I have just been given a compaq laptop which i think had windows XP profeshional running on it befor it died, i turn it on and while the scren swiches on and the compaq logo comes up then nothing , i have tryed to hit F5 whils it should be booting and useing safe mode but nothing happens ,and while the opsions come up when i try to select them nothing happens the screen never changes from the selection screen , any thoughts.
207746
I think Compaq's laptops are like that. I used to have a COMPAQ laptop now it's acting up too. I even had to replace the hard drive in the laptop back then.
509443
When the EMachines logo appears, press the Del key. If that doesn't work, try F2 or F8 (which is usually the standard button to push on most computers). \n\nHere is your computer's manual, just in case:\nhttp://downloads.emachines.com/userguides/8511279_eM_NG3_chassis_HW_ref_en.pdf\n\nAnother strategy might be to watch the computer's boot-up by starting up in Safe Mode and making it show all the processes.
613103
If Windows XP is the only operating system installed on your computer, booting into Safe Mode with these instructions.\n\nIf the computer is running, shut down Windows, and then turn off the power \nWait 30 seconds, and then turn the computer on. \nStart tapping the F8 key. The Windows Advanced Options Menu appears. If you begin tapping the F8 key too soon, some computers display a "keyboard error" message. To resolve this, restart the computer and try again. \nEnsure that the Safe mode option is selected. \nPress Enter. The computer then begins to start in Safe mode. \nWhen you are finished with all troubleshooting, close all programs and restart the computer as you normally would.
589037
Hate to even ask this...but you might want to check that the laptop has a hard drive in it. I've seen a couple people send in their laptops because they were still under warranty and the company "forgot" to put the hard drive back in it.\n\nTry to enter the BIOS when you turn on the laptop. (the exact key to press can be found in my first source link)\n\nYou should be looking for something similar to this:\nhttp://www.paul.sladen.org/lights-out/screenshots-original/bios-date-time.png\n\nMake sure that it recognizes a hard drive in there.\n\nIf it doesn't, then the hard drive may have crashed and will need to be replaced.\n\nIf you have any other questions, feel free to message me.
339805
You need to be pressing the key repeatedly rather than pressing once and holding it down to get a proper response. You can start doing this when you get the memory check until you get into a DOS-like screen.\n\nIf you want to go into safe mode straight away, press <F5> instead. It will take you there rather than give you a choice under <F8>. If you can't get XP working even under safe mode, though, the recovery disk which should be in a bootable CD is your only bet other than re-installation. Don't worry, your data will most likely still be there -- only windows and probably your programs might need to be re-installed.\n\nIf your computer doesn't WANT to boot from the CD, you need to go into your BIOS by pressing <del> during boot up. There's a setting there where you can change the boot order of your computer from CD ahead of the Hard Disk.
349260
Try a weird startup key thing- hit F8 as the OS is loading- it will bring you to SafeMode- that shuts down a lot of functions that are not really vital, and you can usually boot up.  First things first, run virus- then run anti-spyware.  Then try start&#92; run type chkdsk it is a hard disk utility.and should help. If you can find nothing wrong, Windows sometimes can right itself once you get it to boot up.  Also look for error logs.  Unless you set it up ahead of time, you will not have internet in SafeMode, so take screenshots of any errors you do not understand (hit printscreen, then open paint and hit Ctrl + V to paste the image in paint.  save it to lookk up on the net later.  After that, restart normally.
327538
1) I am assuming you have tried turning the machine off (by unplugging it at the mains, and by turning off the off button) and then turning it on again?  I am also assuming you have checked CAREFULLY that all the cables are plugged into the PC and the screen properly.  They fall out so easily when you are playing games or attaching joysticks or whatever.\n\n2) If the pc starts to start up but doesnt get very far, there is probably a hard disk drive problem in which case you need to use the set up menu to start up the machine in safe mode or by booting to a CD.  To get to the setup menu, try turning it off again, hold down the Esc key and turning it on again.  If that doesnt bring up something on the screen try step 2 using the F1 or F8 key instead of the Esc key.  Once in the setup menu, you need to find the menu that allows you to change how the pc boots up (different on all pcs sorry I cant help you further - you may have to look up the pcs manual) and set it to boot up from a CD instead of the hard disk.  Then insert a CD into the CD drive and restart your PC.  It should boot up from the CD and will prompt you to help you get your PC up and running again, hopefully.  Otherwise F8 is sometimes a troubleshooting option. \n\n3) If this doesnt work, it sounds like your screen is not showing input - in which case someone probably accidentally hit the overhead projector key - most laptops have a special key combination that switches the screen to display on an overhead projector - you will need to check the manual for the pc for this key - but it usually is F8 or Ctrl+F8 (i.e. press and hold the Ctrl key and then press the F8 key).  Try this to see if you then get some screen output.
