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Problems with booting up
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Join Date: Aug 2003
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I am trying to fix a computer for a friend. I have gotten different stories either it was hit by lightening or virus. I am pretty computer savvy but I have no clue on this one.
When you turn it on everything appears to be right. The Compaq comes across the screen and then it goes to a black screen with the cursor. Does not let you type anything. Does anyone have any ideas? I have switched out the hard drive and that did not work. The fan is running and the cdrom drive is running.
Please help.
When you turn it on everything appears to be right. The Compaq comes across the screen and then it goes to a black screen with the cursor. Does not let you type anything. Does anyone have any ideas? I have switched out the hard drive and that did not work. The fan is running and the cdrom drive is running.
Please help.
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Join Date: Feb 2002
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What type of cursor is it? Is it the Microsoft Windows cursor indicating that Windows is trying to load? Try booting to a DOS floppy and see if you have access to the C:\ drive.
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Join Date: May 2003
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Practically a Posting Shark
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Originally Posted by honestgirl33523
When you turn it on everything appears to be right. The Compaq comes across the screen and then it goes to a black screen with the cursor. Does not let you type anything. Does anyone have any ideas? I have switched out the hard drive and that did not work. The fan is running and the cdrom drive is running.
If the hard drive makes no difference, it may be a corrupt or mis-set BIOS. Use the jumper to do a BIOS reset and then restore the settings as needed. BIOS settings can be corrupted by a power surge or EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) induced by a nearby lightning strike. The BIOS code itself may even have been damaged; the flash memory used for BIOS storage is rather sensitive.
Last edited by TallCool1; Aug 30th, 2003 at 11:53 pm.
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Join Date: Aug 2003
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Originally Posted by cscgal
What type of cursor is it? Is it the Microsoft Windows cursor indicating that Windows is trying to load? Try booting to a DOS floppy and see if you have access to the C:\ drive.
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Join Date: Aug 2003
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Originally Posted by TallCool1
What happens when you boot from a floppy or a bootable CD like Knoppix?
If the hard drive makes no difference, it may be a corrupt or mis-set BIOS. Use the jumper to do a BIOS reset and then restore the settings as needed. BIOS settings can be corrupted by a power surge or EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) induced by a nearby lightning strike. The BIOS code itself may even have been damaged; the flash memory used for BIOS storage is rather sensitive.
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