PC won't boot, hangs before XP will start!

Last night I attempted to reboot my system and hit a wall. After the Dell logo screen I get nothing but a blinking cursor in the upper-left hand corner when the Windows XP screen should come up to begin the boot. I had this problem before twice about six months ago. First time I got a new hard drive from Dell thinking it was a physical problem. Second time I completely reformatted. In all cases I had just finished transferring a big block of music files into iTunes (but always in small chuncks). The total transfer last night amounted to about 3,500 songs (I had about 21,000 in the library right before the reboot). The transfers go fine, but when I reboot, I am in computer purgatory. Safe mode wouldn't work before (I haven't had a chance to try this time). I am sure it is a problem caused by the music transfer into iTunes. Any ideas? I badly don't want to have to reformat.

It could be anything, Most likly a conflict with some software on the PC. there are programs out there that will scan a non booting harddrive, back up the data it can recover to another harddrive or device, then you can reformat. most current PCs come with CDs where you can restore,reinstall windows in a "Non Detructive" manor where data isn't lost.
Whatever you end up doing, after you get the PC up and running you need to goto www.dell.com and install ALL updates they offer for your model, like BIOS, Chipsets, And patches to "iTUnes recovery" issues

Similar Messages

PB Screen Dead? Won't Boot, But Second Monitor Will

My 7-year-old G4 17" Powerbook won't boot via it's onboard LCD display...but a second monitor will. I'm assuming the monitor should be replaced, or perhaps a video card?
What's typically the problem associated with these symptoms?
Thanks for any help.
Terry D

Step one is to boot the computer and shine a light through the "Apple" window on the back of the display and see if you see anything happening on the display. This may be a little tricky, but the best time to do this is during the boot process when usually things happen in the center of the screen. (I am assuming that you have already tried the brightness control, as I have had problems with the TiBooks going to minimum brightness on boot for some reason as yet unknown to me, though I can still at least see some detail on the screen.)
Now, if the display is actually changing when you are providing an artificial backlight, then you are maybe in luck a little bit, since it is likely that the so-called Inverter Board has crapped out. These can be replaced with varying degrees of difficulty from almost trivial to a little involved. Find your machine here on the iFixit site for more information and a guide to changing the board.
The other possibility is that the fluorescent panel panel has itself died, which would require a much more involved repair and probably would not be worth it.

How do I back up my MacBook Pro from an external hard drive if my macbook won't boot up from the white start up screen? HELP!

I went to the Genius Bar a week ago, and the guy helping me there was nice enough to help me save some money by telling me I could replace the bad hard drive my MacBook Pro had by myself. I bought everything I needed (hard drive, screws, external hard drive) and my computer won't boot past the white start up screen. It doesn't even show the Apple sign at the start up screen. How do I back up my computer so I can save all my music, school files, etc.? Could really use someone's advice on what to do! Thanks!

Ok, to be sure I understand what's going on. You were able to boot the Macbook from the existing "damaged" internal drive, and it has been backed up to the internal.
If that is correct, your internal drive is working. Just to be sure, try booting with the R key down. Then run Disk Utility to repair the internal drive. That drive may in fact be useable.
You should be aware that you cannot boot the MBP from a Time Machine back up.
Please post back so I am sure I am understanding the situation.

Won't boot, hangs on blue screen

i was doing a software update of a bunch of things and the system ended up hanging for a very long time so i did a hard restart. when i turned it back on it went on very slowly, and got hung up at a blue screen.
i did another hard restart and it came on (slowly) but when the desktop loaded it only loaded the dock, and kept having an error dialog box pop up that said that 'Spotlight' was not loading, i could try again, ignore, etc.
i am now running the disk utility from the start up disk to check the hard drive. its possible this is getting hung up as well.
originally i came to here to see if there was a way to reinstall spotlight from the install disk. but with the disk verify getting hung up i'm a little worried. any thoughts?

You interrupted an installation in progress. This is bad news. You should always give it all the time it needs. Unless you have a Time Machine backup or a clone on an external drive, you might have to reinstall from the DVD. (And if you don't have either, it's time to consider getting some kind of backup. I would never do a major update without knowing I can revert to the backup if necessary.) In !0.6 this should preserve your settings and apps. When you are finished, install the 10.6.4 Combo Update.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048?viewlocale=en_US
But before you do that, you might see if you can get it to boot in Safe Mode by holding down the shift key at startup. This will take much longer than a usual booup; it's doing some checking and repairing, so give it time. If you are able to boot in Safe Mode, repair Permissions from Disk Utility in Applications > Utilities.
And it sounds like the system might have been choking on too many updates. I generally only use Software Update to see what's available. Then, if I want to do an update, I find the standalone at apple downloads and, if I'm doing several updates, I only install them one by one.

