Black Screen with cursor.

[sXeffects]

Ok so I havn't booted up my computer in about 4 months. It was working fine before. Anyways the motherboard screen will come up and after that it will go to a black screen with a blinking cursor on the screen "most of the time" sometimes it's just a black screen. I can't boot into safe mode. I have made sure in the bios that the boot order is correct. I can't boot from CDrom. Is my harddrive bad and if my hard drive is bad shouldn't it still be able to boot from CDrom? that's what doesn't make sense to me. something is going on, I don't think it's my HDD. thanks and hi

oh and I have made sure all the hardware is plugged in correctly, ie. resetting the ram and all the plugs.

 

[Slammer]

What CD/DVD are you trying to boot to with the CDrom?

 

[sXeffects]

The Windows 7 disk. I have booted to it before I think when I reformatted my pc, does that make sense? I think I should be able to boot to it, right?

 

[Slammer]

You should, if everything is working right. I'm assuming you have access to another computer, and that's how you're typing all this. Does that computer you're on have a DVD or CD burner? Or do you have an empty flash drive? If you do, I'd recommend you download a copy of an Ubuntu Live CD and see if you can boot to that. In that link, scroll down to Try it! (#3) and follow the instructions to either burn it to a CD or put it on a flash drive. Note that using this option won't install Ubuntu onto your computer, it will just temporarily boot it up as a kind of "trial" that will help make sure it definitely a problem with Windows and not bad hardware. After you restart your computer, it will be back to how it was before, and it won't mess anything up.

Doing this will help us tell if a) you're computer is still functioning enough to boot, and b) if maybe there's a problem with your Windows 7 disk.

 

[sXeffects]

ok I will try that. I'm kind of tired right now, I have mono. So I'm going to do it tomorrow, I hope I get this figured out bc all I want to do is game while I'm sick. Might as well take advantage of being sick lol I never have time to game anymore.

 

[Slammer]

Good idea. Always easier to think when you aren't tired. Get better in time for Christmas!

 

[gregrocker]

Try accessing System Recovery Options on the F8 Advanced Boot options menu to run Startup Repair repeatedly. Report back results.

Is the DVD drive set first to boot in BIOS setup? Do you get a prompt to "Press any key to boot DVD?" If not check the condition of the disk, download another, burn to DVD using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

If no prompt then try booting using the BIOS one-time Boot Menu hotkey. Get a prompt now?

You can also extract the DVD ISO using ImgBurn then write to flash stick using Universal USB Installer
with Win7 in dropdown menu. Boot on one-time BIOS Boot menu under USB, Removable, or HD's.

You can also burn a System Repair Disk on any Win7 machine of the same bit version to try booting a CD.

 

[TVeblen]

The other posters have given good tips on what to try if the system can recognize a bootable device. I am going to focus on what to try if the system cannot recognize a bootable device.

First, when the motherboard screen first appears, enter the BIOS Settings, usually by pressing the F2 or DEL key (there will be a note to what key on the screen).
In BIOS setting look for the entry for DRIVES or STORAGE CONFIGURATION and see if both the HDD and CD Drive shows. Do not make any changes to your BIOS settings at this time. If both the drives show and it still won't boot then:

Note all of your current BIOS settings, pay particular attention to the mode the SATA controller is in (IDE or AHCI), then Restore (or Reset) the BIOS defaults (on the EXIT Tab), go back and change the SATA controller setting, and then try to boot. If that does not work then:

Replace the 3V battery on the motherboard. (Key: did not use computer for 4 months) It is a CR2032 and you can buy them almost anywhere. If that does not work then:

Disconnect the CD Drive (power and data cables) and then try to boot normally into the HDD. If that does not work then:

Disconnect the HDD, Reconnect the CD Drive, and try and boot the W7 Disk. If that does not work then:

And as a last resort, Remove all sticks of RAM except one stick in slot A1, or the first RAM slot, and test. Try each stick in that first slot.

Let us know the results.

 

[jwjwjw]

Hi TVeblen,

I had a similar Back Screen with flashing cursor issue. Base on your suggestion, only after "Disconnect the HDD, Reconnect the CD Drive, and try and boot the Windows 7 Disk" I can load the Window 7 reinstallation cd. Does this mean my HDD failed? What should I do next? Thanks.

 

[gregrocker]

Reconnect your HD to see if it registers in BIOS setup under HD's or storage. If so boot the HD maker's HD Diagnostic to run an extended CD scan. If it won't boot, remove the HD to slave in another PC to see if it is detected. If so rescue your data and wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command to see if boot code is blocking DVD boot in the other PC.

If HD does not register in BIOS setup, try changing cables or if necessary replacing it.