lcr237
asked on
Won't boot
Trying to help a friend, his computer when you turn it on shows the Award bios info and does the memory scan and then stops and does nothing else. I tried puttng in a floppy boot disk but it never goes far enough to even read the disk, it just showsS the Award bios info and does the memory scan and then stops and the cursor blinks. I can't get into windows or even dos. If I could get into dos I think I could probably do something. Whats wrong how can I do anything when I cant even use a boot disk??
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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If u see the computer stops just after the memory test then go for clearing the BIOS . U will find a CMOS jumper. If u cant find the jumper then disconnect all power supplies and then take the battery of the motherboard out then wait for some time and then again put the battery back and then start the machine.
If u still see the problem then there is problem with ur RAM . Try changing the RAM to another slot . If nothing helps u then the RAM might be faulty.
See replacing the RAM. It should work but before installing or removing RAM be static electric free.
If u still see the problem then there is problem with ur RAM . Try changing the RAM to another slot . If nothing helps u then the RAM might be faulty.
See replacing the RAM. It should work but before installing or removing RAM be static electric free.
Remove all cards, modem, sound, etc..., see if it boots,if it doesn't remove cdroms and hard drive and try to boot, if it doesn't its probably a memory chip.
I've only seen this when two devices are conflicting with one another.
If its a device card try it in another slot.
Hope this helps.
Darryl
I've only seen this when two devices are conflicting with one another.
If its a device card try it in another slot.
Hope this helps.
Darryl
This sounds like a harddrive problem
unplug the harddrive and see if it will come up..."system disk not detected---something like that. if it does come up, you know the harddrive was causing the problem, if it doesn't, try to see if the cables are set correctly(harddrive and floppy), the red stripe to the left.
If it is the harddrive, you could try to pop it in another computer(fully functional) to see if it is really dead.
I had the same problem working on a client's computer last week....
unplug the harddrive and see if it will come up..."system disk not detected---something like that. if it does come up, you know the harddrive was causing the problem, if it doesn't, try to see if the cables are set correctly(harddrive and floppy), the red stripe to the left.
If it is the harddrive, you could try to pop it in another computer(fully functional) to see if it is really dead.
I had the same problem working on a client's computer last week....
My first case of this all I did was remove everything, started ok,began installing everything, hard drive first, started ok after everything was reinstalled.
???????
Darryl
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Darryl
ASKER
I have tried all of the above.
I went into the bios and reset the defaults
I removed the hard drive and put into my computer as a slave and I was able to access it and see everything that is on it.
I disconnected hard drive and got message it was missing but then hung up there.
Disconnected floppy drive cd-drive, got message that floppy was missing but then hung up.
Tried putting memory stick in different slot, same result.
Tried different memory stick I have, same result.
Tried different hard drive that works in another computer same result.
Removed modem and sound card, no help.
The only time I saw something different was when I took out the agp video card and put in an extra pci video card then when booting up it went to the next screen where it lists all the pc specs, like pci, hard drives etc. and then at the bottom of the screen it said 'Updating ESCD' and then slowly three dots and the word SUCCESS appeared on the screen one letter at a time and then it hung up and would go no futher. I shut it down and started up again and then it wouldn't go to that extra screen again, it hung up right after the memory scan like it had been doing before.
I also tried using a new power supply and still got the same result.
Also removed the battery for about a half hour, no help
Help!
I went into the bios and reset the defaults
I removed the hard drive and put into my computer as a slave and I was able to access it and see everything that is on it.
I disconnected hard drive and got message it was missing but then hung up there.
Disconnected floppy drive cd-drive, got message that floppy was missing but then hung up.
Tried putting memory stick in different slot, same result.
Tried different memory stick I have, same result.
Tried different hard drive that works in another computer same result.
Removed modem and sound card, no help.
The only time I saw something different was when I took out the agp video card and put in an extra pci video card then when booting up it went to the next screen where it lists all the pc specs, like pci, hard drives etc. and then at the bottom of the screen it said 'Updating ESCD' and then slowly three dots and the word SUCCESS appeared on the screen one letter at a time and then it hung up and would go no futher. I shut it down and started up again and then it wouldn't go to that extra screen again, it hung up right after the memory scan like it had been doing before.
I also tried using a new power supply and still got the same result.
Also removed the battery for about a half hour, no help
Help!
Try a different motherboard/Bios.
Its not hardware device, not memory, and by the way you say when it did when it made it past the previous point,
I would tend to think its the motherboard.
But has anyone ever seen a power supply go out like that?
Now it just a shot in the dark, sorry.
Good Luck!
I would tend to think its the motherboard.
But has anyone ever seen a power supply go out like that?
Now it just a shot in the dark, sorry.
Good Luck!
Try a diffferent motherboard, if that problem still exists, it could be a combination of more than one device
causing the problem.
This computer sounds kind of fishy =)
Good Luck lcr237
-Chazz-
causing the problem.
This computer sounds kind of fishy =)
Good Luck lcr237
-Chazz-
ASKER
It turns out the bios settings were the problem. I tried resetting to defaults a couple times with no luck, decided to try everything one more time before giving up. Because the only time it did something different was when I tried the pci video instead of the agp one I put the pci in again and changed every bios setting I could find that had to do with agp or pci video and it started working, so just for the heck of it I took out the pci video card and put the agp back in without changing any settings and it still worked. Who knows why. but the bios settings seem to have been the problem Thanks
If you can't find the jumper (The motherboard manual should tell you where the jumper is.) You can remove the battery (should look like a large watch battery.) Remove the battery and leave the PC for a while and then start the PC. (sometimes PC needs to be left for about 24 Hours using this method)
Good Luck