Windows 7 partition won't boot, hangs on black screen / blinking cursor

Hi all,
I just installed windows 7 home premium x64 on a new 100gb partition I made first with bootcamp assistant and then simply with disk utility the second time. I can't get windows to load however, it just sits forever at the black screen with blinking cursor at top left.
I have tried the Bootrec.exe /Fixmbr
bootrec.exe /Fix boot
Bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
fix that is floating around to no avail. The rebuildbcd command yields 0 copies of windows installed but still ends successfully.
i have spent the majority of my day trying to get this to work and have no leads left anymore. Please help!

I HAVE SOLVED MY PROBLEM! Windows is running excellently on my Bootcamp partition.
Taking a few steps back: I used Bootcamp to remove the disk utility partition, then remade it also using boot camp assistant. Ran the windows install, and this time instead of hanging endlessly on black or going back to step 1 after restarting, the install went all the way. I had to restart once when the computer hung on "starting windows" but it got back on track right after this.
I think I must've fudged something with Disk utility before.
Thank you so much for your help!

IMac won't boot, hangs on white logo screen and wheel stops spinning

I have a 4 year old 24" iMac - 4GB RAM, Lion 10.7.3 - that froze up in the middle of opening a PDF file in preview. I powered it off by holding in the button only to discover it will not restart. It gets as far as the white screen with the Apple logo and the "spinning" circle of lines and the this stops spinning after about 15 seconds and it will not do anything else.
I have tried:
resetting the SMC
resetting the PRAM
Booting:
with only keyboard plugged in
in safe mode
from USB (Lion) Recovery thumb drive
from MBP in target mode
from Time Machine backup
from Leopard and Snow Leopard DVD's
In all cases with the boot the HDD is shown along with the other drive(s) connected and I can select these other drives but the result is always the same. In safe mode it just hangs after going through everything.
As the iMac isn't under warranty I decided to swap the HDD out with a 1TB working one from my old (deceased) Time Capsule. I know this drive still works. Still the same problem though. Whilst the imac was apart I checked the onboard CR2032 battery was OK and for any obvious board problems. Nothing.
I haven't been able to find anything that relates to not being able to boot of an external drive from searching the web and I now conceed this is most likely a board level failure. I haven't lost anything as I backup routinely. My intention was to upgrade when the next model iMac comes along, just wish it ends up being very soon as my MBP is not great for editing photo's.
If I could get the iMac limping it would help whilst I wait for the next generation iMac, so if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

I have a 4 year old 24" iMac - 4GB RAM, Lion 10.7.3 - that froze up in the middle of opening a PDF file in preview. I powered it off by holding in the button only to discover it will not restart. It gets as far as the white screen with the Apple logo and the "spinning" circle of lines and the this stops spinning after about 15 seconds and it will not do anything else.
I have tried:
resetting the SMC
resetting the PRAM
Booting:
with only keyboard plugged in
in safe mode
from USB (Lion) Recovery thumb drive
from MBP in target mode
from Time Machine backup
from Leopard and Snow Leopard DVD's
In all cases with the boot the HDD is shown along with the other drive(s) connected and I can select these other drives but the result is always the same. In safe mode it just hangs after going through everything.
As the iMac isn't under warranty I decided to swap the HDD out with a 1TB working one from my old (deceased) Time Capsule. I know this drive still works. Still the same problem though. Whilst the imac was apart I checked the onboard CR2032 battery was OK and for any obvious board problems. Nothing.
I haven't been able to find anything that relates to not being able to boot of an external drive from searching the web and I now conceed this is most likely a board level failure. I haven't lost anything as I backup routinely. My intention was to upgrade when the next model iMac comes along, just wish it ends up being very soon as my MBP is not great for editing photo's.
If I could get the iMac limping it would help whilst I wait for the next generation iMac, so if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

Radeon 5770 in 2008 Mac Pro, won't boot - hangs at Apple logo screen??

Okay, so I had the Radeon 2600 XT and it kept giving me issues with pink & white checkerboards and freezing, then eventually wouldn't let me boot past the white/grey apple logo loading screen. Now, today I installed Apple Radeon 5770, just installed, got the MiniDisplay to DVI-D adapter and everything, but it STILL won't let me get past the white/grey apple screen! I can't seem to get the DVD drive to open either. Both of my hard drives have been working fine and I've even swapped slots and i still can't get past the white screen! What gives? I just dropped over $300 for this, so you can imagine my dismay and frustration. Can someone please help me with some ideas? Would be GREATLY appreciated.
It's a 2008 Mac Pro dual 2.8Ghz (3,1), running 10.5.8
M

