I push the on button and everything, but then it just sits there, with the HP logo thing forever. It can't get past that. Somebody help me, please! :(

hmm frst question in mind, how're u posting this? second, that happened to my comp, and in that screen, i pressed Ctrl+alt+del and my comp starts, also, that was because i had some spyware/adware/virus
one of the three, so u should try that ^_^

hope it helps

I'm posting this on my Mac. [img]smile.gif[/img]

So, when it's just sitting there, do the ctrl-alt-delete thing? I'll try that. [img]smile.gif[/img]

EDIT- No, it didn't do anything. It doesn't even get to the Windows XP loading screen, if that's what you need to get to. I only make it to the blue HP screen. :(

[ 10-16-2004, 09:52 PM: Message edited by: Sir Goulum ]

Hmmm... okay, one step at a time.

Do you get to the bios maintenance prompt? The "Press delete (or F1, or whatever) to maintain system settings? This is shortly after it goes through the memory test.

Assuming you get through there, does it get to the "XP Loading" display? It sounds like it doesn't, but let's confirm that.

Have you tried a boot disk, to see if you can boot from that?

Give some details about exactly what's showing (or not showing) and let's see what's up.

It gets to the HP screen and stops. Nothing shows up, and nothing happens. The computor doesn't even chunk away, hardly.

What do you mean by boot disk?

Ok the boot disk is one of the CDs that you get with your Comp
Also try to Unplug it. That may work. If not then rip your desk apart until you find the CD.
If you don't find the CD then you'll have to replace your hard drive.

Need a hammer ?

Naw, I find my fist or my foot works better. ;)

Already tried unplugging-replugging. And I never got any CD's with my computer.... poop. :(

Naw, I find my fist or my foot works better. ;)

Already tried unplugging-replugging. And I never got any CD's with my computer.... poop. :( </font>[/QUOTE]*Tina Turner mode on* What's poop got to do... got to do with it *Tina Turner mode off*

It's a family forum version of a certain word. ;)

That's a dollar fine, Johnny... for bad taste in punnery :D

Sir G, a boot disk can be made from your computer. Or in your case, from a friend's computer on the same version of Windows.

However, it sounds like you might not be getting far enough in to even get to the boot disk part.

If it's truly doing nothing, you could be in really bad shape. You may need to take it to a computer place to see what's bad and may need to be replaced. Had any lightning strikes, power problems, or new software or hardware installs lately?

ok, it sounds like bios may be corroupted, or just not properly working.
How old is your machiene?
and would you be confident in opening the box?

Check the cables to the hardrives only turn of the pc and shake the cables and se if that helps Sir G it tend to be a problem sometimes! [img]smile.gif[/img]

here is a question...does your computer make any kind of beeping noise? I am serious on this seeing as how you have a HP...

HP? Ah, man, through it out the window, what ever survives, throw back out the window. When nothing has survived, go get another Mac, I mean PC.

Sounds like you have a corrupt boot file. I hate to say it this way, but you might need to start fresh. When the HP screen appears, can you access the BIOS? If so, reset BIOS and monitor during restart. If she goes, slowly go back and reset each BIOS to the configuartion you had, when it fails again, that is the culprit. If she runs fine, then don't do anymore overclocking tricks.

Some people say bad BIOS settings or bad chip. To fix that, easiest way is to open up the case and find the battery, and take it out for a minute or two. Then plug it back in. I'm saying this, because as I understand, your MBO shows the HP logo instead of the loading information. Now, if you turn on your PC it should immidiately display a prompt to go to BIOS. From there, you can, but need not to if you don't understand how, set up things as you think they should be. Anyway, now exit BIOS and save settings. It shouldn't display the logo now(IMHO, haven't worked on HPs much), and it should either load windows(low probability) or stop again. Now, when it stops, you'll see at what step. Try restarting before it reaches that step to get the boot menu, and there choose safe mode. If none of these work, get a Windows install disk and under BIOS settings > Boot options choose CD-ROM drive as 1st boot device. Instert the disk and repair Windows if you have valuable stuff on the C drive. If not, re-install it on a formatted partition. I hope this helped a bit.

exactly what i was about to say

I don't know if HP uses the 'beep' codes. If they do then by counting the 'beeps' at start up will tell you the condition. One beep is everything is ok. Anything else indicates a problem. The number will point you to the right location. BTW my Dell does not use "beep" codes.

exactly what i was about to say </font>[/QUOTE]Don't forget about residual electrical energy. ALL written manuals have different ways to drop the BIOS saving, but most agree that the battery should be left out for at least 12hrs, 24hrs, optimum.

Easiest way to defeat stored energy; Turn PC completely off, to include the main breaker on ths PSU. Unplug the cord at the PSU, and flip the power swicth, if you have a remote power button, press it also. You should hear a minor electrical discharge from any of the fans. Now you can drop the battery for no less than 1 minute, preferably 2-3, and BIOS will be reset.

FYI, MOST major brands have a special first block ROM, when the system is powered this block is recognized, it then runs the display out cmd, and presto, instant propritary logo on ones monitor. OS may not load, but hey, at least you know what brand you have!

