XP won't boot, keyboard dead and stripey screen

[Guest]

Hi,

I can't get XP to boot and I can't sort it out in start-up as the keyboard
doesn't work either. There is power coming throgh as the mouse's light is on
(mouse is atttached to keyboard). DVD/CD drivers spin and all fans are
running. The Windows image comes up (where the green light normally does its
Knight Rider thing), but instead the green/blue light goes straight accross
the screen. After it has done this it takes me to a screeen with stripes.
Initially they were blue and yellow.On the most recent attempt to boot they
were black and khaki green.

All help most gratefully appreciated!

Andy

 

[Malke]

Hi,

I can't get XP to boot and I can't sort it out in start-up as the
keyboard doesn't work either. There is power coming throgh as the
mouse's light is on (mouse is atttached to keyboard). DVD/CD drivers
spin and all fans are running. The Windows image comes up (where the
green light normally does its Knight Rider thing), but instead the
green/blue light goes straight accross the screen. After it has done
this it takes me to a screeen with stripes. Initially they were blue
and yellow.On the most recent attempt to boot they were black and
khaki green.

It sounds as though you have hardware failure. I'll give you general
hardware troubleshooting steps, but if you don't have the skill and/or
extra tools and components with which to do the testing you should take
your computer to a professional computer repair shop (not your local
equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an extended period of time - unless
errors are seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Usually
you will download the file and make a bootable floppy with it. Boot
with the media and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical
errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power
supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Malke,

Let me decree sainthood on you right now. After running the memtest floppy
things are as they should be. Even if things go pear shaped hereafter I can
still get my valuable data off this machine (i.e. my PhD data!). You've
saved me a lot of work and quite a few quid (I'm from the UK).

All the best and I'll be sure to pass on the karmic favour to the next
person in need.

Andy

P.S. Just in case you are a Microsoft employee (donn't worry your sainthood
still stands), I would like to add that I own a couple of Apple's. I have
never had such good service from them. As we say in the UK, I owe you a
couple of pints.

 

[Malke]

Malke,

Let me decree sainthood on you right now. After running the memtest
floppy things are as they should be. Even if things go pear shaped
hereafter I can
still get my valuable data off this machine (i.e. my PhD data!).
You've saved me a lot of work and quite a few quid (I'm from the UK).

All the best and I'll be sure to pass on the karmic favour to the next
person in need.

Andy

P.S. Just in case you are a Microsoft employee (donn't worry your
sainthood still stands), I would like to add that I own a couple of
Apple's. I have never had such good service from them. As we say in
the UK, I owe you a couple of pints.

Bless you ;-). Seriously, I think sainthood is Right Out. I'm not a
Microsoft employee. Here is a link explaining what an MVP is. Apples
are nice, but I prefer Linux (SuSE 9.3). XP is nice, too.

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?

Back up your data and go have a drink. Since I'm in California, USA I
won't be able to join you, but I appreciate the offer.

Malke

 

[Claire McIvor]

Andy wrote:




Bless you ;-). Seriously, I think sainthood is Right Out. I'm not a
Microsoft employee. Here is a link explaining what an MVP is. Apples
are nice, but I prefer Linux (SuSE 9.3). XP is nice, too.

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?

Back up your data and go have a drink. Since I'm in California, USA I
won't be able to join you, but I appreciate the offer.

Malke

Hi Guys,

I'm now a Mac user although previously I've used OS/2, Unix, Linux and
Novell for a vafriety of purposes. I found myself headed for the Mac
after so many frustrations with Windows although in fairness XP has been
better than before and Windows 2K wasn't too bad.
What really surprised me here was finding two guys having a sensible and
pleasant conversation. I'm in the U.K. too and have actually limited my
use and input into some of these newsgroups because of the types of
individual you find there.
Breath of fresh air you guys.

Claire

 

[Guest]

Hi Claire,

I find these groups a god-send. As you can obviously tell I'm no whiz on the
hardware (or software for that matter) side of things. Prior to Malke's
comments I was beginning to wonder whether I'd fried my motherboard. It is
nice to still see some egalitarianism online rather than being given a dose
of spyware or something nastier.

I've never tried Linux as it's always looked too complicated, at least in
terms of support for printers, scanners, etc. As someone who is scared of
Dos, Unix is certainly a no go area. Funnily enough though when I was a kid I
really enjoyed playing around with programming...OK, to the extent that I
could send swear words around my screen on a Dragon 32.

Somewhat paradoxically I've always bought into the Microsoft anti-hegemony
stance but at present I don't see Apple doing anything different (I also
cannot stand that ad line "Think Different", who are they trying to kid?).
They've carved themselves a market share and are enjoying their own market
dominance within the iPod market. Given the opportunity for dominance within
the home PC market would they toss it out the windown in the name of
creativity and exclusivity? I think not, hence the Mac mini.

Although I must add, Apple do known how to spot a good idea idea when the
see one, e.g. the GUI ala Xerox Parc and cool interfaces since. Shame they
got rid of Jeff Raskin, how cool could things be now?

However, I'd also be interested to know more about Monsieur Jobs
philanthropic activities as Mr Gates is pumping a lot of money into well
deserved activities. Shame he doesn't have Sir Bob's zeal though as he could
truly change the world for all and not just for us people with water coolers
and PC terminals.

Regarding the Mac vs Pc debate: I love my Mac (especially my un-Tigered G3
ibook). However for the work that I do which varies form Word to heavy duty
video stuff my PC (believe it or not home built!) is eminantly more powerful.
G5's are way too expensive and more expensive to upgrade.

And then there's the Intel conversion.....!

Hopefully more sun on the way soon,

Andy