Computer Won't Boot / Blank Screen With Blinking Cursor
Jul 10, 2007
When I turn my computer on it goes to the blue hp logo and then to a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the top left corner. If I hit f8 when booting it gives me 2 options...f1 to setup and f2 to resume. It won't let me go into safe mode or anything. I have tried booting from the xp cd, but nothing happens. I have tried replacing the battery and that hasn't done anything. It started when trying to open a program, the computer just went blank. When trying to reboot, this mess started.Also, I just got this error message, which is new.i got it after I unplugged the computer for awhile.. warning 251: system cmos checksum bad dafalut config used
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Jul 25, 2010
When I try to start up my machine, the Dell boot screen with the F2 and F12 options appear, but instead of moving on to the Windows XP loading screen, it simply shows a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left. I cannot type anything with this cursor. There is clearly something wrong with the boot procedure or, I think, with my hard drive. The hard drive (160gb) is new and has been working well since February.I'm using a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop. I've run Diagnostics with no errors, booted from XP CD to try bootcfg /rebuild, fixboot & fixmbr, and the lengthy chkdsk /r, all to no avail. I've even tried replacing two NTLDR files by copying them from the XP CD. Nothing has worked; I still have a black screen with a flashing cursor when my HDD should be loading. I've tried removing and reinserting the HDD itself, also to no avail. I haven't yet opened the case up to try to see if there's anything to clean or any botched connections, but I don't see how something like that would have happened on its own. All of my components (RAM, HDD, Video Card, Processor, etc.) seem to be recognized in the BIOS menu.
I should note that when I run chkdsk /r, the progress quickly gets to 25%, slows down and takes a while to get to 51%, and then slows down even more and takes maybe two or three hours to complete. I also notice that the progress advances to about 65% sometimes and then returns to 50% again. I've run chkdsk several times now and there's been no improvement in the startup.I realize I could simply reformat and reinstall Windows, but I have a lot of very important data and work stored on my drive that I hadn't had a chance to backup to my external drive. Please let me know if there's a way I can get the startup to work so that I can access my files again.
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Dec 5, 2006
I have two HDD. In the 1st one XP and Ubuntu and in the 2nd one FC5. Suddenly the XP is not booting. As I choose XP from boot loader [I use Acronis Boot Manager] it is giving me a blank screen with the cursor blinking at the top left corner. Just that no movement, no XP logo nothing.
I tried fixmbr, fixboot and chkdsk; but in vein. sfc scannow is not supported. Fixmbr and fixboot succeeded but it is giving me the same result. I reinstalled FC5's Grub in the hdb5 [location of FC5's installation] but it does not give me boot option. I then reinstalled FC5's grub in hda1 and atleast now I can access net and look for immediate help from you. I know reinstalation is the last option but I just don't want to do that unless I do not have any more avenues left.
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Feb 3, 2010
Just wanted to give a solution for an issue that I had on a Dell Optiplex GX270, where it was having problems hanging when a couple of peripheral USB items were plugged in. After I had installed an HP printer, I plugged in an 8Gb thumb drive. It would hang for a very long time until I finally had to reboot. When it went through the short Dell setup screen, it just went black with a flashing underline in the top left corner instead of going to the first Windows startup screen. The funny thing is that I would unplug the HP printer's USB cable while the computer was still powered, and it would immediately start Windows. Through several different test cycles I found that A) Leaving the printer USB cable plugged in during a restart brought up the blank screen w/flashing underscore. B) Not connecting the printer USB cable during a restart brought Windows up properly. That told me that there was a problem with BIOS. I went to the Dell website and flashed my BIOS with the latest update for my computer. That resolved the issue immediately.Hope this helps others resolve similar problems, because it seemed like there
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Mar 22, 2010
This is my first post on this site, I know that there have been posts on this topic becfore, however mine is different than the rest of the posts. In the other posts,this has occured on a modified computer, but when it happened to me, it was my unmodded computer. So heres what happened. I boot up, and after the HP screen, instead of going to the windows loading screen, I get a message with alot of text, but the main point was that "a failure was imenent", F1 to continue, F2 to enter setup. So i hit F1 to continue, and after a minute of a blank screen and the blinking text dash, the DISK BOOT FAIlURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK message. But I have never modified my coputer, and never used a setup disk before on this machine. BTW:I tried resetting BIOS, but to no avail.
