This does not sound to be a Windows problem at all...if it stops before Windows is called to start, you are still in the BIOS mode and than it is a serious hardware / BIOS failure...check your BIOS and the requirements for your ZIP drive, the setting for the printer port (ECP etc...). <<tried all the printer-port modes and DMA's. Switched to the other two available settings (LPT2 and 3 with different I/O and IRQ's)>>
If your printer card is an add-on (a PCI or IDE card) take it out and reseat it after cleaning (dusting with brush) the contacts. Try it on another printer port. <<<it's on the motherboard>>> That the printer works, does not necessarily confirm that the port works correctly for other peripherals.
The clicking of your monitor is the sound of a contactor which just lost power, i.e. the signal from the VGA card. <<<AGREE>>
One more thing (I hear some others laughing already...) is your monitor plugged in to the power supply unit of the computer? <<<NO, it's not>>> If so, remove the cable, use another power source and start the monitor a couple of seconds before you start the computer, there is a fair chance that the power surge while starting everything up gives a break somewhere and it is very well possible that even your motherboard does not work anymore (you said the fan is the only thing working....no noise from harddrives????<<< just the spin, no HEAD movement>>>) and this means that the PSU does not supply power to anything, this in turn switches your monitor into standby mode and your zip drive does not work . Now you want to tell me...but the printer...well, the power consumption of the printer is by far not as high as the one from the ZIP drive (unless you are talking about a laser....). <<<it is a LASER HPljet3P>>>
Let us know...I guess you are running close to the maximum possible power consumption ...<<< I guess I could confirm this by unplugging the other (scsi-2) HD. There is a CD-ROM, a CD-RW and a scsi card running a 10gb IBM HD. However the CD-rom's shouldn't be sucking power, neither should the floppy drive. Not sure whether the MSOffice new-fangled keyboard contributes to the power-drain, but the zip-drive, being via the parallel port, has its own power-supply (ICW the internal version). i.e. the power-drain of supplying data should not be too great>>>
Of course the possibility exists that the computer P/S, even though an AT in a new AT case may not be what it says it is (250W). Thanks for all your help 310, but I fear it's time to go into swap-out mode again. I just hate that.