My two year old computer is having startup problems.  Attempting to start up by moving the mouse or touching a key is met with a blank screen.  The green light indicates that the CPU is getting ELECTRICITY.  For several days, the computer did not initially respond, then would open the "Owner" screen either minutes or hours later.  Now, I cannot get any response.  I am not aware of any downloads in the last few weeks (although AOL may have provided an updated version.  My daughter may have also downloaded a screensaver.)  I do not have a startup diskette.  The CD-Rom drive will not open when the button is pushed.  I have checked the cables, and they remain properly attached.  Please speak loud and slow if you respond, because I am not very computer-savvy.  Thanks.  First off, do you use any spyware/adware/virus PROTECTION? If so was it current and being used?

Can you shut the machine down by holding the power button in for 4-5 seconds? If so, when it restarts, go to the desktop, right click and choose Properties, then screen saver. If anything is listed, make note of what it is, and chen select NONE.

Let US know about these issues first.I have Norton Anti-virus.  It is current and being used.  

If I hold in the on/off button, the computer does go off, but when I restart, I still have a black screen - the desktop does not come up.Can you get to the BIOS/Setup screen at all? The key combination may show up briefly before Windows starts to load.

Has this computer been moved/abused/played with inside, etc. lately? Have you checked with Gateway to see if this is a KNOWN issue for that model? By the way, what model is it? Is your warranty still in effect? And to sum up it worked totally fine until now? And the only thing that might have affected it on your end is AOL (uggh!) or somebody downloading something (scary).

Well, let us know about these issues.Laptop/desktop.......did you hibinate/standby feature on  this PC.......list the pc hardware specs if know.....hard drive is...../ etc....