[The Skeptic]

Upon booting the computer please look at the three leds on the keyboard (num lock, caps lock, scroll) and see if they flash momentarilly upon POST (the first test performed by BIOS). Look once in ps2 mode and once in usb mode.

You also mentioned that you cleared cmos. I repeat here the procedure just to make sure that you did it correctly: Unplug the power cable that feeds the power suppply unit. Carefully take the battery off. Keep it out for about 20 minutes. Reinstall in the reverse order and boot. You may get a checksome error. Re-enter BIOS and set time and date. Please report

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I can no longer get that menu to appear. However, there was an option to press F3 for a "boot menu", and now I'm stuck on a blue screen that says:

Boot Menu

Select a Boot First Device

-Hard Disk
-CDROM

PC won't respond, period. I can't use the arrow keys, ESC key, nothing. ENTER doesn't work either.

?????


Just for fun, I tried disconnecting the keyboard from the usb adapter, and connected it via the ps2 connection. Nothing. I think I'm gonna have to reset to get off this screen.

Edited by C00P88, 07 April 2007 - 02:12 AM.

[C00P88]

I can no longer get that menu to appear. However, there was an option to press F3 for a "boot menu", and now I'm stuck on a blue screen that says:

Boot Menu

Select a Boot First Device

-Hard Disk
-CDROM

PC won't respond, period. I can't use the arrow keys, ESC key, nothing. ENTER doesn't work either.

?????


Just for fun, I tried disconnecting the keyboard from the usb adapter, and connected it via the ps2 connection. Nothing. I think I'm gonna have to reset to get off this screen.

Edited by C00P88, 07 April 2007 - 02:12 AM.

[C00P88]

Of all things.... that worked. I previously cleared the cmos using the pin-connector thing on the motherboard, per the instruction manual. I even got a checksum error. It appears removing the battery is far more effective.

Thank you both for your time and effort.

[The Skeptic]

Have you re-cleared the BIOS like I suggested? This is very important. Have you looked to see if the leds lit at bootup?

Frankly, I have never seen a problem like this and I can't see any connection between this and the Zone Lab episode. At this stage I don't even know if the BIOS is corrupted for whatever reason. For this I need that you perform the tests I asked you to do in my previous post.

If BIOS looks good then I would try to disconnect all peripherials (printer, camera, cd drives, the lot) and see what happens.

I understand that you cannot run xp installation disk so repair or format is not an option at the moment. What I did in the past was to move the hard disk to another computer, backup important data, format it on the other computer, return it to the first computer and install windows afresh.

If all this don't work then I would try to update BIOS. Look for an update at the motherboard manufacturer's site. If you need a bootable floppy you can create one by inserting one into the floppy drive of another computer, go to My Computer > right click drive A: > format. Check the box that enables creation of ms-dos bootup diskette > ok.

Please note that if BIOS update is not successfull there is no way back and the motherboard is probably finished. I do this update only as an absolutely last resort. I suggest that before you do this you re-perform all the instructions provided so far in this thread.

[The Skeptic]

Hi coop88.

I was so busy writing you a long letter that I didn't notice that the problem was already solved by removing cmos battery. Thanks for letting us know.