[Dodgezilla]

HI,

I RECENTLY UPGRADED MY RAM AND AFTERWARDS WHEN I TURN ON MY COMPUTER I GET A BLACK SCREEN WITH A BLINKING CURSOR FOR 20 MIN OR LONGER THEN IT WILL FINALLY BOOT. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM? THE COMPUTER READS THE NEW MEMORY AND SAYS I HAVE 3GB. IT SEEMS TO BE RUNNING FINE ONCE IT FINALLY BOOTS.

THANK YOU,
ROGER

MY COMPUTER IS A DELL DIMENSION 4600.

Edited by Dodgezilla, 24 November 2010 - 10:22 AM.

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Hello Dodgezilla.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

First step to take is to try and boot into Safe Mode

• Start your system and at the Second post screen tap on F8 to get to the Boot Menu
• Use the Arrow Keys to Scroll down to the line that says "Safe Mode or Safe Mode With Networking" and highlight it.
• Click Enter and the system should continue

Do you still get the same issue then?

FYI This may take a little time since the system does not use the custom drivers but the point here is to see if it is a driver or a program causing the pause in Normal Boot.

[rshaffer61]

Hello Dodgezilla.... Welcome to
GeeksToGo,


I'm sorry to hear about your issue. We will try to help you resolve this as soon as possible.

• Please understand we are all volunteers and we are not here all the time.
• Sometimes it may be a extended amount of time to get back to you. If it has been
  more then 3 days please shoot me a PM and I will try to get back to you quickly
  then.
• Please do the following and supply the requested information as needed. If you
  don't understand my instructions please ask and I will try to explain them
  clearer for you.
• Do not attempt any steps unless instructed or ask before to
  make sure they will not cause any further issues.

First step to take is to try and boot into Safe Mode

• Start your system and at the Second post screen tap on F8 to get to the Boot Menu
• Use the Arrow Keys to Scroll down to the line that says "Safe Mode or Safe Mode With Networking" and highlight it.
• Click Enter and the system should continue

Do you still get the same issue then?

FYI This may take a little time since the system does not use the custom drivers but the point here is to see if it is a driver or a program causing the pause in Normal Boot.

[Dodgezilla]

Hi thank you for the reply.

I'm sorry I dont understand what the "Second post screen" means. After I push the power button it goes to the screen where I can choose F2 or F12 when the system is trying to boot...is this the screen you want me to repeadly hit F8? I tried putting everything back the way it was before I upgraded the RAM and it still didnt work. I did all this before I tried this site.

Best,
Roger


Also, I dont know why it would of waited for me to change the memory but do you think it could be that the battery on the motherboard is dead. This desktop sat for a year maybe more with out being plugged in. Just throwing some thoughts out.

[rshaffer61]

Also, I dont know why it would of waited for me to change the memory but do you think it could be that the battery on the motherboard is dead. This desktop sat for a year maybe more with out being plugged in. Just throwing some thoughts out.

Possible

Try tapping F12 at the first screen when you turn your system on. This should get you to the Boot Menu

[Dodgezilla]

Ok I will try the safe mode thing when I get home from work. And I still may change the battery...they are probably only a couple bucks.

May not reply until next week with an update. Hope you have a nice thanksgiving.


Best,
Roger

[rshaffer61]

You have a Happy Thanksgiving and I will check for your reply.

[Dodgezilla]

Hello,

New update. I tried changing the battery...that didnt fix the problem. I was able to get to the option to boot in safe mode after it finishes doing what ever it is doing during the black screen with cursor blinking. Sometimes when I turn it on I get a screen that says there is a problem with my system configuration and to run the setup program. Then it goes into some sort of hard drive check. And then says that the time and date are not set and to run the setup program. I have pulled all my out trying to figure out what this problem is... I've been in the bios settings and everything looks ok to me but I dont know much. I am messaging you from the problem computer...once it boots its fine I dont get it.

Hope maybe something I said can help you pin point my problem.

[rshaffer61]

OK lets start with the most obvious.
Bottom right of your desktop is the date and time correct?
If that is good then the next most obvious since this all started with the new ram then lets test it.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[Dodgezilla]

I'm sorry I have not tried this option yet. Seems to complex for me.

So you are thinking I have a bad mem stick? Just a thought but wouldnt you think that when I put the "stock" mem sticks back where they were from the manufacturer that it would boot fine? Also, it is reading all 3GB of RAM in Bios and in "My Computer" Properties.


After power up it goes to the Dell logo with the option of pressing F2 or F12. then it goes to the black screen with blinking cursor in upper left corner. After about ten minutes it will boot Windows XP and the computer seems to run fine. Even after pressing F2 or F12 or F8 it still goes to the black screen with blinking cursor for about five minutes before those screens come up. If you choose an option too fast in any of the F function screens it still goes back to the same blank screen for the remainder of the ten minutes or however long it may be I didnt actually time it.


Its almost like its delaying the Windows XP boot for a certain alotted amount of time everytime.


I can live with it the way it is but its just sucks to have to wait that long for it to finish booting. Guess I'll just have to get a beer while waiting. HAHA I dont know.

[Dodgezilla]

I still dont know why me adding RAM would of changed anything other than the RAM.

[rshaffer61]

Forget the testing single sticks and Download Memtest86 and burn it as instructed.
Reboot system with disk in the cdrom drive. Run memtest for at least 5 to 6 passes.
If there is a problem it will show it.

[Dodgezilla]

I can not find where to download image burn from the link you gave me... If I click on the downloads tab I can't find it in the correct language.


Any advise?

[Dodgezilla]

Also, my pc at home that we are talking about has no dvd rom or dvd rw burner it is a cd rom only I'm guessing that this will be a problem.

[rshaffer61]

When you click on the link in step 1 it should auto download the file.
As far as the burning software do the following.
go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC by clicking on BurnCDCC.exe
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its rc.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

[Dodgezilla]

Ok no errors with memtest. Any other ideas? Should I download a newer version of the BIOS settings? Mine is a Pheonix ROM BIOS Plus Version 1.10 A03. I'm going to attempt to attach a few photos of some latest screens I received.