My girlfriends computer is showing a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner of her LCD. the screen is completely black. From my expericence this usually means that the hard drive crashed. I checked all the cables to make sure everything was properly ATTACHED and all was fine. I managed to get into the BIOS and I can see the hard drive ( Seagate 500 gb Sata, 7200 Rpm Etc). Which i beleive means the Bios can see the hard drive but CANT get into it ( ? ). She tells me she uses her computer almost everyday and turns it on and off on a regular basis. Again from my experiences this can cause the hard drive to crash, right ?!!!. Is the hard drive toast ? or does this mean I am buying her a new hard drive for X-Mas. Any way any comments.

Isnt it best to set up the computer to go into stand by mode for those of us that like to always leave it on ??

Help Too early to assume it's the HDD failing...
Try booting into safemode by tapping F8 repeatedly on power up and before you see the Win logo...
Report what happens...If its a desktop with a dedicated video card, try cleaning the gold contacts along with your RAM modules. Alternately also if no changes, then use if there is an onboard graphics or use one stick of RAM as additional steps in checking your problem.It's not getting into Windows...this wouldn't be caused by the VID card.To Patio

I tried the F8 KEY and it still the same. I swapped out the key board with a known good one.....but more of the same.

What now ??You can get into Bios Setup?
But once you leave you get a blinking cursor?

Is that correct so far?

If so, the Ram, Video and most hardware may likely be ok.Quote from: kimsland on November 29, 2011, 12:55:46 AM

If so, the Ram, Video and most hardware may likely be ok.