Windows 98 Start up problems

After an unexpected power failure, PC will not reboot - any suggestions?

Details?

Please help others help you by providing more detail.
Was the PC on when the power failed?
Does the PC power up at all? If yes, how far does it get in the boot process?
If no, it's highly probable a component went South.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"cms-api" wrote in message
...
After an unexpected power failure, PC will not reboot - any suggestions?

Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is trying to
boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

"Brian A." wrote:

Please help others help you by providing more detail.
Was the PC on when the power failed?
Does the PC power up at all? If yes, how far does it get in the boot process?
If no, it's highly probable a component went South.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"cms-api" wrote in message
...
After an unexpected power failure, PC will not reboot - any suggestions?

cms-api wrote:
Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is
trying to boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

Does the hard drive activity light come on?

Does it flicker on/off for a couple of minutes and then stay off?

Have you tried another monitor?


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

"cms-api" wrote in message
...

Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is trying
to
boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

Commonly (say half the time) if the power fails while
a Win98 PC is doing something, you will need to
reinstal the OS (and possibly reformat beforehand.)

You did not post whether you can boot DOS from a
floppy and get a disk directory of C:\
If the hard drive has essential data that you need to
salvage, the safest route is to put the drive into another
PC (that boots from its own C:\) and copy data over.
Copy what you can save before you make any attempt
to repair the old C: drive, let alone boot from it.

Before reinstallation, you should run as many diagnostics
as you can find, on both the motherboard and the old
hard drive. There would be no point reinstalling on a
damaged MB or to a damaged hard drive.

(I have not been in this position for 20 years. Electricity
used to fail frequently where I live, so I have used UPSs
(battery backups) for many years. The cheaper ones
give you about 5 minutes of full power, plenty to shut
down safely and without damage.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Does the tower display a solid light as an indication of the delivered power
and/or any "blinking" lights indicating disk activity?
Does the monitor have a green light indicating power/signal/connectivity or an
orange/amber light indicating no signal/connectivity?
Do you have another monitor to swap out to test if the present monitor may be
faulty?

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"cms-api" wrote in message
...
Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is trying to
boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

"Brian A." wrote:

Please help others help you by providing more detail.
Was the PC on when the power failed?
Does the PC power up at all? If yes, how far does it get in the boot
process?
If no, it's highly probable a component went South.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"cms-api" wrote in message
...
After an unexpected power failure, PC will not reboot - any suggestions?

Yes, the activity light comes on and then stays off. A couple of weeks ago,
I tried to connect another moniter, but it was not recognized.

"dadiOH" wrote:

cms-api wrote:
Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is
trying to boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

Does the hard drive activity light come on?

Does it flicker on/off for a couple of minutes and then stay off?

Have you tried another monitor?


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Thanks for the info - we thought a battery backup was connected, but it
failed too.

"Don Phillipson" wrote:

"cms-api" wrote in message
...

Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is trying
to
boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

Commonly (say half the time) if the power fails while
a Win98 PC is doing something, you will need to
reinstal the OS (and possibly reformat beforehand.)

You did not post whether you can boot DOS from a
floppy and get a disk directory of C:\
If the hard drive has essential data that you need to
salvage, the safest route is to put the drive into another
PC (that boots from its own C:\) and copy data over.
Copy what you can save before you make any attempt
to repair the old C: drive, let alone boot from it.

Before reinstallation, you should run as many diagnostics
as you can find, on both the motherboard and the old
hard drive. There would be no point reinstalling on a
damaged MB or to a damaged hard drive.

(I have not been in this position for 20 years. Electricity
used to fail frequently where I live, so I have used UPSs
(battery backups) for many years. The cheaper ones
give you about 5 minutes of full power, plenty to shut
down safely and without damage.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Please see earlier response to Don.

"Brian A." wrote:

Does the tower display a solid light as an indication of the delivered power
and/or any "blinking" lights indicating disk activity?
Does the monitor have a green light indicating power/signal/connectivity or an
orange/amber light indicating no signal/connectivity?
Do you have another monitor to swap out to test if the present monitor may be
faulty?

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"cms-api" wrote in message
...
Yes, the PC was on when the power failed. It sounds like the PC is trying to
boot, but nothing is displayed on the monitor.

"Brian A." wrote:

Please help others help you by providing more detail.
Was the PC on when the power failed?
Does the PC power up at all? If yes, how far does it get in the boot
process?
If no, it's highly probable a component went South.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"cms-api" wrote in message
...
After an unexpected power failure, PC will not reboot - any suggestions?