Boot(?) Problem

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27 Sep 2004
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Ok, I havn't been on these forums for a while, mainly because my computer has been running smoothly for the first 6 months of it's life! :D

However, recently I have started to get a problem:

Basically, when the computer boots, I only see the first second or two of each stage. i.e - the asus motherboard screen comes up, but disappears more quickly than usual. A while later (presumably the normal time) the screen listing my PC components etc comes up, and this too disappears more quickly than usual. The same happens with the windows loading screen, and then again with the login screen, although obviously nothing happens after this as I can't log in. I have tried entering the BIOS, but it appears for a second or two then again the screen goes blank.

Eventually after repeated attempts to boot, the machine manages to do it right, but obviously this isn't ideal.

Any ideas what it could be? I've opened up the PC and made sure all connections/wires are in place as far as I can see...

All comments appreciated.
Tom
 
Seems strange that the screen would do something like that though, no connections or anything are changing, and it reappears at each different stage of the boot process. I've checked all connections for the monitor etc, and when it boots up fine, the screen works fine.

I've checked that all the RAM is pushed in properly, and again I'm not sure how it could be the graphics card as it works fine whenever it properly manages to boot.

I thought maybe it could be corrupt system files or something, but I'm not really sure how to check.
 
Hi Baker,

If you are having problems with XP won't start it may be due to a damaged boot sector or a missing or corrupt ntldr or ntdetect.com files

You could used the windows CD to repair the selected Windows XP installation this may work.


***********CAUTION**********

If you do not see the option to repair the selected Windows XP installation DO NOT choose the option to continue installing a fresh copy without repairing as that will overwrite your data and cause unrecoverable data loss.

My friend had this problem that he did not have the option to repair the selected Windows XP installation. I fixed his machine by repairing the boot sector that was damage using the Recovery Console on the windows CD

Link below with useful guides


http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

If you can get into windows I would backup all important files and settings before trying to repairing XP in case it goes wrong
 
Last edited:
BigBoy said:
is this from a cold boot but boots properly when pressing the reset switch?


Either from cold boot or pressing the reset switch, it seems to be random whether it works.

When it does work, it gives the option for "Safe Mode/Last Known Configuration/Start Windows Normally" screen, not sure if that is related. It doesn't go through that process the times when it doesn't work.
 
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