Computer won't start

  • Thread starter Thread starter CC
  • Start date Start date
C

CC

I just reformated with windows xp and my computer will
not start up at all, the computer starts but it just
stays at a black screen. Can you help me anyone???
 
CC said:
I just reformated with windows xp and my computer will
not start up at all, the computer starts but it just
stays at a black screen. Can you help me anyone???
Click to expand...

Disconnect all non-essential hardware, including printers, scanner,
fax/modem. network connection, even the mouse and keyboard.

Then turn the computer on and see if it responds at all - any display
on the screen or any beeps from the system speaker. If there are
beeps from the speaker then count them and make note of the pattern
(e.g. combination of long and short beeps and/or changes in the tone).

These beep codes signify critical hardware failures during the
power-on-self-test and the documentation for your computer/motherboard
should explain the meaning of the various beep patterns.

If this doesn't work the next step is to open the computer case and do
some serious hardware disconnections/removals.


Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
Not having the initial boot text indicates it is a
hardware problem... it isn't even getting to start XP.

In addition to the suggestions the (more knowledgable
than I) other people make, I might point out there are
some video cards that are notorious for this sort of
thing. At work, we regularly have this problem with older
Matrox video cards. The computer behaves normally if you
watch the hard drive light and log in blindly. It even
does the single beep on startup.

Mike
 
Did you remember to switch back to the hard drive instead of booting
from floppy or CD?
 
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