Solve : HELP-Computer stuck on black screen with blinking white cursor

1.	Solve : HELP-Computer stuck on black screen with blinking white cursor?
Answer» I would say my computing skills are at an intermediate level, but im really stuck with this problem. Heres goes: Computer POST'S, i see the bios screen (all details are correct) and then when the computer tries to boot, it doesnt go past the black screen with a white blinking cursor in the top left corner. Usually this will mean that the OS or some system files are corrupt or hdd has failed and at the worst case scenario you may have to reload windows or replace hard drive, but this isnt the case here. The nonsense thing about this problem is that it WONT even boot from the optical drive, it gets stuck on the same screen, so i doubt theres anything wrong with the hard drive either. Things ive tried (in no particular order): --Tried to enter safe mode-the option doesnt even come up, no matter how many times you hit f8 --reset bios (have a asus crosshair so did all three, REMOVED battery, hit the clear CMOS BUTTON and changed the jumpers over) and restored defaults --changed bios battery --checked bios that it recognised the cpu, the speed, the optical drives, the 3 hdd's, their capacity etc-all are correct. --removed both RAM sticks (computer doesnt post and makes the correct beeping noises-motherboard seems to be responding as it should) --put ONE RAM stick in at a time-same results-tried different slots-same result --disconnected all three HDD's and set the boot priority to optical drive-still the dismal black screen, white cursor (btw tried 3 different OS boot discs so its not the disc either) --removed everything from the rear of the pc, except the vga and keyboard, removed all pci cards etc, only left the video card in-still the same problem --changed over video card-same results --changed over cpu-same results --removed usb headers on motherboard --unplugged all headers/cables and reseated everything-same results --disconnected optical drives and then connected hard drive with OS-no change -have 2 optical drives-so unless they have both spontaneously combusted at the same time, its not them either I dont want to think its the power supply, because its only around 5 MONTHS old, its 600watts and i barely need 300 to run my system. The computer always starts first time, never struggles etc. I have no reason to suspect its my motherboard, but ive tested almost every other component and dont know what else to attribute it to (by power of deduction). The last thing im going to do is download the latest bios update for the motherboard (version 1207-which the bios is currently already on) and i hope that the old one has become corrupt for some reason and updating it again will fix it. If that doesnt work, im all out of ideas and will have to bring out my sledgehammer. So please guys, if theres anything ive overlooked or if you have suggestions or know of a different community you think may help, please let me know. CheersQuote Computer POST'S, i see the bios screen (all details are correct) and then when the computer tries to boot, it doesnt go past the black screen with a white blinking cursor in the top left corner Is this after going to BIOS setup,exit and or while direct booting from power button? Did it have any previous issues that could lead to this or just suddenly? Quote Usually this will mean that the OS or some system files are corrupt or hdd has failed and at the worst case scenario you may have to reload windows or replace hard drive, but this isnt the case here You are at the point where I think you should check. Try connecting the HD to another PC and run chkdsk repair or on the same machine using your OS disk if possible. A blinking white cursor could not point to a bad monitor. Have you tried using just the onboard video if any? A certain microsoft support explains this and hopefully its not one with yours. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946532One day i switched off my computer as normal and the next time i switched it back on, i experienced this problem. I havnt made any changes to my system recently-software, hardware or otherwise. It isnt the first screen that comes up when i switch the computer on, the bios screen comes up, confirms the attached devices, ram, cpu, bios version, etc and i can press del and change bios settings aswell. Its the screen after that that this problem occurs on. I have a crosshair motherboard, it doesnt have onboard graphics im afraid. I did try both the pci x slots and 2 different video cards.The hdd had dual boot on it, so even if one os was corrupted, the other should come up/work and even on the corrupt one the safe mode menu screen should also come up. The hdd may or may not be faulty, if it is then its still not the only issue as i have also tried removing all hdd's from the computer and tried booting an os disc from 2 optical drives and it wont boot or give the option to boot from them either, just goes to that black screen (this shouldnt happen if the HDD was faulty). I did manually change the boot priority as well as enter boot menu and select the optical drive, to no availWhat operating system are we talking about here? truenorthHi, the operating systems were xp pro and windows 7 ultimate, both 32bit. The issue is resolved now, thank you all who tried, the culprit wasnt anything that i would have suspected and therefore didnt check for it when trying to identify the problem. Basically it was the bios chip on the motherboard, it wasnt faulty but for some reason was causing the boot issue. After exhausting all possible logical steps, in desperation i decided to reflash the bios but when i tried it kept getting stuck on rewriting the block, so i had to manually switch the computer off. Then, intermittently, i kept getting BIOS ROM errors, stating the following: Award BootBlock BIOS v1.0 BIOS ROM Checksum error Detecting Floppy drive A media INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER so i thought the bios chip may have to be replaced, so to see how easy it would be to replace, i just tapped on it and ran my finger on it. The computer then booted fine and has done ever since. Amazing. I have since been able to reflash the bios sucessfully, so i am inclined to think that little tap on the bios chip must have aligned contacts or something. The bios chip isnt loose or anything, so it was a lucky discovery, i was actually looking into a replacement board. I havnt put everything back together yet, but im hopeful that this issue is resolved.Glad to see you have recovered if even by the unusual manner that you did. truenorth

Solve : HELP-Computer stuck on black screen with blinking white cursor?