Hang on.... ;)

My computer does nothing for a full ten minutes on start up. It *apears* to freeze but I tracked it down to a sound card conflict. No problem just start the computer and go for a walk for a while :D just try it

Okey dokey, Bungleau, no lightning strikes, or power outages (Although there was one a couple weeks back). Intrepid, less than two years old. I'm not at all confident opening it up. [img]tongue.gif[/img] MegaB tried that. Stormy I haven't noticed any beeping, but I don't really pay attention when it starts up. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Felix and everyone else, how do you get into BIOS? Wellard, I left mine for a good 20 minutes without it working.

When you start your computer around the POST (power on self test) there'll be a line at the bottom at the bottom of the screen saying, "press (key) to enter setup" If you press the key you'll be in your bios.

I've never seen that screen come up on my computor.

When it starts up, it beeps once then chunks away a little bit, if that helps any.

Do you nowhere see a line which looks like that? It's on the second screen. The first is video card and RAM IIRC checking and goes really fast then comes the checking for hard disks and CDROM on the second screen.

I've never gotten any screens like that. When it worked, I got the HP screen, then blank for a bit, then the Windows XP screen, that just has the little green bar sliding across (loading), and then the blue Welcome screen, and then I was in. I just get to the HP screen.

Ah yeah, some of them cover the text with a splash screen to make it more 'user friendly'.

Try repeatedly pressing Del or Ctrl F1. There's a third common one, but I've forgotten what it is. One of them is bound to kick you into the bios...

Yes, that's a motherboard setting. You just need to reset the BIOS using the method explained above. Shamrock's right, what he said just might work, but I'm not really sure. Try any of the Fs and the DEL key. Not much damage you can do that way that a restart won't fix.
@ Felix The Assassin - The motherboards are set to discharge all capacitors when a certain time passes without a battery, and that time is almost never longer than 3 minutes, so turning it completely off for 12 hours yields no added results. You don't need to unplug anything but the battery. I would have said you could jump-set the MBO to purge ROMs, but I wouldn't want you switching around the wrong jumper. Anyway, once you get the BIOS reset, you'll be able to enter it normally, and set whatever you like. If we're both online at the time, you can find me on MSN and I'll walk you through the process.

[ 10-17-2004, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: Bozos of Bones ]

Um, neither of those worked.

So next to the HP logo there's nothing else. No checking, sentences even when it worked normally?

Try the escape button as well. IIRC some PCs have that to enter BIOS.

Resetting the BIOS won't do nil unless previous settings were changed (not much that should stop it from booting either). I would check if all your device cables are still attached inside. If else, try putting in your Windows disk and booting into repair (or a repair CD you have) - from where you can try various things such as fixing the boot record.

If it doesn't boot off a CD you will need to access the BIOS, IIRC the BIOS-access for HP machines is one of the F-keys - try banging each one individually like mad each time it boots up.

Worst case scenario is that the BIOS is corrupted and needs to be flashed (you should take it to an expert to do this, an incorrect flashing can lead to never being able to boot the machine again).

Erm... if you'd read my post on the previous page, silencer, you'll see that that's exactly waht I said... to be able to load off a Windows disk one must first you know... set the BIOS to load the CD, maybe? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sure [img]smile.gif[/img] I was just stating it's a pretty last-case scenario, HP might try booting of CDROM by default.

I don't have a windows disk.

Anyways, I've decided there's probably no way with my limited expertise (I still don't know what BIOS is [img]tongue.gif[/img] ) that I'd be able to fix it at home, so I'll take it in to get fixed. Thanks for all the help though. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Well, we gave it a shot anyways [img]smile.gif[/img]
Just FYI, BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. It's embedded into the motherboard's ships, and it's the basic of a computer's functionality.

So, BIOS is like the brain? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bozos of Bones: @ Felix The Assassin - The motherboards are set to discharge all capacitors when a certain time passes without a battery, and that time is almost never longer than 3 minutes, so turning it completely off for 12 hours yields no added results. You don't need to unplug anything but the battery.

<font color=cccccc>Sometimes, maybe, possibly, then again a number 6 waffle iron may only produce 5. You are correct 12 hours may not yield any added results. [img]graemlins/cheers.gif[/img]
Remember, this is a store bought, major brand, proprietary system, for the home user.</font>

Quote:

Originally posted by http://labmice.techtarget.com/articles/BIOS_hack.htm: Removing the CMOS Battery The CMOS settings on most systems are buffered by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard. (It looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, the CMOS may reset itself and the password should be blank. (Along with any other machine specific settings, so be sure you are familiar with manually reconfiguring the BIOS settings before you do this.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours. Some batteries are actually soldered onto the motherboard making this task more difficult. Unsoldering the battery incorrectly may damage your motherboard and other components, so please don't attempt this if you are inexperienced. Another option may be to remove the CMOS chip from the motherboard for a period of time. Note: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's, and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all. IBM Thinkpad laptops lock the hard drive as well as the BIOS when the supervisor password is set. If you reset the BIOS password, but cannot reset the hard drive password, you may not be able to access the drive and it will remain locked, even if you place it in a new laptop. IBM Thinkpads have special jumper switches on the motherboard, and these should be used to reset the system.