Question about a POST error

I just got an ASUS P4P800S mobo. When it boots, it does a correct auto-detect of all the drives, and the BIOS setup works fine. I have a clean new Maxtor sata that I want to format and load up with Win2000.

But it never gets to the a: drive utility disk. Instead, I get a red (uh-oh) popup which says "Invalid copy! Press any key to continue". Pressing keys does not clear the popup. I also won't boot from any other drive, including the CD.

If I disconnect my c: and d: (normal IDE) drives, the popup doesn't come up, but it still doesn't start the a: setup.

I eMailed ASUS, but haven't heard back, so I guess they're off for the holidays.

Any help would be very much appreciated, and would make my niece (who wants to use the machine) very happy.