Member Avatar for Keith Morgan

Hello, i have reloaded windows 7 ultimate as the computer appeared to have a virus

However, it takes several minutes to load windows, just sitting with a blank screen and a cursor in top left corner, then load windows, but not always. sometimes it indicates it cannot find the OS
also it is not showing the hard drive in the computer system on windows ?

I have entered bios but this does not always easily access ?
in bios I ran checks of hard drive and ram, all seems ok ?

Do I need to download latest bios and reinstall ?

I also find that when trying to boot from the dvd it is not accessing a dvd ? it did at first to load windows 7 but there was this same blank screen during the windows 7 set up process ?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rubberman

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Quick, ordered checklist that builds on ’s reinstall and ’s suggestions — focused on confirming whether this is a flaky drive/connection, a corrupted boot area, firmware/BIOS issue, or an optical/boot device fault.

Start with simple hardware checks (power off first): confirm the HDD appears consistently in BIOS; swap the SATA/power cable to a different port; unplug all non-essential drives and USB devices; try the laptop with AC only (battery removed if possible). If the drive is intermittently missing in BIOS, that strongly points at a bad cable/connector, failing drive electronics, or a failing SATA controller.

If the drive is always visible but Windows is intermittent, run the Windows 7 recovery tools from the install media: choose Repair your computer → Command Prompt and run these in order:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd
chkdsk C: /r

Give chkdsk time — it can take hours on troubled disks.

Next, collect SMART and vendor diagnostics. Create a bootable USB (Linux live or vendor tool) and run smartctl or the HDD maker’s offline utility (SeaTools, WD Data Lifeguard). Look for reallocated/pending sectors and long SMART self-test failures — those are clear signs the drive should be replaced.

A word on BIOS and firmware: only update the BIOS if diagnostics or vendor notes show a specific fix for your symptom. BIOS flashing carries risk; follow official HP/Compaq instructions and ensure AC power and good battery. Also, if tests show no hardware fault but the problem persists, consider possible firmware-level infection — at that point a trusted repair shop or manufacturer service is recommended.

If SMART or diagnostics report problems, back up data immediately and replace the drive (an SSD is a fast, reliable upgrade). If everything tests clean yet problems continue, seek professional hardware testing.

Member Avatar for rubberman

Hard disk checks notwithstanding, this sounds like one of a couple of possibilities.

  1. There is a fault in the boot sectors of the disk. You need to run extended disk checks to see if there is a fault there where it can read the sector occasionally, but not always.

  2. You are getting other hardware problems, such as with the system BIOS and/or flash memory. Most BIOS's can be configured for more verbose POST output which may help.

  3. There is a very serious virus on your system. Some exist that infect the system flash memory where BIOS settings are stored, so even wiping the disk and reinstalling the OS from scratch are futile. This could also cause the BIOS/flash to look faulty as well.

So my recommendation is that you take into a technician who you trust to run extensive tests on the system hardware, software, and firmware. If the system is starting to fail, they will let you know if repairing it is worthwhile. If it is still under warranty, then send it into Compaq for repair.

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