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Jul 27, 2007
I am using a custom built PC with retail bought Win XP SP2 installed.The PC is about 3 months old now and has run perfectly so far with 2 hard drives and 1 install of XP on the master drive (S-ATA). I redecorated the house and this resulted in the PC being unplugged for about 2 weeks. Havin just plugged it back in and tried to start it, I am getting through the POST stage and then I just get a blank screen with a flashing line at the top left. This used to happen with boot up but disappeared after about five seconds. This one just stays flshing forever.I was wondering if anyone would have any advice for me. If I haven't given any required details please ask and I will post them ASAP.
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May 4, 2010
DELL XPS 410 XPSP2 - system will not boot past the blinking cursor in the corner. I can't get to the BIOS and the PC will not boot from CD. I have tried to hit F1, F2, F8 andF12 at startup to no avail. I replaced the Video card with a known good card, still no luck.I tried the unplug/plug method for the I/O panel with no changes.The fans are working correctly, so I don't think it was an overheating issue and the power supply is up and running.
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May 30, 2008
When I try and boot up my computer it gets through the dell boot screen. But when it starts trys to boot up windows I just get a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top rigth hand corner. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary? I updated my internet explorer to IE7, and I updated my I-Tunes. I don't know what could have done it or what I have done. I don't get any error message or anything.
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Mar 8, 2009
My Dell Inspiron 5150 is having issues installing XP. I am able to boot from the CD, copy over the installation files with no problem, but when I reboot after I choose not to boot from the CD again rather than start XP it just comes up with a black screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner.
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Nov 1, 2008
I had alot of processes running on my laptop so I went under msconfig under the Run option and a window popped up and gave me the option under the Startup tab to end processes. I disabled all of it and then I restarted my computer and now windows is not loading and all i see is a black screen with a cursor blinking.
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Sep 12, 2005
I was working on a computer switching out parts and I put an old motherboard/processor from gateway into a compaq presario computer but it does not accept the Hard disk that came with the compaq. When I power up it loads up the gateway sign and just goes to a black screen and has a blinking cursor. But when I put the Hard Disk that came with the gateway it worked.
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Jan 2, 2009
I had a copy of windows xp home addition i think. I have a copy of Professional i was going to put on the computer. It was doing the normal load that i have seen window do before when loading on other computers. Then it came to a blue screen that said something to the affect of Windows startup is installing. It used to go to the loading screen then shut itself off and start again. I went to bios trying to figure out why it doesn't load. Now after the blue screen saying it is restarting setup it now goes to a black screen with a blinking cursor that i can move.
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Jul 29, 2010
My computer crashed the other day and went to a blue screen and said something about dumping physical memory up to 100%. Then it turned off and i restarted it only to end up with a black screen after the bios start up. This has happened before and I fixed it by using a windows xp install disk and reinstalling windows xp. When i tried to do this this time and i chose install my computer says that it cant read the disk. Its not anything to do with the actual disk reader but more of a comp problem that i know can be fixed because my friends dad fixed the same problem for me a long time ago.
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Jun 6, 2008
I am having a puzzling little problem with my HP desktop computer.I am running windows xp service pack 2.At random times a little cream colored vertical cursor appears at the lower left-hand section of the main desktop screen near to the start tab.It appears every now and then for a few seconds it blinks at a fairly slow rate, then it disappears.Everything else is working fine.The computer boots up fine it doesnt freeze or go to a blue screen.Its just that little annoying cursor that pops up that shouldnt be there.It doesnt belong to any software (like a word processor) that I own.Does anyone have any idea what could be causing it and what I would have to do to make it go away.Has anyone heard of this? I have anti-virus software and its up to date and running.It doesnt detect any viruses.So I am kind of baffled.The cursor doesnt seem to effect anything but its just annoying more so because I dont know whats causing it.At least if I knew what it was maybe I wouldnt feel worried about it.
