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Good post code, won't fully boot.

post #1 of 7
2/21/09 at 5:29am
Thread Starter 
I am having problems with my old desktop computer (details of system below.) The MB reports a post code of FF (good post code), but when it goes to actually boot, nothing. Blank screen. The hard disk is definitely spinning, and the MB appears to detect it in boot fine.

I've also downloaded the Ultimate Boot CD and ran the WD diagnostics tool on it. No errors found.

Thoughts? Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Nathan

MB: S939 Abit AV-8
CPU: Athlon 64 3500 (single core)
RAM: 2X512MB Corsair DDR-400
HDD: 74GB WD Raptor
Video: EVGA nVidia 6800
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post #2 of 7
2/21/09 at 6:24am

Re: Good post code, won't fully boot.

This sounds like a "hang". There is something on your HDD that is keeping your system from booting. Try going into "safe made" by pressing F8 when the computer starts to boot. If it will boot into safe mode then you can run chkdsk to see if you have problems, you can run msconfig and disable everything in startup. Then try to reboot your system. If it reboots then you can start turning things back on. In addition, remove every piece of hardware from your system that is not needed. CD Rom, all PCI devices, anything plugged into the back of the computer. Any of these can stop your system from booting. Also, check your BIOS settings and see what your boot order is. Set it to boot off the HDD first. You can change it back later to CDROM but make sure it is not booting off removable devices first.

Hope this helps.

Don
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post #3 of 7
2/21/09 at 10:01am
Thread Starter 

Re: Good post code, won't fully boot.

I have tried booting into Safe Mode with the same result. Just a black screen. I have disconnected most items, but still have one CD-ROM and sound card hooked up. I can try disconnecting both of those as well.

Boot order is now floppy, CDROM, HDD so I can use the boot CD, but it had been floppy, HDD, CDROM.
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post #4 of 7
2/21/09 at 3:20pm

Re: Good post code, won't fully boot.

Sounds like a corrupted OS if it won't even boot to Safe -- this is assuming that the memory and HDD themselves are not failing which it sounds like you've mostly ruled out.

Have you added any hardware or a new software program recently?

Do you have anything you have to save on the current HDD? If not I'd probably just reformat and reload the OS. If you need to try to save the information, then you may need to run a repair scenario off the OS disc.

What OS are you running?


I just noted your machine -- I'm running an Abit AV8 , Athlon 64 3200+, with 1GB Corsair
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post #5 of 7
2/22/09 at 6:47am

Re: Good post code, won't fully boot.

Now that we know it won't boot into safe mode it is most definitely the OS. You could boot off the cd and do a repair or if you have another computer, you could slave your hard drive on it and run a check disk remotely. You can also download TuneUp America - TuneUp Utilities 2009. I run this all the time and it really cleans up a computer. It is free for 30 days.

Don
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post #6 of 7
2/22/09 at 6:50am

Re: Good post code, won't fully boot.

Also, make sure you scan your hard drive for viruses. You could have a virus in the boot sector of the drive that is causing it not to boot. Personally, I like malwarebytes. It's free as well.

Don
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post #7 of 7
4/4/09 at 7:04am

Re: Good post code, won't fully boot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by don monteith
This sounds like a "hang". There is something on your HDD that is keeping your system from booting. Try going into "safe made" by pressing F8 when the computer starts to boot. If it will boot into safe mode then you can run chkdsk to see if you have problems, you can run msconfig and disable everything in startup. Then try to reboot your system. If it reboots then you can start turning things back on. In addition, remove every piece of hardware from your system that is not needed. CD Rom, all PCI devices, anything plugged into the back of the computer. Any of these can stop your system from booting. Also, check your BIOS settings and see what your boot order is. Set it to boot off the HDD first. You can change it back later to CDROM but make sure it is not booting off removable devices first.

Hope this helps.

Don


Completely agreed!!
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