out the cpu and just look at it then put it back. I was careful as not to cause any static discharge. After putting the cpu back in place and starting the os, the monitor reads self test, your monitor is working, check the video and cable and pc. I get no other display on the monitor. I did however recieve a stop error screen one time and it read:
stop: 0x0000007F (0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)
any help would be greatly appreciated.

Look here and see if anything applies to you.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137539

Thanks that does give me a heads up, however im probably gonna have to have some help with this, unless you have any pc repair for dummies advice. thanks.

Are we somehow helping you with your homework?

Your stop code is 0x0000007F: UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP

Can be any number of problems but is usually hardware orientated, and is more probable that it is a RAM issue. I'd suggest removing each stick of RAM and cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser and testing each one separately in the machine.

You can also run a memory diagnostic on each stick of RAM, by following this guide here. Make sure you run it for at least 7 passes (which usually means leave it over night).

Post back with your results

thank you, and yes it is absolutely my homework.
i will try this.