A Windows 98 & ME forum. Win98banter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » Win98banter forum » Windows ME » General
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Attention "Mart"-- Computer Boots to Black Screen



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old September 13th 05, 09:08 PM
caroloyl
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Attention "Mart"-- Computer Boots to Black Screen

Hi Mart,

Seems forever since I posted my plea for help--but finally, after eight
weeks of downtime, I'm fixed up and back in business. Because it never once
booted black for him, my tech was so perplexed with my problem that he
finally sent the box out to the motherboard manufacturer who told him that
the MB was cooked--literally.

Is it assumed these days that everyone lives and computes in air-conditioned
comfort?? When during my troubles the experienced guy who built this
computer had me remove the side to blow air across the works in case it was
overheating, I noticed there was only one fan inside--a little flat one on
top of the processor. This machine did not have an exhaust fan mounted on
the back of the box! Every other computer I've had did--even the old
horizontal version--and I ran them all throughout the hottest
non-air-conditioned MOzark summers without burning any of them up. This
one--assembled just last March--made it fine through June, then limped into
July and quit working!

At any rate, I now have a new motherboard, two housing exhaust fans, and a
hardware monitoring program to keep tabs on internal temperature. I also
have a new issue with the way Windows Me recognizes hard drives--but
I'll put that question in a fresh post.

Once again, I thank you for your kind response.

carol


----- Original Message -----
From: "PMetroplos"
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 3:47 PM
Subject: Computer Boots to Black Screen


Hi Mart :-))

Thanks muchly for the information. Because of the intermittancy of the
booting, I'd been wondering myself if there wasn't a loose connection
somewhere since every time it did manage to load it, Windows Me would run
fine and all programs and data on all my drives would be available. One
of my tech's thoughts was that there could be something amiss in the boot
records--but mightn't that cause the computer not to ever load Windows at
all?

Amazingly (and I'm astonished at how often something like this happens),
while I was at my relatives' yesterday writing my plea for help here, my
tech was leaving me voice mail at home! I dropped the box off for him to
work on a few minutes ago and am now revisiting my relatives to check my
mail--so have only just found your reply and will not be able to apply
your instructions myself! I'll let you know though what Jamie finds this
time now that I've told him about the C and D drive "non-detection" issue
(which he couldn't have known about the first time he looked at it because
he never got a black screen) and what he does to remedy it (at the moment
he's thinking he might replace the motherboard and cables--which are all
still under warranty).

I'm certainly glad the hardware is the suspect--I'm so tired of hearing my
beloved Millennium bashed!

carol

"Mart" wrote in message
...
Trying to sort the wood from the trees :-

carol wrote:-

... and peered into the BIOS to see if there was anything there that
looked strange. On the Advanced tab, IDE Configuration sub-screen, I
found that the auto detect function was not seeing the primary C and D


That would "appear" to indicate a PC/Hardware issue rather than a WinMe
problem, however, you 'should' also be able to 'see' them in the Main
tab - although, if set to Auto, you may have to hit the Return key on
each drive to refresh and enumerate more fully.

If still no sign, check the IDE cables to the C: and D: drives have not
become dislodged (at either end of the cable!!) especially the
motherboard end (both drives missing sounds like a common issue) - The
fact that you can 'see' both secondary drives (IDE1) also suggests a
dislodged cable to primary controller (IDE0)

You also said :-

.... I've been unable to get into Safe Mode at bootup, not even with the
Me boot disk--which loads without the option available.


You can't get into Safe Mode (nor WinMe at all) using the WinMe Startup
floppy, however you 'should' be able to 'see' the C: and D: drives
(subject to the possible issues mentioned above)

At the A:\ prompt, type C: and then Return
The prompt should change to C:\
If so, type dir /p at the C:\ prompt and you should see a listing of you
C: disk

Try the D: also, by typing D: at the A:\ or C:\ prompt and confirm the
listing of your D: drive.

Come back with your results/error reports and someone here should be able
to continue and talk you thru' the next steps.

Mart


"PMetroplos" wrote in message
...
Hi Good Folk,

I'm unable to use my own custom-built machine, so am writing at a
relative's.

