[C1B3R5NYP3R]

Hello,

I have been looking at some of the threads here about this black screen with the cursor in the top left corner blinking. You guys have been the most informative on this subject that I have found. Anyway, Let me just start with the specs so you know what your working with here: Dell Dimension 4550. 2GB crucial DDR memory, 160 GB HDD. Pentium 4 CPU, everything else is factory.

I can boot into bootable discs. I ran a dell hardware diagnostics and everything passed. I have run memtest86 no problems there. I have tested the PSU with a pc/sps tester seems ok there too. I have a feeling that this is something to do with the system not finding the right info on the hard drive. I have also run the chkdsk /r with no avail.

Any ideas? Thanks!
snyper

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Next thing to try.

Repairing the master boot record on your Windows XP system is accomplished using the fixmbr command, available in Recovery Console. This is necessary when the master boot record has become corrupt due to a virus or some kind of damage.

Here's How:

1. Enter Windows XP Recovery Console.
2. When you reach the command prompt (detailed in Step 6 in the link above), type the following and then press Enter.

fixmbr

3. The fixmbr utility will write a master boot record to the hard drive that you're currently using to boot into Windows XP. This will repair any corruption or damage that the master boot record may have.
4. Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.

Assuming that a corrupt master boot record was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Next thing to try.

Repairing the master boot record on your Windows XP system is accomplished using the fixmbr command, available in Recovery Console. This is necessary when the master boot record has become corrupt due to a virus or some kind of damage.

Here's How:

1. Enter Windows XP Recovery Console.
2. When you reach the command prompt (detailed in Step 6 in the link above), type the following and then press Enter.

fixmbr

3. The fixmbr utility will write a master boot record to the hard drive that you're currently using to boot into Windows XP. This will repair any corruption or damage that the master boot record may have.
4. Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.

Assuming that a corrupt master boot record was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally.

SRX660

[C1B3R5NYP3R]

That didn't work.

[SRX660]

It's time to replace either the motherboard or the hard drive.

SRX660

[C1B3R5NYP3R]

I connected the hard drive to my other computer as a slave drive and everything seemed fine. How is it possible for the pc to post and run discs from the bios but yet it does not boot?


There is nothing wrong with the motherboard or the hard drive. This has to be something with the way the pc boots into the system.

Edited by C1B3R5NYP3R, 11 August 2010 - 07:41 AM.

[SRX660]

The only thing left to do is to see if you have malware creating your problem.

http://www.geekstogo...alware-removal/

SRX660

[C1B3R5NYP3R]

I thought that too. I ran a scan while it was connected to my computer as a slave and found 10 viruses! I used norton 2010.

I will post there and see what happens. Thanks for the help.