Yeah, ok thanks for the response about the screen! So, I don't have 10.6.5. I'm running 10.5.8, which the Radeon 5770 says it needs 10.6.5, but -finally- I got my computer to boot up with the 5770 in it, on 10.5. Al I did was hold OPTION+ Power button and it took me to a blue screen, then to my 500 GB new HD. I then switched over to my other username on Macintosh HD (drive that came with the MacPro) and OSX loads fine! I can tell that it still needs to be on 10.6.5, so I can download the drivers because the text is ever so slightly fuzzy, and the color isn't tuned well (too much contrast) and images take a little longer to load/ are a bit laggy. I'm just glad it's up and running! No more pink transparent checkerboards, and loud *** fan sounds! I am wondering though, what was causing this hold up? Is it only booting up because I have the 10.5.2 install disc in the SuperDrive? I almost don't want to take it out and try without it, after the trouble i've had, just in case lol. I'd like to have an idea as to why, because I don't want to mask a problem, and have it eventually turn into a catastrophe.

My 21" imac won't boot. However, it will boot to recovery partition. disk appears full. how do I delete in reovery?

Initially, my imac would boot up to a white screen and a bar at the bottom. I was able to boot to the recovery HD partition and noticed on the screen that the primary hard drive has only 48 MB free. I'm guessing that is not enough, or, I need to re-install the OS. I'd like to know if I can delete files from the primary partition or if I need to re-install the OS? Any assistance would be great here.

You should never, EVER let a hard drive get this full to the end...EVER!
Aassuming you can get your iMac booted, The only real and safe way to do this is to do it manually looking through each folder individually.
Many third party utilities claim to clean out a hard drive of various detritus, but some times will delete data that it shouldn't and delete any other important data that it shouldn't have.
The only "safe" way to accomplish what you need to accomplish is to do this manually.
Stay away from the OS X system folder!!!!!
Hard drive getting full?
You need to reclaim, at the very least, 15 GBs or more free data space on the hard drive.
At some point when you have recovered enough drive space, You can download an app called OmniDiskSweeper.
This app will allow you to see where files maybe able to be delete are located.
If your Mac is running a fairly recent version of OS X, here are some general guidelines.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
First thing, if you can get your iMac booted, Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the OS X Dock?
If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what are duplicates and what isn't
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Other things you can do to gain space.
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Good Luck!

Baffled - HD won't boot in one machine, will in another

x61s
XP
working fine, no new installs
1) had a start-up fail with a 'critical battery error' message. no more starting up
2) with AC plugged in, goes to the screen with safe mode, safe mode with networking etc
3) no matter which I choose, it flashed to energy screen, then blue error screen, then back to safe mode screen
when I stick the hard drive into a T61 it starts up no problem
With the HD in the T61, I have tried all kinds of things to no avail.
I installed the Lenovo System Toolbox, but I get all kinds of errors of things encountering a problem, and program won't start
I tried to start up in the x61, after turning various things turned off in msconfig (using the HD in the T61), but no change
was unable to get any of the restore points to work
it seems like this must have something to do either with a HD problem, or a driver problem.
Nothing is showing up in my event viewer, or in my device manager. i get an error about the 'interface is unknown'
ideas?

"Critical battery error" refers to a problem with the CMOS battery. Possibly needing replacement.
Try changing from AHCI to compatibility mode in the BIOS configuration. If already in compatibility mode, try the opposite.
\\ I do not respond to PM regarding individual tech support. Keep discussions in the forum for the benefit of others //

T60 won't boot, hangs on "Checking the status of the embedded security chip..."

My T60 with embedded security chip and finger print reader, running Windows XP, has just recently developed this problem. It never finishes booting. I've changed the BIOS setting to completely disable the security chip, yet this condition still persists. Occurs running on battery power or cord; occurs when in a docking station or not. Occurs when in diagnotics boot mode or quick boot mode.
I've searched the Lenovo support site and this forum for similar symptoms and help, but couldn't seem to find any.
Anyone know how to get around this problem?

My thrive 10.1 has the same problem and hung in leading innovation screen. Do you find a way to solve this issue yet? If you know please help me to crack this problem. I did the factory hard reset, but it didn't work. I appreciate a lot if you or any one have any solution to solve it.
Thanks.

MacBook won't boot past Apple logo on start up

I recently installed 10.5 on my MacBook and it worked fine until today when I installed a security update and a MobileMe update on it. after it restarted, none of the applications would work (including system preferences and finder) and would not shut down without using the power switch. When I went to boot it up again, it gets as far as the Apple logo with the spinning loading icon, but won't go any farther than that, and after about a minute, the fan starts running at high speed. I ran the hardware test and booted it from the disc and both showed no problems. the disc utility on the disc boot was even able to read the hard disc information. I'm hoping that this isn't a hard disc problem, because I already went through that before in February.