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Nov 23, 2007
I built a decent computer system for myself a little a year ago. a few weeks ago, I wanted to have to use two monitors with ATI Radeon 9250, so I bought a DVI/VGA adapter. But I couldn't get both monitors working at at the same time. Since I have a brand new ASUS EAX1300HM512 video card, I figured I'd install and that would do the trick. Well that did not work. Then I tried adding both cards on the MOBO, I could not get both monitors working (I'm sure it was user error). Then I removed the EAX1300One, reboot...from that point on the computer kept rebooting after I logon to Windows. I was able to access the computer through safe mode. After several weeks of using my backup pc, I thought I would try to resolve this problem. I removed the MOBO's battery then put it back. Now the computer powers on and posts, I am able to see the bios but after that i just get a black screen with a blinking cursor.
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Sep 27, 2008
I believe I got a virus it was stuck on a warning screen. I tried to reinstall window XP now it goes to choose Window XP Professional or Home on Black screen white lettering. It will not let you choose XP is highlighted. Then it goes to black screen with cursor in left hand corner.
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Jan 5, 2009
I have a Dell Optiplex 210L and if I leave the computer running in Windows XP and come back to it lets say the next day. I have to hold the power button in until it forces a shutdown and then turn it back on to get the computer working. It then works fine until it happens all over again.Computer is running Windows XP SP2.
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Dec 24, 2007
when he turns it on, it shows the HP logo with the F1 for Setup and such, then it goes straight to a blank screen with a cursor flashing. it's a boot sector problem. I just need to get him booted up so I can do some scans.
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Jul 19, 2008
I recently tryed installing wubi linux hoping that this would be an optimum way to install ubuntu with out getting errors with my XP installation. But it seems ever since then I now can't access XP. As soon as I login I get my background and my cursor, there is no GUI. I can press Ctrl-Alt-Del to get to task manager, but I can't run anything from it. I can't safe boot, but i can safe boot with cmd. Last known config won't work, chkdsk doesn't make any difference, repair installs don't seem to make a difference and the only thing I can physically notice different is the absence of the Explorer.exe service. I checked my C drive and it's in the correct directory, it's just not starting. I booted into safe mode with cmd and ran msconfig, and explorer.exe isn't listed there either. So I am guessing there is an issue there, and I think that is the root problem; reinstalling XP is a total total last resort. I'd greatly appreciate it if anybody could help, or have any suggestions.
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Feb 28, 2005
I deleted some startup files from a WindowsXP Pro machine it was originally a Win98. Which files do I need to get it going XP, 98 or Compaq restore(hope not)? I can only access BIOS. I have no backup!
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Jul 22, 2005
As I try to load XP it gets past a couple of screens and then just stays with this black one and the cursor blinking in the top left hand corner.Now ive had this problem once b4 but a mate of mine fixed it up and said if it ever happens again to put this floppy in and fix it. Now its happened again and i dont know what he did with that floppy (he is overseas atm).
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Jun 16, 2005
I forgot to pull the plug during a thunderstorm and XP home won't boot into the GUI anymore. When trying to start in fail safe mode files seem to be loaded as usual, but at the point where the GUI should be loaded the computer halts and the cursor is blinking in the upper left corner.Have searched MS KB but only found articles about running Fixmbr, chkdisk and fixboot. None worked.
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Feb 8, 2005
I was working on my friend's computer and I had to switch the hard drive over to his new computer to try and get it to work on the new computer. It didn't work, so I tried to put the harddrive back in its original computer and now I have a problem. When I try to start up the computer, everything runs fine through the POST and then, before it goes to the Windows screen with the little bar that goes sideways, it stops on a black screen with the blinking underscore (_). I've restarted it many many times and it all ends up the same, stopping at the flashing underscore. I've tried to boot to a Win 98 boot floppy to get it to the command prompt but I get an error saying that it is the incorrect disk. I've also tried to reset the bios by taking the battery out for a while. It reset the bios good and all but I still got the same problem. I think it has to do with the MBR cause I know the harddrive works (as a slave in another computer) and I know the RAM is new. I don't think those are the problems because before I put the harddrive in the new computer to try and boot off it, it worked fine. I can't get into the start up menu either by pressing F8. The only thing I can think of that might work that I haven't tried is to boot off the XP cd and do the recovery console thing. Unless I know that it will abosolutely fix it, I'd like to stray away from it. If you think otherwise, I'll gladly try it. I think I had a problem like this before and I got past it somehow, but I don't remember how I did it.