Answer»

I would say my computing skills are at an intermediate level, but im really stuck with this problem.

Heres goes:

Computer POST'S, i see the bios screen (all details are correct) and then when the computer tries to boot, it doesnt go past the black screen with a white blinking cursor in the top left corner. Usually this will mean that the OS or some system files are corrupt or hdd has failed and at the worst case scenario you may have to reload windows or replace hard drive, but this isnt the case here. The nonsense thing about this problem is that it WONT even boot from the optical drive, it gets stuck on the same screen, so i doubt theres anything wrong with the hard drive either.

Things ive tried (in no particular order):

--Tried to enter safe mode-the option doesnt even come up, no matter how many times you hit f8

--reset bios (have a asus crosshair so did all three, REMOVED battery, hit the clear CMOS BUTTON and changed the jumpers over) and restored defaults

--changed bios battery

--checked bios that it recognised the cpu, the speed, the optical drives, the 3 hdd's, their capacity etc-all are correct.

--removed both RAM sticks (computer doesnt post and makes the correct beeping noises-motherboard seems to be responding as it should)

--put ONE RAM stick in at a time-same results-tried different slots-same result

--disconnected all three HDD's and set the boot priority to optical drive-still the dismal black screen, white cursor (btw tried 3 different OS boot discs so its not the disc either)

--removed everything from the rear of the pc, except the vga and keyboard, removed all pci cards etc, only left the video card in-still the same problem

--changed over video card-same results

--changed over cpu-same results

--removed usb headers on motherboard

--unplugged all headers/cables and reseated everything-same results

--disconnected optical drives and then connected hard drive with OS-no change

-have 2 optical drives-so unless they have both spontaneously combusted at the same time, its not them either

I dont want to think its the power supply, because its only around 5 MONTHS old, its 600watts and i barely need 300 to run my system. The computer always starts first time, never struggles etc. I have no reason to suspect its my motherboard, but ive tested almost every other component and dont know what else to attribute it to (by power of deduction).

The last thing im going to do is download the latest bios update for the motherboard (version 1207-which the bios is currently already on) and i hope that the old one has become corrupt for some reason and updating it again will fix it. If that doesnt work, im all out of ideas and will have to bring out my sledgehammer.

So please guys, if theres anything ive overlooked or if you have suggestions or know of a different community you think may help, please let me know.

CheersQuote

Computer POST'S, i see the bios screen (all details are correct) and then when the computer tries to boot, it doesnt go past the black screen with a white blinking cursor in the top left corner

Is this after going to BIOS setup,exit and or while direct booting from power button? Did it have any previous issues that could lead to this or just suddenly?
Quote

Usually this will mean that the OS or some system files are corrupt or hdd has failed and at the worst case scenario you may have to reload windows or replace hard drive, but this isnt the case here

You are at the point where I think you should check. Try connecting the HD to another PC and run chkdsk repair or on the same machine using your OS disk if possible. A blinking white cursor could not point to a bad monitor. Have you tried using just the onboard video if any?
A certain microsoft support explains this and hopefully its not one with yours.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946532One day i switched off my computer as normal and the next time i switched it back on, i experienced this problem. I havnt made any changes to my system recently-software, hardware or otherwise.

It isnt the first screen that comes up when i switch the computer on, the bios screen comes up, confirms the attached devices, ram, cpu, bios version, etc and i can press del and change bios settings aswell. Its the screen after that that this problem occurs on.

I have a crosshair motherboard, it doesnt have onboard graphics im afraid. I did try both the pci x slots and 2 different video cards.The hdd had dual boot on it, so even if one os was corrupted, the other should come up/work and even on the corrupt one the safe mode menu screen should also come up. The hdd may or may not be faulty, if it is then its still not the only issue as i have also tried removing all hdd's from the computer and tried booting an os disc from 2 optical drives and it wont boot or give the option to boot from them either, just goes to that black screen (this shouldnt happen if the HDD was faulty). I did manually change the boot priority as well as enter boot menu and select the optical drive, to no availWhat operating system are we talking about here? truenorthHi, the operating systems were xp pro and windows 7 ultimate, both 32bit.

The issue is resolved now, thank you all who tried, the culprit wasnt anything that i would have suspected and therefore didnt check for it when trying to identify the problem. Basically it was the bios chip on the motherboard, it wasnt faulty but for some reason was causing the boot issue.

After exhausting all possible logical steps, in desperation i decided to reflash the bios but when i tried it kept getting stuck on rewriting the block, so i had to manually switch the computer off. Then, intermittently, i kept getting BIOS ROM errors, stating the following:

Award BootBlock BIOS v1.0
BIOS ROM Checksum error
Detecting Floppy drive A media
INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

so i thought the bios chip may have to be replaced, so to see how easy it would be to replace, i just tapped on it and ran my finger on it. The computer then booted fine and has done ever since. Amazing. I have since been able to reflash the bios sucessfully, so i am inclined to think that little tap on the bios chip must have aligned contacts or something. The bios chip isnt loose or anything, so it was a lucky discovery, i was actually looking into a replacement board.

I havnt put everything back together yet, but im hopeful that this issue is resolved.Glad to see you have recovered if even by the unusual manner that you did. truenorth

Solve : HELP-Computer stuck on black screen with blinking white cursor?

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