*I ran the hardware test and booted it from the disc and both showed no problems. the disc utility on the disc boot was even able to read the hard disc information.*
This suggests that your problem isn't hardware but that your OS installation is munged. I suggest that you run your OS installer and use Archive & Install. Assuming you have enough empty drive space, this will install your operating system without disturbing your data or applications. You'll have to reapply all the OS updates and you might find that a program or two also requires reinstallation, but not many. The last time I did an A&I on my personal computer I didn't have to reinstall any programs.
What happened? Dunno but given that you'd just installed an OS update before this, I suspect that the updater either failed or that there was a small OS problem that the updater magnified. Being in charge of a couple Mac labs, I see one or two of these post update failures a year even though I always run Disk Utilities to verify the disks before I update.

Won't boot from DiskWarrior CD while starting while pressing "c" key

Hello,
I am helping a friend maintain her 2008 MacBook Pro (10.5.8). Have safe-booted several times, and repaired permissions.
Since she is having minor issues, I brought over my Disk Warrior v. 4.1 (CD rev. 42) which has done wonders for other Leopard Macs.
Her MacBook Pro just refuses to boot from the Disk Warrior CD when I hold down the "c" key while re-starting. It starts as usual from its OS. This has never happened to me before. So I cannot use Disk Warrior on her comp, as far as I know.
Whenever I have used this Disk Warrior CD on mine and other 10.5.8 computers, and booted holding down "c" key, everything goes swimmingly.
Grateful if anyone can anyone offer a suggestion...
Could it be her drive, her logic board, my not re-setting PRAM on her computer? Or a total mystery?
Many thanks,
Neil

You need version 4.1.1

Computer won't boot to windows - Fail in Start-Up Tests - Possible Hardware Issue

My mate has given me his laptop to try and fix but when i runf the hp start up tests id comes up with this:
can anyone help?

Hi,
Now the image is viewable, it would look like the Hard Drive has failed and will need to be replaced.
As a further test, if you wish to rule out a possible ( although far less likely ) problem with the sata controller, you try the following.
1. Create a bootable Ubuntu CD - a guide on creating an Ubuntu CD and the download can be found Here.
2. When created, follow the guide on the link below to Try Ubuntu.
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/try-ubuntu-before-you-install
The 'Try Ubuntu' option runs the OS from the CD without the need to install on your HDD. If this runs Ok ( it will be slow running from a CD ), this would tend to confirm that the problem is just with the HDD.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

My macbook won't boot up or respond to start up letter-holding functions??

Can anyone shed some light on the problem I seem to be having. I'm trying to revive my macbook from the dead, it has been in the loft since it died on me nearly 2 years ago, so I cannot even remember which OS is installed, pretty sure its Leopard tho. My macbook loads up to the start screen (apple logo and rotation loading graphic) but goes further. I have trawled through copious amount of forums looking for an answer but they all tell me to hold command and R or hold shift, non of these functions see to be having an effect. I am reluctant to take it to an apple store as I foresee the obvious "Its the logicbaord, £400 please". The macbook is worth about £200 (when working) so I could justify a £400 fee to fix it. I also can't afford to buy a second hand one at the moment so I'm desperate to fix this myself, even if I buy the parts and fit them myself (I'm pretty good that that) just can diagnose it to find what the problem actually is. Is it possible to connect it to another PC or MAC and remotely diagnose it?
Any ideas you guys have would be very helpful. I have already come to terms with the loss of my macbook so I will survive with just my Windows laptop, but I am one who refuses to the something beat me. Am I clutching at straws?
Shaun

You've probablby seen this Apple note and done all the steps in it?

PC won't boot: fans stop spinning at start up!

Hi all
I have a Compaq CQ5335fr that worked just fine for a few years (3).
Then one day, it went off suddenly and wouldn't boot any more:
When I power it up, fans (CPU and chassis) start spinning for 15 seconds then they stop spinning. Only GPU fan keeps spinning. I have still blue and amber lights in the front of the desktop.
I usually push the power up button until it powers off. Then when I restart, same thing!
I tried the following with NO SUCCESS:
- clean & dust parts
- Reset CMOS
- Bought another PSU
- Played with DIMMS (put one by one, inverted etc.)
- Unplugged all components and replug one by one
- And a couple of other desperate things
- Put the hard drive in another computer to check if data are there: OK (although had "cant' access" errors in the beginning
Nothing worked.
NOW I NEED YOUR HELP TO LOCATE THE ISSUE IN ORDER TO SOLVE IT!
Thank you in advance.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hello again Moyiize.
I can't safely say if other motherboards would work or not. However, you should be able to get the same motherboard through HP. Here is a link to your computer's HP Part Surfer page. You should be able to order it there.
If you want to say thanks make sure to click the white star under my name to give me Kudos. I really appreciate it!
I hope you have a great evening.
Please click the white star under my name to give me Kudos as a way to say "Thanks!"
Click the "Accept as Solution" button if I resolve your issue.

PC won't boot, hangs before XP will start!

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for