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WIN XP; has disappeared!

L

lybush

Senior member
My question is about my PC which is running Win XP SP1. I am on my Laptop
trying to type this question.

PC was working ok until a few days ago. Then, while in IE, I had to shut IE down with the Task
Manager as IE was flashing screens.
When I rebooted, I had no video in Windows, but you could see the DOS boot screen and hear the sounds made by my PC startup programs, such as 'mail as arrived', etc.

I thought my AGP video card might be at fault, so I installed my older PCI video card and removed the AGP card.
No help, I still can not see past the DOS bootup screen. If I boot with a floppy, to DOS, the video is fine. But, I see nothing in WINDOWS. I know it is working as, on my LAN, with the LaPTOP, I can see the PC and also make a network drive between the 2 systems.

How do I get out of this mess? Is it a registry problem? If so, how do I fix it? I have no restore points

Len
 
NO, Same results. Screen shows SAFE boot but does not change when it is in Win.

Do you think if I reset all the BIOS settings to default, that may help?

Len
 
I tried the VGA mode with the same results.
I also found that boot file and it had a lot of question marks and could not loads.
I don't know what to do about that.

Is there anyway to shut down the system so it doesn't scandisk all the time? I tried alt F4 but it must be waiting for a mouse click or something I can't see. Also, ctrl-alt-del doesn't do me anygood either.

Len
 
Do you have another monitor you can try? VGA mode (and safe mode) should display something.

To shut it down properly, press: Windows Key>u>u>ENTER
 
BadT. Thanks for the info. I don't have another monitor but maybe i CAN BORROW ONE.

If the monitor works in DOS shouldn't it be ok in WIndows?
I woulod like to try that shutdown but don't unserstand it.
Hold down the win key and press u and press u again? is that correct?

Len
 
See if you can borrow one. It's an easy test that will tell us a lot. Should have also asked you this...is this a CRT or an LCD? I'm assuming a CRT. Are you using a DVI to VGA adapter? And the obvious...you did pull the cable out and put it back on (not just check that it's tight), right? You might also try pulling out the video card and putting it back in.


What kind of monitor do you have now? DOS mode runs at 60Hz refresh, but so does Windows in VGA mode, but I think there are some differences since Windows uses a VGA driver.

To shut it down:

1) Press the Windows key between CTRL and ALT on the bottom left of the keyboard and release.

2) Press the U key twice and wait for the shutdown.
 
I have a 17" crt, analog, AGP.
I have changed out the card to a PCI card which I was using before I bought the AGP card. I have done all you suggested except try another monitor. That sounds like a great idea. I get no video in normal or safe mode but do in DOS.
Since I don;t shut down correctly, and scandsik always runs, I belive I have a bunch of mangled files. I can't run SFC as I have an upgrade CD and it will not 'build a base'.
I think the tryanother monitor might do it.

Thanks,

Len I wonder how I can recopy all those managled files???:disgust:
 
Golly Gee, that shut down procedure worked perfectly. I wosh I had known about that sooner.

Anyway, I will look for another monitor if you really think that my monitor might be the cause.
Please note, I have a blank screen in Safe mode and in VGA boot.
Since, it works in DOS and that is VGA mode, then should it have not worked when I booted in VGA mode?

It will not be easy to find a test monitor.

Thanks,

Len
 
Hate to suggest this, but if it's really hard for you get your hands on a monitor for testing.....

Go to any retail place that sells monitors, buy anything, try it and return it....unless you decide to keep it. Good thing, CRT monitors are dirt cheap these days. You could upgrade to a 19" CRT cheaply.
 
BadT:

I'm checking with friends, neighbors and relatives now and hope to find one.

Thanks for your continued interest in my problem.

LOVE THAT SHUTDOWN procedure!!!!!!

Len
 
I tested the monitor by connecting it to my Dell Laptop running WIN 98 SE and it worked perfectly.

That seems to me to indicate that the monitor, CRT, is good although I may be wrong about that. I hope to get a substitute monitor tomorrow and test it on the PC.

One thing I noticed; on the PC when I do the monitor OSD the rectange for adjustment is not in its usual place. It moved down and to the right. ON the Laptop, it seemed to be in the correct place.

If this is then a software problem, what do I do??

Thanks,

Len

 
try the function + f5, it switches between onboard video and your video outs. a friend of mine was just having a similar issue and this solved it.
 
I don't quite understand. I know what the F5 key is, but what is the 'Function'?

Thanks for your interest.

Len
 
Originally posted by: HN
Originally posted by: lybush
I don't quite understand. I know what the F5 key is, but what is the 'Function'?

Thanks for your interest.

Len
Click to expand...
Fn
Click to expand...

It's a desktop..most desktop keyboards don't have a function key..

You best bet may be to get an external hard drive enclosure. Put your hard drive in there, plug it in to laptop, and back up all your important files. Then do a full windows re-install. It's very odd that it works perfeclty fine outside of windows, but even VGA safe mode doesn't display anything. You didn't mention what motherboard you had, or if you have onboard video, but if you do have onboard video, disable it in the bios, or try booting with just the onboard and no other video card.

Another thing you might want to try is taking the motherboard out of the case and running that way. There is a slight possibility the motherboard could be shorting to the case, or even something on the case is shorting to the monitor cable. Slim possibility but doesn't hurt to try.
 
I have all the function keys on my PC, but hitting F5 didn't do anything. I do NOT have onboard video.

My WinXP Pro cd is to upgrade from Win 98. So, i may have to reinsatll Win 98SE and upgrade again and try to save all my programs and settings.

I would really like a CD that will boot and then do a WIN XP Pro Recovery but don't know if they exist.

Len
 
Originally posted by: lybush
I have all the function keys on my PC, but hitting F5 didn't do anything. I do NOT have onboard video.

My WinXP Pro cd is to upgrade from Win 98. So, i may have to reinsatll Win 98SE and upgrade again and try to save all my programs and settings.

I would really like a CD that will boot and then do a WIN XP Pro Recovery but don't know if they exist.

Len
Click to expand...

Well then, I think we've eliminated as a hardware problem. It must be software, but I'm totally perplexed as to why safe mode AND vga mode don't work. Must be some serious corruption.

At this point, I'd just reinstall Windows XP. You don't have to reinstall Win98 to upgrade, it should prompt you to insert the Win98 CDROM at some point during the install to validate it.....that's all. Also, when you reinstall, make sure you tell it to format the drive in NTFS! You don't want to have a mess, formatting insures a nice, clean install of XP.

Hopefully, that will fix this problem once and for all.

 
Since my WIN XP Pro CD will only work from Windows, it does me no good as I can't see what is on the screen. So, I need to consider reinstalling WIN 98 SE and hope to be able to get the screen to work.

At least, that is my current thinking.

Len
 
Your machine won't boot from your XP CD?

Is it a retail XP CD?

To the best of my knowledge all MS XP CDs are fully bootable. The only difference is the PID.
 
Originally posted by: lybush
Yes, it is a retail XP Pro upgrade CD. Only works to upgrade from 98 to XP.

Len
Click to expand...

In that case, it's bootable (http://www.mcse.ms/message1266718.html, amongst a million other Google hits). Change your BIOS boot order so that the CDROM is seen first, or bring up a one-time boot menu and select the CDROM.

Once booted, you'll be asked to insert media from a previous version of Windows. Do so, and you'll be able to use the OS normally without issues. You do not need to install another OS prior to installing XP.
 
I did all that and it still will not boot from DOS.
It needs to start from Windows. And, since I see nothing in WIN, it is useless.

Len
 
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