PC won't boot past Intel P4 Inside logo

amacleod · 11-29-2008, 11:38 AM

I have had my PC for about 3-4 years. For some reason, it won't boot up. When switched on, it goes to the Intel Inside screen, then the screen goes black with an underscore icon flashing in the left-hand bottom corner of the screen.

Having read a few websites and forums, I tried:
1. reseating the RAM module
2. putting the RAM in the other slot
3. replacing the motherboard battery
4. installing a new RAM module

None of these made any difference.

PC: Advent T9001 (athough I upgraded the gfx card on purchase)
Processor: P4 3GHz
Motherboard: MSI N1996
RAM: originally 512MB DDR PC3200 (now I have two - one in each slot)
GPU: ATI Radeon R96 128M

My main concern is that I don't have a backup of my HDD - which has all our photos of my young children on it!

I'll be very grateful if you can help me to fix it!

Andrew

intelfan · 11-29-2008, 02:38 PM

i had some problems before not exactly like your but i ended up getting a new mob hooked it up to my old hd and my windows booted without a problem so i hope you don't have to get a new mob but if you do you should be able to still have your pictures

**wrench97** · 11-29-2008, 03:52 PM

Try clearing the CMOS usually by unplugging the PC and removing the coin cell battery moving the jumper marked CLR_RTC or Clr_CMS from pins 2&3 to pins 1&2 and back again replace the battery and plug in see if it will boot.
If not do you have another pc to slave the drive in?

amacleod · 12-02-2008, 02:52 PM

A friend suggested that I use a Linux boot cd to help diagnose the problem. I booted from the cd and found that the problem seems to be with the hard disk. (The rest of the hardware seems to be okay). Ubuntu could not mount the disk - it said that Windows was not shut down properly...

My friend suggested I get a new hard disk, connect the original one as a slave and I may be able to access the information... I guess we'll see...

**wrench97** · 12-02-2008, 02:56 PM

If Ubuntu could not mount it it's not a good sign but it could also mean a data cable problem or a problem with the IDE controller.

11-29-2008, 11:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
amacleod Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 32 OS: XP SP2	PC won't boot past Intel P4 Inside logo I have had my PC for about 3-4 years. For some reason, it won't boot up. When switched on, it goes to the Intel Inside screen, then the screen goes black with an underscore icon flashing in the left-hand bottom corner of the screen. Having read a few websites and forums, I tried: 1. reseating the RAM module 2. putting the RAM in the other slot 3. replacing the motherboard battery 4. installing a new RAM module None of these made any difference. PC: Advent T9001 (athough I upgraded the gfx card on purchase) Processor: P4 3GHz Motherboard: MSI N1996 RAM: originally 512MB DDR PC3200 (now I have two - one in each slot) GPU: ATI Radeon R96 128M My main concern is that I don't have a backup of my HDD - which has all our photos of my young children on it! I'll be very grateful if you can help me to fix it! Andrew

11-29-2008, 02:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
intelfan Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 211 OS: Vista Ultamate SP1, XP Pro SP3 My System	Re: PC won't boot past Intel P4 Inside logo i had some problems before not exactly like your but i ended up getting a new mob hooked it up to my old hd and my windows booted without a problem so i hope you don't have to get a new mob but if you do you should be able to still have your pictures

11-29-2008, 03:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 14,216 OS: XPSP3	Re: PC won't boot past Intel P4 Inside logo Try clearing the CMOS usually by unplugging the PC and removing the coin cell battery moving the jumper marked CLR_RTC or Clr_CMS from pins 2&3 to pins 1&2 and back again replace the battery and plug in see if it will boot. If not do you have another pc to slave the drive in? __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-02-2008, 02:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
amacleod Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 32 OS: XP SP2	Re: PC won't boot past Intel P4 Inside logo A friend suggested that I use a Linux boot cd to help diagnose the problem. I booted from the cd and found that the problem seems to be with the hard disk. (The rest of the hardware seems to be okay). Ubuntu could not mount the disk - it said that Windows was not shut down properly... My friend suggested I get a new hard disk, connect the original one as a slave and I may be able to access the information... I guess we'll see...

12-02-2008, 02:56 PM	#5 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 14,216 OS: XPSP3	Re: PC won't boot past Intel P4 Inside logo If Ubuntu could not mount it it's not a good sign but it could also mean a data cable problem or a problem with the IDE controller. __________________ Power Supply and Selection