Can't get into windows, black screen with blinking cursor

for some reason I can't even get into windows 7, after I get pass the screen that says "asus" , my laptop brand, It goes into a black screen with a blinking cursor in the left hand corner like this:



I'm unable to do anything at that point, it just blinks. I can't even boot into safe mode now, the only think I'm able to get into is the Bios Setup Utility menus and Asus' express gate, which is just a media/internet/gaming/skype thing that doesn't allow .exe files to run...

This came factory installed so I don't have a windows 7 disc to help run fixes or anything. please, someone, help.

Hello grive and welcome to Seven Forums.

Have you tried booting into Advanced Boot Options? As soon as you start your machine click the F8 key (top row of keyboard) and keep clicking until you see the Advanced Boot Options screen. This tutorial has a bit more info.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/666-advanced-boot-options.html

From here you should be able to choose from several different options including Safe Mode, Last Known Good Configuration, etc.

Depending on your specific computer you may also have a hidden recovery partition that can return your machine to factory specs (just like the day it was when you got it home.) On some laptops you can press F9 at start up and that should open the recovery process. I believe you get four different options:

1. If none of the following recovery options is selected, the computer will just be rebooted to load Windows (if Recovery is started from the hard drive) or run the bootable disc in the optical drive.

2. The first partition is deleted (the others remain intact) and a new system partition C: will be created.

3. This option removes all the partitions from the hard drive and creates a new system partition C:.

4.This option removes all the partitions from the hard drive and creates two new partitions C: (60% of the drive’s storage capacity) and D: (40%).

You might want to check your owners manual or quick start guide to see if it gives more info.

Press the F8 key repeatedly at boot up or use the Startup disk.

Try this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/69585-safe-mode.html?ltr=S
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html?ltr=S
Note: You may need to do startup repair 3 to 4 times.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105541-startup-repair-run-3-separate-times.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139576-startup-repair-infinite-loop-recovery.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html?ltr=S

Do you have a Netbook?

I'm only able to use the F2 key, which gets me into the bios setup utility. F8 would get me into advanced options, but doesn't seem to be working, along with all the other F# keys save 2

Go in the bios and reset it just in case! When it does that blinking cursor its trying to find a bootable device. Have you made sure there are n cd's in the drive or memory cards in the slots?

Is there a certain way to reset it? I never changed the bios from the default settings and its on "boot from hard drive".

Try resetting your BIOS back to default.
Clear CMOS - 3 Ways To Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

was just wondering if you managed to sort this out? Im in the same situation and can't even boot up from cd on boot!

temporary fix

I have this issue as well with my Compaq Presario CQ5700F w/ Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. All I do is hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and as soon as the pc manufacturer's logo appears I hit ESC to get the device boot order menu and hit enter to boot from hard drive. I've looked in BIOS and everything I can't figure out why this began happening or how to fix it but this works I just have to do it for every boot/reboot.