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Aug 16, 2009
i started a clean install of xp sp3 from a genuine disc, but after formatting the partition and copying files and restarting, the screen gets stuck and all i get is the cursor blinking furiously. I then tried to install some not-so-genuine copies, but no matter what i use, its the same problem. I tried installing linux and it went fine.
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Aug 9, 2010
it all started when I ran Nod32 antivirus. I ran it because I had some viruses on my computer that I wanted to get rid of. After the scan there were 180 some detected objects that were quarantined or deleted. So then I restart my computer and after the windows xp logo there is just a black screen with no cursor. And after awhile the computer will just restart and try booting up again. I tried going into safe mode and safe mode with command prompt but I still get a black screen with no cursor. The last known good configuration doesn't work either. I'm pretty frustrated because I did nothing wrong. I am also having a feeling that nod32 might have quarantined some infected files that are essential for Windows Xp to boot. I also do not have any windows xp disks with me how to fix this?
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Aug 4, 2008
I have an Intel DG31PR with 1 GB memory and Windows XP Home. When I turn the computer on the Intel logo and BIOS 2 settings appear then the screen goes back with a flashing cursor at the top left of the screen . I have to reboot several times before I can login. How do I stop this from happening?
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Dec 15, 2004
I cannot boot my XP machine. In safe mode it also says safe mode in white text in each corner and shows windows build details at the top. I have trying going back to previous good config - same problem. A normal boot just leads to a black screen with a movable mouse arrow - no sign of a login screen. I have tried a recovery reinstall from a an XP pro CD from another computer - this took about 40 minutes and went through all the steps normally (with normal graphics displayed duting the reinstall) but after finishing the same problem is still there.
Only now the windows build info in sfae mode reports SP1 (originally didi not as the computer was supplied with XP before SP1) I am at a loss to know what to do to get the machine wordking without a refomat of the hard disk, whcih will destroy all my data, and my partners stuff too - mostly not backed up, as usual.
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Jun 13, 2010
I left a MICROSOFT WORD CD in the player and shutdown, the next day I turn on the computer and the CD started up, and it has gone to black screen with cursor each time I start it now. I get 2 choices, F2 or F12. The 4 code lights on the back panel are all green indicating no problems, what can I try?
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Jun 20, 2008
When i turn on,first Windows screen appears,then a blue screen blinks,then hp screen,then a blank page with cursor on the top left,then a screen with the message"we apologise for the inconvinience but Windows did not start successfully.there was a hardware or software problem.I tried to run it in Safe mode, Windows normally,last known configuration but no luck......Then someone suggested to Get into the Recovery Console by making a Recovery CD with ISO image but the machine is not responding to any of it.Is it with CD/DVD ROM drive or any major hardware problem???...I ran a self hard drive test and it seemed fine
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Jan 7, 2005
I've been browsing the web for an answer to my laptop's problem but no luck so far.
My laptop specs are: purchased in 2002 AMD athlon 1399MHz Windows XP (recently updated to SP2) 350 MB RAM On boot up, the laptop occassionally starts going very fast when the Windows XP logo is displayed, the DVD drive then starts going crazy, the login window appears but the cursor is blinking very fast and I can't move the mouse
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Jun 9, 2010
I have been having a boot up issue on my compaq presario sr1630nx. When I turn on the computer now it takes me to the boot screen where I press F2 and the little dash up in the corner flashes for a second or two...disapears...and then nothing...black screen. I then have to turn the computer off manually but when I turn the computer on again and it goes to the boot screen and I press F2 again and it takes me to the default start windows normally prompt.
I hit enter and then it boots up like normal and everything is fine with the world and my computer runs just fine until the next time I turn it off and have to turn it on again. Same routine at every boot. Was wondering if the brown out may have corrupted my boot.ini file somehow and if so how to fix it. My computer was on when the power spiked twice in a two minute period then was off for a couple of hours so it could be a hardware issue as well. I have Windows xp home edition
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