After using my new computer for 4-months without major incident, it
booted to a black screen on the morning of July 6th. On the 7th I sent
it back to the tech who assembled it in March and naturally it booted
perfectly for him. He ran a virus scan and defragged it saying it
looked like I had a defective keyboard or mouse. I replaced the
keyboard (which had one sticky key and a heap of sawdust and sand in
it--detritus I hadn't been able to vacuum or shake out) and all went
well until July 14 when after moving some files Windows Explorer caused
a fault in "SDHelper.dll"

I could not close that error dialog so switched the computer off, waited
a minute, then powered up again--which got me another black screen.
Other occasional good boots resulted in the computer freezing up after
10 or 15 minutes, each time with a different program operating--so at
the further suggestion of my tech I tried all sort of remedies--changing
the mouse, changing the circuitbreaker to 20 amps, even blowing cool air


across the processor. Each remedy allowed me one good boot after which
the ensuing boot brought me another black screen. Since my tech has
moved and comes back my way only once a month now, I left the thing
unplugged until August 7 when I powered it up to show a friend (who'd
built his own computer) what was happening to mine. Of course the thing
instantly booted to Windows! I left it running day and night for three
and a half days--taking care of email business during that time. It ran
without incident until the last time I invoked the resource meter
(something I'd been doing on occasion since it was down in the 50%'s)
and the computer instantly locked up solid. Of course it rebooted to a
black screen--and I've been unable to boot to Windows since last
Wednesday.

Throughout these weeks I've been unable to get into Safe Mode at bootup,
not even with the Me boot disk--which loads without the option
available. So yesterday, in desperation and ennui from waiting for help,
I powered the thing up and peered into the BIOS to see if there was
anything there that looked strange. On the Advanced tab, IDE
Configuration sub-screen, I found that the auto detect function was not
seeing the primary C and D drives(!)--but was seeing both secondaries (I
have 3 hard drives and one CD reader/writer).

I run avast! AV and the last program I installed (July 3) is one I've
used without incident with other computers I've had running Me. Any
insight into this mess much appreciated!

carol



















  #2  
Old September 13th 05, 11:51 PM
Mart
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Well Carol... I did suggest that it was likely to be a hardware issue, but
at the time (with the symptoms described), never considered a 'toasted
motherboard' g

However, its good to hear that your local tech was able to get result from
the motherboard manufacturer (under warranty? - You suggested that it was in
one of your posts in the thread)

Good to hear that you are up-and-running again - I will look out for your
'hard drive recognition' issue, which I am sure that someone here will be
able to help you with - and thanks for posting your follow-up.

Good luck

Mart


"caroloyl" wrote in message
...
Hi Mart,

Seems forever since I posted my plea for help--but finally, after eight
weeks of downtime, I'm fixed up and back in business. Because it never
once
booted black for him, my tech was so perplexed with my problem that he
finally sent the box out to the motherboard manufacturer who told him that
the MB was cooked--literally.

Is it assumed these days that everyone lives and computes in
air-conditioned
comfort?? When during my troubles the experienced guy who built this
computer had me remove the side to blow air across the works in case it
was
overheating, I noticed there was only one fan inside--a little flat one on
top of the processor. This machine did not have an exhaust fan mounted on
the back of the box! Every other computer I've had did--even the old
horizontal version--and I ran them all throughout the hottest
non-air-conditioned MOzark summers without burning any of them up. This
one--assembled just last March--made it fine through June, then limped
into
July and quit working!

At any rate, I now have a new motherboard, two housing exhaust fans, and a
hardware monitoring program to keep tabs on internal temperature. I also
have a new issue with the way Windows Me recognizes hard drives--but
I'll put that question in a fresh post.

Once again, I thank you for your kind response.

carol


----- Original Message -----
From: "PMetroplos"
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 3:47 PM
Subject: Computer Boots to Black Screen


Hi Mart :-))

Thanks muchly for the information. Because of the intermittancy of the
booting, I'd been wondering myself if there wasn't a loose connection
somewhere since every time it did manage to load it, Windows Me would run
fine and all programs and data on all my drives would be available. One
of my tech's thoughts was that there could be something amiss in the boot
records--but mightn't that cause the computer not to ever load Windows at
all?

Amazingly (and I'm astonished at how often something like this happens),
while I was at my relatives' yesterday writing my plea for help here, my
tech was leaving me voice mail at home! I dropped the box off for him to
work on a few minutes ago and am now revisiting my relatives to check my
mail--so have only just found your reply and will not be able to apply
your instructions myself! I'll let you know though what Jamie finds this
time now that I've told him about the C and D drive "non-detection" issue
(which he couldn't have known about the first time he looked at it
because
he never got a black screen) and what he does to remedy it (at the moment
he's thinking he might replace the motherboard and cables--which are all
still under warranty).