90865
You may be wanting to boot into safe mode. That would be F8- or if you want the start up menu options, press F5. Either one must be pressed just seconds (3-5) after the first splash screen appears. CTRL/ALT/DEL IS the standard keyboard combination to reboot. You may just need to turn off the power , then after about 20 secs. turn on again. Use the safe mode F8 as mentioned above. This will allow Windows to boot w/o other software interfering, so you can determine if "other" software has been causing a problem.Perhaps a bad driver (video)?
388546
reinstall xp from CD.  press F8 immediately after u switch on your PC and select safe mode.  \n\nif it does not work boot your system with XP CD by pressing F8  after switch on your pc\ngo to cmos setting and change the boot sequence.
162347
What a really bad accident.  Try to hook up a USB or PS/2 keyboard and see if the keys respond to that.  You might need to go to a technician, but I don't even know if they can help.  In the worst case, you probably need to get any important data from the laptop's hard drive by removing it and hooking it up to a desktop.  Then reinstall everything from the BIOS on up.\n\nLesson to remember: always check how much battery power you have, or at least plug it into the wall if you're doing any installations or critical system tasks.
190534
well man its a complex matter.first of all remove the ram chip form the computer then turn on the computer. the screen will be blank after some time place the ram in its slot and plug on the comp.it will boot. else do the same with the cell(semose battery) & then both of them.if it still does not work then please send me an email.
308615
It seems that your MBR (Master Boot Record) is wiped out and thats why it doesn't recognise the presence of the Operating System.\n\nTry repairing Windows from the CD\n\nIf this doesn't work, then try going through the Setup process normally, choose to leave partition intact [DO NOT FORMAT], and after the blue screen is over, remove the Installation Media and press F8 before Windows starts loading, choose "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only", then type in "Win"\n\n\nPS: I tried something similar, but in a different scenario, so, if you are a risk taker, try it, otheriwse, might have to install a fresh copy of Windows...\n\n\nGood Luck...
522933
512M memory is ok. Regarding the chip in the screen, if you wanna replace it, go to the compaq website and order a new or refurb display from their parts depot.\n\nForget vista. You dont have a need for...do you?\n\nregarding the crashes, if you recently replaced the drive, you shouldn't have this happening. Backup your personal data and reformat and reinstall everything the right way:\n\n1/ Load Operating System (windows)\n2/ Configure firewall and Update OS (implies good internet)\n3/ Install Antivirus/Antispam/Antispy (in that order)\n4/ Install system utilities like winpatrol\n5/ Install additional devices (printers, scanners, etc)\n6/ Configure default user, additional users\n7/ Set security policies\n8/ Verify all above is as expected\n\nTHEN...install applications, microsoft update again, restore your data files, then schedule boot time AV scan.\n\nYou shouldnt have ANY problems.
289579
ok your laptop is booting into MSDOS, its an advanced startup option, when you first turn on the laptop look for a button that says advanced startup options, and select \nrun windows normally\n\nor just key in \n\nrun windows.exe
234799
what I would try is wipe your hard drive clean and install professional again. What I think is happening is there is some code in the compaq version of xp that explains why this is happening.
192518
I've seen a couple of older laptops where you had to follow the manufacturer's special instructions for getting XP installed successfully.  I'd check Toshiba's website for any documentation (as opposed to just drivers and bios updates) that might be related to your laptop.\n\nI might also try booting from the XP install CD instead of trying to run it from within the Win 2000 environment.  Or if you don't want to do that, you might want to stop any anti-virus software you might have running, and use task manager (ctrl+alt+del) to shutdown as many unnecessary processes as you can before launching Setup.  You might even want to download, update, and run Ad-aware and maybe Spybot S&D and see if you might have some spyware interferring that needs removing.\n\nAt any rate, it's generally a good idea to make a backup before you try anything too drastic.
37752
This could be from a couple of things.  Did you add any hardware to the machine recently?  If so, remove it.  Can you get into Safe Mode?  Hit F8 while the computer is booting and you will get a menu.  Choose safe mode.  If that works (which I don't think it will) try to check your drive for errors.  A last resort is a reinstall of your OS using your XP cd.  If you do this properly you will not lose any of your data or programs.  If you do it incorrectly you will lose everything, so be carefull.  If you are not comfortable performiong any of these tasks take your PC to a professional.