Blinking underscore on Boot-up


  1. blast
    Posts : 2
    windows 7 64 bits
       New #1

    Blinking underscore on Boot-up


    Hi everyone,

    I have an HP laptop that upon boot-up would show the HP logo and then go to a constant blinking underscore on the upper left hand corner.

    During the HP logo screen, I pressed f2 to enter "HP Startup" where I scan the hard drive and it passed all the test.

    Also I can go into the BIOS by pressing f10. From my research, I changed the order of boot-up and put local hard drive at the very top. I also unplugged the battery. And laptop is still not working.

    I also read that perhaps putting in a System Repair Disk might help(?) But I just discover that my cd-rom drive is not working...

    Can someone explain to me what would be the best way/ or my options in going about to recovering my data?

    Any help much appreciated.

    Thanks
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  3. Ztruker
    Posts : 6,285
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       New #2

    Most likely you have a corrupted file system and need to run chkdsk /r from the Recovery Console. Since you optical drive is not working, you can create a bootable flash drive for Windows 7, see here: USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

    How to run chkdsk from the Recovery Console
    • Boot your Windows 7 installation DVD
    • When you see "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD", press Enter
    • At the "Language" screen hold the "Shift" key and press the F10 key to open a Command Window
    • For chkdsk, type chkdsk /r and press Enter.


    Let this run to completion undisturbed..

    Windows 7 only:
    If you don't have a install DVD, you can download a legal copy here: Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River

    Make sure you get the same version you have installed: 32 or 64 bit; Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate.
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  4. blast
    Posts : 2
    windows 7 64 bits
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Hi Ztrucker, thanks for your reply.

    I do not have an install DVD so I need to download the ISO file from the link you provided - however, I do not know which 64 bit version of Home, Pro, or Ultimate version Windows 7 I have. How should I proceed from here?
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  6. gregrocker
    Posts : 50,642
       New #4

    Look on the COA sticker on bottom of laptop for licensed version. If you have more than 4gb RAM I'd use 64 bit.

    Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot.
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