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Resolved Windows XP won't start

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by lordrayne, 2012/12/19.

  1. 2012/12/19
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro laptop running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3.

    I moved the wireless USB dongle from one port to another while running windows and a pop-up appeared indicating that "A USB device has resulted in a power surgeâ€.

    As required, I removed the device, highlighted the USB device and clicked "Resetâ€.

    The computer went into the BIOS screen and, because I know nothing of this, I pressed F10 "Save and Exitâ€.

    The screen is now all black and powering off and on has no effect.

    I do not have an installation or boot disk. How may I recover it?
     
    lordrayne,
    #1
  2. 2012/12/19
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Hi lordrayne. When you boot up the laptop does it start booting into Windows XP? Have you tried pressing F8 on startup to bring up the advanced boot options menu and selecting Last Known Good Configuration?

    I assume that the laptop shows the manufacturers logo before attempting to start Windows XP correct?

    Did you change any setting in the BIOS?
     
    Evan Omo,
    #2


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  4. 2012/12/19
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Hi Evan, It does nothing when I power on, no makers logo, no windows start up, just a blank, black screen.

    When it went into the BIOS, as I said, I'm not happy to mess with this, so I just pressed F10 which is "Save and Exit ". That's when it died.
     
    lordrayne,
    #3
  5. 2012/12/19
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Do you have an external monitor that you can hook up the laptop to? See if you can get any display using an external monitor. Hopefully that will work.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #4
  6. 2012/12/19
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    No, I have no other monitor - maybe I could use the TV screen as it is an HD with facility to hook up a PC.

    I will try that later today but it is now 06:45 CET and I haven't been to bed yet! Thank you for your help so far.
     
    lordrayne,
    #5
  7. 2012/12/20
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    No Problem. Keep me posted on the outcome.
     
    Evan Omo,
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  8. 2012/12/20
    dnmacleod

    dnmacleod Well-Known Member

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    Is the laptop showing any signs of life? any lights? fans turning etc?
     
    dnmacleod,
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  9. 2012/12/20
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Hi dnmacleod,
    Yes, when I power on the fan runs, there is a mechanical "clonk" noise and three LEDs are lit - Mains Power, Battery and Hard Disk - all shewing green.
     
    lordrayne,
    #8
  10. 2012/12/20
    dnmacleod

    dnmacleod Well-Known Member

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    Can you make out where the clonk noise is coming from?
     
    dnmacleod,
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  11. 2012/12/20
    wildfire

    wildfire Getting Old

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    A long shot but since the BIOS is involved (though I am completely stumped as to how that happened).

    Remove Battery and power supply from the laptop, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds, reconnect battery and/or power supply and try to turn it on.

    Also do you know the model number of the laptop, the Satellite Pro's are a range of laptops.
     
    wildfire,
    #10
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  12. 2012/12/20
    dnmacleod

    dnmacleod Well-Known Member

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    Your laptop could have what's called the "nVidia Defect ".

    Check the symptoms here and see how many boxes you tick.
     
    dnmacleod,
    #11
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  13. 2012/12/20
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    dnmacleod - clonking noise is the CD/DVD drive trying to start. I have found a WIN7 installation disk and tried it but although I can hear the drive getting up to speed, nothing appears on the screen - still blank, black.

    As I said earlier I shall try using the TV as a monitor but that's going to take time in finding the right cable (USB?), testing with this working laptop and then with the Toshiba, trying wildfire's suggestion (thank you, wildfire) anbd trying to regrow the hair I've pulled out!
     
    lordrayne,
    #12
  14. 2012/12/20
    wildfire

    wildfire Getting Old

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    I doubt it, if you post the actual model number of the laptop (it should be on a sticker underneath somewhere), we'll be in a better position to advise.
     
    wildfire,
    #13
  15. 2012/12/20
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    wildfire, Satellit Pro U400, Model No PSU41E-01600TEN
     
    lordrayne,
    #14
  16. 2012/12/20
    lordrayne

    lordrayne Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    wildfire, Strange as it may seem, your trick with removing all power, pressing the power button for 30 seconds and then replacing the battery and switching on - WORKED!!!

    Thank you so much and to Evan and dnmacleod - it's great to have reliable back up when things one doesn't understand go wrong.

    Well done guys.
     
    lordrayne,
    #15
  17. 2012/12/20
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Thanks for the update. :) Glad your issue has been resolved.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #16
  18. 2012/12/22
    wildfire

    wildfire Getting Old

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    You're welcome, and thank you for the update. I'm glad you got it sorted.
     
    wildfire,
    #17

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