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After the POST my computer freezes with just a flashing cursor remaining on the top-left. It doesn't respond to ctrl-alt-del and I can't input anything. I tried removing the hard disk and my other hard disk booted up fine. I have flashed the bios but still nothing. Please can some1 help.
Thanks Iain.
I've seen this happen when the video drivers where not installed It could be that the OS isn't installed properly.
Try booting from the CD and then do a REPAIR when asked. The Repair will look like it's wiping the HDD clean, but it's not. The first time I did a repair on XP, I nearly freaked out, because it looks like you're formatting and loosing everything.
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Thanks for the reply FJ.
The problem is that I can't get to a prompt to sort anything.
Also, when I go into bios to change the order of the boot devices It doesn't make a difference, unless the hard disk is physically disconnected I can't get to a prompt. In turn, that means that I can't repair the os since the drive isn't there.
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Try, booting from a windows 98 start up disk
(floppy), select start computer without cd support. If you get a "A" prompt (lower left), I suspect you have a problem with your -hardrive/os-). Post back if not able to boot using the windows 98 start up disk.
abeza
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Thanks for the reply August Beza.
The problem is that I can't boot from any device when the hard disk is connected as the master.
It has happened before, so I decided that it must be the hard disk. So I bought a new one and all worked well until this morning. And the same problem occured on a new drive.
What happens is that once the POST completes a flashing cursor appears in the top-left hand corner and I can't type anything.
Any help would be much apprieciated.
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I connected the hard drive as a slave to my other hard disk and I managed to do a scan disk on the drive. It reported that there was an error on the drive which couldn't be fixed in dos mode. (bloody usefull that). The problem was a long filename.
Hope that added information can help.
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Looks like you need to go and get a hardrive diagnostic tool from the manufacturer of your hardrive.
Find out once and for all if the hardrive even though new is also bad. Not very likely but it could happen.
If you have a Maxster you could use their software to boot to and format etc.It will let you know if it has problem. Could of been a bad format to begin with..Also has the diagnostic tool on the floppy one.
Good Luck
I am assuming you hooked up all the cables correctly, tried new ribbons, etc.
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This is starting to sound like the CIH virus. Try using the "Fix CIH" tool at Steve Gibsons Research Center
Look down the list for "FIX CIH"
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I found this on Microsofts website -
This article was previously published under Q314503
SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to start Windows XP, the computer may appear to stop responding (hang) with an empty, black screen immediately after the power-on self test (POST) is complete and before the Windows logo normally appears on the screen.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur if one or more of the following elements are corrupted:
Master boot record
Partition tables
Boot sector
NTLDR file
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
Create a Microsoft Windows XP boot disk to start the computer.For additional information about how to create a Windows XP boot disk, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
305595 HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition with Windows XPIf you can start the computer from the boot disk without receiving an error message, the damage is limited to the master boot record, the boot sector, or the NTLDR file. After Windows is running, you should immediately back up all data before you attempt to fix the boot sector.
Use Disk Management to view the partition information and verify that the disk partition (or partitions) are correct. To use Disk Management, follow these steps:
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage on the shortcut menu that appears.
Expand Storage, and then click Disk Management.
If invalid partitions are present or you are unable to start your computer with a boot disk, consider reinstalling Windows XP on your computer and restoring your data and configuration information from a recent backup.If you do not have a current backup copy of the data on the computer, consult a computer specialist to determine the best method of data recovery and configuration.
Run a current virus scanning program to verify that no virus is present.
Repair the master boot record by using the FIXMBR command from the Windows XP Recovery Console.For additional information about how to use the Recovery Console, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307654 HOW TO: Access the Recovery Console During StartupNOTE: For additional information about an error message that you may receive when you use the FIXMBR command, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
266745 Error Message When You Run fixmbr CommandWARNING: If your computer is infected with a virus and you use the FIXMBR command, you may be unable to start the computer. Before you use this command, ensure that the computer is not infected with a virus.
If the primary boot partition is a FAT partition, use the FIXBOOT command from the Windows XP Recovery Console to write a new boot sector on the system partition, and then use the FIXMBR command to repair the master boot record.
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