I'm certainly glad the hardware is the suspect--I'm so tired of hearing
my
beloved Millennium bashed!

carol

"Mart" wrote in message
...
Trying to sort the wood from the trees :-

carol wrote:-

... and peered into the BIOS to see if there was anything there that
looked strange. On the Advanced tab, IDE Configuration sub-screen, I
found that the auto detect function was not seeing the primary C and D

That would "appear" to indicate a PC/Hardware issue rather than a WinMe
problem, however, you 'should' also be able to 'see' them in the Main
tab - although, if set to Auto, you may have to hit the Return key on
each drive to refresh and enumerate more fully.

If still no sign, check the IDE cables to the C: and D: drives have not
become dislodged (at either end of the cable!!) especially the
motherboard end (both drives missing sounds like a common issue) - The
fact that you can 'see' both secondary drives (IDE1) also suggests a
dislodged cable to primary controller (IDE0)

You also said :-

.... I've been unable to get into Safe Mode at bootup, not even with
the
Me boot disk--which loads without the option available.

You can't get into Safe Mode (nor WinMe at all) using the WinMe Startup
floppy, however you 'should' be able to 'see' the C: and D: drives
(subject to the possible issues mentioned above)

At the A:\ prompt, type C: and then Return
The prompt should change to C:\
If so, type dir /p at the C:\ prompt and you should see a listing of
you
C: disk

Try the D: also, by typing D: at the A:\ or C:\ prompt and confirm the
listing of your D: drive.

Come back with your results/error reports and someone here should be
able
to continue and talk you thru' the next steps.

Mart


"PMetroplos" wrote in message
...
Hi Good Folk,

I'm unable to use my own custom-built machine, so am writing at a
relative's.

After using my new computer for 4-months without major incident, it
booted to a black screen on the morning of July 6th. On the 7th I sent
it back to the tech who assembled it in March and naturally it booted
perfectly for him. He ran a virus scan and defragged it saying it
looked like I had a defective keyboard or mouse. I replaced the
keyboard (which had one sticky key and a heap of sawdust and sand in
it--detritus I hadn't been able to vacuum or shake out) and all went
well until July 14 when after moving some files Windows Explorer caused
a fault in "SDHelper.dll"

I could not close that error dialog so switched the computer off,
waited
a minute, then powered up again--which got me another black screen.
Other occasional good boots resulted in the computer freezing up after
10 or 15 minutes, each time with a different program operating--so at
the further suggestion of my tech I tried all sort of
remedies--changing
the mouse, changing the circuitbreaker to 20 amps, even blowing cool
air


across the processor. Each remedy allowed me one good boot after which
the ensuing boot brought me another black screen. Since my tech has
moved and comes back my way only once a month now, I left the thing
unplugged until August 7 when I powered it up to show a friend (who'd
built his own computer) what was happening to mine. Of course the
thing
instantly booted to Windows! I left it running day and night for three
and a half days--taking care of email business during that time. It
ran
without incident until the last time I invoked the resource meter
(something I'd been doing on occasion since it was down in the 50%'s)
and the computer instantly locked up solid. Of course it rebooted to a
black screen--and I've been unable to boot to Windows since last
Wednesday.

Throughout these weeks I've been unable to get into Safe Mode at
bootup,
not even with the Me boot disk--which loads without the option
available. So yesterday, in desperation and ennui from waiting for
help,
I powered the thing up and peered into the BIOS to see if there was
anything there that looked strange. On the Advanced tab, IDE
Configuration sub-screen, I found that the auto detect function was not
seeing the primary C and D drives(!)--but was seeing both secondaries
(I
have 3 hard drives and one CD reader/writer).

I run avast! AV and the last program I installed (July 3) is one I've
used without incident with other computers I've had running Me. Any
insight into this mess much appreciated!

carol





















 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cannot Reboot into DOS from 98SE Jim Arnett General 3 July 20th 04 09:53 PM
Keep getting error message when computer boots up and loads Jeff at catalyst General 2 July 18th 04 05:12 PM
Computer keeps turning off joefromstpete General 5 July 11th 04 09:27 PM
Major Problem Matty General 3 July 4th 04 05:02 PM
pci card not installed yet still recognized brad General 14 June 27th 04 06:25 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:32 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 Win98banter.
The comments are property of their posters.