Computer will not start up

[Bob]

The problem is with my son's computer, which is out of town. I will try to
be as specific as I can. He was on his computer this morning and did some
email. Installed a new printer last night and was trying the scan feature.
He scanned a picture and everything worked fine. He downloaded a song last
night and was listening to it. He then noticed that his icons on the desktop
were not right. His icon for internet explorer had a microsoft word icon. It
seems that the office icons were screwed up. He was able to get to the
internet but icons weren't right. I told him to try and reboot the computer
and that is when everything started. The computer would not start. He just
gets a black screen with a blinking cursor. I had him try and hit the F8 key
while starting up but he just gets a keyboard error. He tried F2 for setup
but still the same problem. Tried another keyboard and no change. It is a
Dell computer about 3 years old. He is on his third power supply. Power
seems to be ok. Operating system is XP Home Edition. I know I do not have
much info but any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

he will get a keydrd error if he hits the f key to frequently or holds it down.
Tap f key frequently.
practice makes perfect