[Wolf_3d]

OK yesterday afternoon i was playing a game - Enemy Territory as it happens. I closed the game after a while and then opened up VLC Media Player and was listening to some music. At the same time i then opened up Windows Live Messenger and clicked on one of my email messages. It opened up in Internet Explorer (7.0). I then decided to maximise Internet Explorer - but then when i clicked on the maximise button the whole system froze and stopped responding. There was no BSOD or error messages - it wouldn't respond to CTRL + ALT + DEL either. I had to manually shut it down.

I then started it back up again but while the computer was working (and the computer fan was continuosly going), i just got a blank screen. I manually shut it down again. I left it a few mintues and tried starting it up. This time it went all the way to the blue "Welcome to Windows" splash screen - but it went no further.

Now when ever i try and start it up, the computer runs with the fan on continuosly but the screen is blank and showing no sign of life.

The PC is a HP Pavillion A708.UK (about 3yr old)

The spec is;

Windows XP SP2
Intel Celeron 4.3 Ghz
80 GB HDD
Nvidia Geforce MX4000 128MB

Any help much appreciated.

[Advertisements]

If the tower has an off switch at the back, switch that off for a minute, switch it on and see if the PC loads to the desktop. If there isn't a switch, when the PC is off, disconnect the plug from the wall socket for a minute

Check the monitor is on standby before starting the PC

If not, press the power button and keep tapping F8 (possibly F5) until you get options, choose last know good

If it still won't load

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Start the System Restore Utility at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a Command Prompt then press enter. (If F8 shows boot devices, use F5 instead).

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for the most recent system checkpoint created before the errors to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click 315222 to see a description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

[Retired Tech]

If the tower has an off switch at the back, switch that off for a minute, switch it on and see if the PC loads to the desktop. If there isn't a switch, when the PC is off, disconnect the plug from the wall socket for a minute

Check the monitor is on standby before starting the PC

If not, press the power button and keep tapping F8 (possibly F5) until you get options, choose last know good

If it still won't load

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Start the System Restore Utility at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a Command Prompt then press enter. (If F8 shows boot devices, use F5 instead).

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for the most recent system checkpoint created before the errors to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click 315222 to see a description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

[Area 51]

The email that you clicked on, do you know the source? There has been some emails floating around that when clicked on wipes out your harddrive.

[Wolf_3d]

Unfortunately there is'nt an off switch at the back of the computer.

One thing i have noticed is that the power button on the tower flickers a couple of times. Its one of those buttons which is lit up by some led or something. I don't know whether that is significant or not.

I don't think the email was anything harmful.

[Retired Tech]

Unplug the tower at the mains for a minute then plug it in, check the monitor standby light is on

The red light flickering during start up is usual, it should change to solid green when the desktop is loaded and the PC is not running anything

When you run any programme, the red light may flicker or go solid for some programmes, e.g defragmenting the drive

[Wolf_3d]

I have tried unplugging it at the mains but no luck. The computer is connected to a surge protector and i have tested the surge protector with a lamp with no problems. The router is connected to it aswell and is working fine.

The monitor stand-by light (orange) is definatly on.

I have removed the graphics card and tried the onboard graphics port with no luck.

I think i will try removing one of the RAM sticks and see if that works.