im not sure if this is the right area for this one, but when i first bought my computer (a used HP compaq d530 CMT) it gave me this error the first few times i started the computer, or restarted, then it stopped doing it for a while, but now, it does it every time i start, or restart the computer, and i have to hit F1 to get it to boot, what would be causing this?

Open the case and make sure all of the fans are working properly and check to see if any plugs are loose
Mark

ok but what fan am i looking for? or rather, which one is the chassis fan?

It depends on what fan is plugged in where. If its wired correctly it should be one of the case fans.

well, not knowing what error message it gives, makes it hard to know what to diagnose.

As Sneakycyber said...a case fan. That's any fan that is not on the CPU/heatsink and is not in the power supply.

Can be any number from none to whatever, depending on imagination and connections.

It will connect to the motherboard via one of the white molex connectors (3/4-pin), can be either front/bottom or upper/lower back of case.

Louis