[jspygone007]

My laptop was workimg 2 days ago when suddenly when I restarted the laptop, it will not boot. It remains blank the entire time. When I try to go into safe mode, it will not let me. HEEELP

jspy 007

 

[TheMatt]

When you say it will not boot, what does it do? Does it restart while Windows is loading? Do you get a BSOD?

If you get a BSOD, please post the entire error. If it just restarts, when you get to the boot menu, select Disable Restart on System Failure, and boot. Then post the BSOD message.

 

[jspygone007]

When you say it will not boot, what does it do? Does it restart while Windows is loading? Do you get a BSOD?

If you get a BSOD, please post the entire error. If it just restarts, when you get to the boot menu, select Disable Restart on System Failure, and boot. Then post the BSOD message.

none of these. nothing loads up. The screen is blank (pitch black) with flashing cursor. There is no way around it

jspy 007

 

[TheMatt]

Does it ever show the Windows XP loading screen? If it never shows it, it almost sounds like it is trying to boot from a CD or other device. When you see the Compaq logo, press F2 or Del to enter the BIOS. In the boot section, change the Boot Order so it looks like this:

1. Hard disk
2. CD/DVD drive
3. Floppy

Then save the changes and exit, and see if Windows Boots.

 

[jspygone007]

Actually, it is a Windows 98 1st Edition. I did follow the instructionss. I did see the Compaq logo, but do not see the windows 98 screen. Just a blank screen with flashing cursor

jspy 007

 

[TheMatt]

OK, then that would indicate it is probably not something with Windows. Try pressing F10 at the Compaq logo, or if it says to press a function key to "Enter Setup", then press that. Then look around for the boot order, and set it to what I posted above.

Another thing you can try: Press and hold the F8 key as soon as it turns on until you see a boot menu. Select Start Windows Normally from this menu, and see if it boots.

 

[jspygone007]

no dice... additionally, the keyboard freezes up. of course i should have told you earlier in this thread.

jspy 007

 

[TheMatt]

Can you go into the BIOS at all? Does it detect your hard disk there? Also, can you get to the F8 boot menu? If you can, try booting off the last known good configuration.

 

[hwm54112]

The compaq logo followed by a flashing cursor is indicative of an issue with the mbr - bios passes the boot process to the mbr which then passes the boot process to the active partition and boot files. if not found, the system sits there flashing a cursor at you. the fix should be fdisk /mbr however, I don't recall all the ins and outs of win 98 so you might want to check into the command a bit before proceeding. If it were an issue you could fix with last known good/safe mode or device boot order you'd likely see an "insert system disk" error

 

[jspygone007]

Can you go into the BIOS at all? Does it detect your hard disk there?

It detects it as having a capacity of 2.7 GB, so yes it detects my harddrive, the rest as far as detecting any errors is puzzling.

Also, can you get to the F8 boot menu?

No... Dice...

The compaq logo followed by a flashing cursor is indicative of an issue with the mbr - bios passes the boot process to the mbr which then passes the boot process to the active partition and boot files. if not found, the system sits there flashing a cursor at you. the fix should be fdisk /mbr however, I don't recall all the ins and outs of win 98 so you might want to check into the command a bit before proceeding. If it were an issue you could fix with last known good/safe mode or device boot order you'd likely see an "insert system disk" error

...but does it explain why my keyboard freezes up when I attempt to F8. Usually when I press and hold any key for a certain period of time, it would beep constantly until I release it, indicating a corrupt file or files, yes, indicating an issue with the mbr or the partition as mentioned by hwm54112. No dice on that. Any input?

jspy 007

 

[hwm54112]

...but does it explain why my keyboard freezes up when I attempt to F8.

How can you determine whether the keyboard is freezing up or the computer is freezing? All you have is a flashing cursor. If the computer freezes, the keyboard won't work

Usually when I press and hold any key for a certain period of time, it would beep constantly until I release it, indicating a corrupt file or files

Actually, it indicates a keyboard error, specifically a buffer overrun (the keyboard buffer is filled and your still pressing the key), the beeping being a warning generated by bios, not a corrupt file. Another aspect that could come into play in that scenario is the bios setting that dicates on what errors will cause bios to stop executing and issue a warning through the system speaker. That setting could be "stop on all errors", "stop on all butt keyboard" "stop on keyboard only", etc.

Hope this helps eliminate some possibilities for you

 

[jspygone007]

I'm baack... I used an Emergency Boot CD on my laptop and ran scandisk. Everything turneed out to be corrupted. Luckily, the hardware is not the cause of it. It was merely because o a power failure (brief power outage in the area) and I did not have my battery in the laptop at the time. Thanks for the help

 

[TheMatt]

You're welcome. Glad you got it working.