[space sapien]

Just yesterday without much warning Windows doesn't boot up anymore. It gets past the splash screen, get the white text mentioning the Bios and adaptor 1 then just goes black with a flashing white line cursor on the top left of the screen. I tried repairing using my OEM Windows XP disc but this didn't work either as it returned how it was previously. Tried getting Windows to load through the Window's boot menu to load it up but for whatever reason I could not get this to come up (maybe I'm pressing the wrong key - tried f8 and f5 as mine's an Asus MOBO). Any help would be gratefully received as I'm starting to pull my hair out now. Cheers, Space Sapien.

[phillipcorcoran]

F8 should bring up the the Advanced Startup Options regardless of the motherboard make/model since it's a universal function with Windows PCs.
You have to keep tapping F8 as soon as you turn on the PC until the menu appears. Then first try "Last known good configuration" from the menu.
If that fails, bring up the menu again and choose "Safe Mode". If it starts in Safe Mode it's very probably a device driver issue - a bad or 'buggy' driver.

If you can recall the last driver you installed (or the last device you installed whose software installed one or more drivers) that will be the most suspect cause. Remove that device software & it's drivers while you're in Safe Mode. Then try starting Windows normally.

[space sapien]

I tried tapping the f8 key as soon as I turned on the PC but this just brings up the boot device screen with the floopy drive, 3 HDDs and DVD-RW drive to choose from. I choose the drive that my system's built on and get the black screen again. Cheers but no further forward as yet.

[space sapien]

Latest update: I tried repairing Windows XP using my installation disc, but this didn't work either after going through the repair (I was away from the screen when it rebooted automatically and froze on the booting from CD black screen). Now when booting from the disc there is no activity when prompting for a key to be pressed.

[The Skeptic]

Not all PCs open Safe Mode when you tap F8. Try F12 or, if not successful, other function keys.

Windows repair is one process which I never use. It took me some failures, like you had, to abandon this unreliable process completely.

The boot problem you had should have been dealt by running the chkdsk /r command in Recovery Console. I doubt if it will work after the failed repair but no harm trying. Boot to Boot Menu by tapping F8 as soon as you press the power switch and make CD drive first priority boot device. Reboot with XP CD in the drive , press any key when asked to do so and let drivers be loaded. When given the option press the R key to start Recovery Console. When asked "what installation ...." press 1. When asked for password type your administrator password or, if you don't have one, press Enter. When seeing c:\windows_ type chkdsk /r and press Enter. Let the process run to the end without interruption even if it takes few hours, even if you see that the percent of the process done drops down to a lower level.

I hope this will help.