Topic: computer won't boot

[zephra]

spec-Win 2000 pro.
Dell screen only appears then I get a black screen with a blinking cursor.I have tried F2 to disable cd-rom floppy ect with no luck
IT wants to load windows disk and try to find win nt partition.
anything else i can try?
               thanks

[Sandra]

Can you get into bios or better still safe mode ?

[zephra]

I cannot get into F8.Is Bios in F2?
Today the computer booted up just fine???
Could i have overheating issues???
Or Power Supply on it's way out??
Now it sounds more like a hardware problem
     Thanks

[Sandra]

It sounds like it could still be either software or hardware. Unfortunately that type of behavour can be really hard to track the actual problem down and fix  

The first thing that I would check would be the RAM as that can definately cause the symptoms that you have had.

Try the diagnostic program from here :

http://www.memtest86.com/

If you have multiple sticks of ram in remove them and just run with one stick at a time for the best results  

[zephra]

After a hour being on i shut down computer and sprayed out the cooling fins for the motherboard with gust duster and powered up and I have the same problem no boot

[Sandra]

I would definately suspect a fault on the ram at this stage then.
I have had a few computers recently that have had random behavours as regards problems booting and the occassional blue screens, usually on xp but one on 98SE too, that turned out to be faulty ram  

[zephra]

I tried swapping ram same issue.Then I reinstalled orig. ram and computer booted

[Sandra]

I would still run the memtest prog.
It may just be one module thats causing the problem  

[zephra]

it appears when it won't boot it never goes through a post test.I here no beeps

[Sandra]

Yes thats often a symptom of faulty ram more than a software problem.
The post beep comes after loading the cmos and needs the cpu, ram, motherboard and psu to be functioning correctly.
Even if no drives are connected you should get the post beep and be able to enter the bios even though the pc wont start without an OS or a boot disc in.

Have you run memtest yet ?

[zephra]

Sandra,
Thanks for all your help!!!!
You know your stuff and you respond quickly!!!!
Here is the latest
I am the IT wanna be @ work
Our plant has no IT position. Corp. does it all
I did download memtest but I was a little concerned about messing things up.It was not one of those click click programs I was used to i.e Hijack this.
With the ram I did completely swap it out with two sticks that were working fine and I had the same problem.
Now I don't want to overstep my boundries but I did see on a website that no beeps could be low voltage on power supply or a short or a loose connection.All the connections seemed fine.I could check the voltage to my harddrive and others when this happens again to see if i am at 12volts??
Well that's the latest...I will try memtest on my home computer first before i try it at work.
Again thank you very much
    -Z- from over the seas

[Sandra]

If you suspect the psu is insufficient then disconnect any usb devices and disconnect the ide drives.
See if it will boot from a floppy ok, as in the memtest one or even a 98 boot disk.
If it still has intermittent boot problems then its unlikely to be the psu as its only running the cpu, mobo, ram and fans and floppy. You could even disconnect any case fans, dont disconnect the cpu one though.

If it consistantly boots from a floppy then that should eliminate the ram and point to the psu possibky being at fault  

If you download the memtest program it should extract to and make a bootable floppy or cd.
Make sure that the bios is set to boot from the floppy as first boot device, or cd if thats your preference, but if you want the minimum power loading on your psu as I suggested earlier and have disconnected the ide drives then youre better off using the floppy.
Stick the disk in and start the pc and follow the onscreen instructions  

[zephra]

I ended up sending this computer out to Corporate IT.They ran diag. testing started it a whole bunch of times and It restarted just fine.
         It has been used for 2 weeks straight with no problems.........
   Yesterday it shut down on it's own after 6 hours in use.Dell Screen Loaded and blinking cursor.That's it.
    I may have been misinformative on my last posts.I could always get into BIOS no problem at all.
   Today I booted up and got the blinking cursor and windows did not load just as before.I checked the power supply to the harddrive and cd all ok 5v-12v
     I shut down placed in the win 2000ntpro cd in and it says load from cd press any key I do this and a beep sound comes from pressing the keyboard and nothing happens.I tried another keyboard same thing
    I Reebooted went into Bios and noticed this
       Physical Drive Unknown
       Secondary Drive Unknown.
    On our other working dell's it says
   Physical drive hard drive
secondary drive cd-rom.
 I did reboot one time and it said
    phys:  hard drive
    Secondary: cd rom
all the other boots say unknown
   Am I getting Warmer?

[Sandra]

In the bios is it set to Auto Detect Drives ?

I cant think what would make it not detect the drives after a reboot though if nothings been altered, unless a lead had vibrated out slightly  :?

[zephra]

Yes Bios is set for auto detect.
I have wiggled those cables a million times.
I did hear a beep every minute (it sounds like it was coming from the harddrive if thats possible)while I was in Bios.
It seems weird that it is both the harddrive and cd-rom.
Maybe the IDE cable bad.Im pulling straws right about now
I have not tried but I bet I can boot with the floppy.